Help Paying for Child Care

Childrens Councils Family Services Department provides child care assistance to eligible low-income families who are working, in job training, or in transition from welfare to work. Our CalWORKs subsidy programs help support more than 2,500 families and 4,500 children each year.

Have you been on Cash Aid or received welfare payments (CalWORKs) within the last two years? If so, you may immediately qualify for our programs, depending on income and family size. You must still be working, going to school, or in an approved activity in order to qualify. Call (415) 276-2951 to get started!

If you have never been on Cash Aid or received welfare payments and would like to see if you qualify, go to the Human Services Agency (HSA) at 170 Otis Street, 1st Floor, between 13th Street and Gough Street. There, you can meet with an Eligibility Worker, who will determine if you qualify. If you do qualify, HSA will send a child care authorization to us and we will immediately assign you to a caseworker. You may call the Human Services Agency for further details at (415) 557-5723.

If you do not qualify for Cash Aid or welfare, you can still apply for child care assistance in our non-CalWORKs programs through the San Francisco Centralized Eligibility List (SFCEL).  SFCEL provides families with access to many subsidized child care programs that cover all or part of their child care costs.  With the SFCEL, families can apply for child care and development programs all over San Francisco through a single application.
Child care subsidy programs enroll families based on factors such as income, family size and other needs as spaces become available.  Families are not selected on a first-come, first-served basis.

Families with children under 13 years old must meet the following requirements:

• You must be income-eligible.  Your gross (pre-tax) monthly family income must be at or below the amount listed for your family size.

Family Size	1-2	3	4	5	6
Gross (pre-tax) Monthly Income*	$3,518	$3,769	$4,188	$4,858	$5,528

 *Based on the 2007 State Median Income and the California Department of Education - Child Development Division MB 07-13. Income guidelines are subject to change.

• You also must meet one of the needs below (needs may vary based on program requirements):

           • Working
           • Looking for work
           • In school or job training
           • Homeless or seeking permanent housing
           • Medically incapacitated
           • Receiving Child Protective Services (CPS)
           • Looking for part-day educational preschool for your child

SFCEL does not guarantee you a child care opening.  If you do not update your records as your information changes, you may no longer be eligible for a program.   

To apply for assistance through SFCEL, complete an application by visiting our Resource & Referral drop-in room at 445 Church or calling (415) 276-2951 and requesting an SFCEL application through the mail.  You can also download the SFCEL Application and Addition Child Form:

  SFCEL Application
  SFCEL Additional Child Form

More information regarding the Earned Income Tax Credit can be found here.