For our families, as you might remember, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has administered the Child Care Subsidy program since August 2021. Children’s Division has recently received notification from DESE that they have launched a new Protective Services Childcare program data and application entry system as of December 19, 2023.
The new child care data system allows these families to independently apply for child care assistance, report a change in their household, obtain authorizations, and select or change their childcare provider. The new system has online access 24 hours a day, seven days a week that allows families to enter, edit, and view information in near real-time.
Those eligible to receive Protective Services Child Care Subsidy are:
Families actively receiving FCS or FCS/IIS services
Parents of children on a Trial Home Placement
Foster parents/Relative caregivers
Adoption and guardianship parents with an active subsidy for the child in which they are seeking childcare
Families who wish to apply for child care assistance must apply through DESE’s new system. Current families who need to reapply must access the new system to update their household information before their current childcare authorization period expires. Families are encouraged to reach out to their Case Manager as soon as possible to find out when their child’s authorization expires. DESE will continue to offer a paper application for families who cannot access the online application.
All current authorizations will populate to the new system and do not require new applications until the current authorization expires.
Only new authorizations and authorization changes will be processed through the new system beginning December 19, 2023.
Children’s Division staff no longer enter authorizations for child care; however, your Case Manager will provide the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter (CD-317) to eligible families for each eligible child seeking Protective Services Childcare Subsidy. This verification letter is required to be uploaded by the applicant in the DESE system during a new application process.
A new letter will be provided to the applicant by the Case Manager if child care remains a need and the child continues to meet eligibility requirements when the child moves placements, when a child returns home on a trial home placement, when nearing the eligibility end date for an extension of childcare services, and if the child is 13 or older with documented special needs.
The link to apply for childcare through the new system can be found on this webpage: https://childcare.mo.gov.
You can visit this webpage to get up-to-date information about the new childcare data system: https://dese.mo.gov/childhood/child-care-subsidy/child-care-data-system.
If you would like to sign-up to receive regular announcements and updates from the Office of Childhood, go to https://earlyconnections.mo.gov/ and click on “Join the Mailing List.”
Instructions for the applicant receiving the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter are included on page two which provides explanation of eligibility requirements, documents to be prepared with at the time of application, instructions on how to apply online, by mail or in person through a Family Support Division Resource Center.
Questions regarding the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter may be directed to Children’s Division staff.
Questions regarding the Childcare Subsidy portal, application, authorization, payment and services should be directed to the DESE/Office of Childhood Childcare Call Center at 573-415-8605.