The Best Starts for Kids Child Care Subsidy program is a six year, 74 million dollar subsidy focused on helping families access affordable, quality child care by providing a monthly payment to the eligible child care provider of their choice.

The eligibility for this program is based on the below criteria.  

• Recipients must be a resident of King County.
• Have a child 12 or under who needs child care (up to 17 for children with a disability).
• Not eligible for the Washington State Working Connections Child Care Subsidy (WCCC), or enrolled in the Seattle Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
• Make below 85% of State Median Income (SMI).  For income bands see below.

Household size is, yourself, each child under the age of 18 that lives with you (regardless of child care need), and up to one other adult who fits one of the following: spouse, domestic partner, or significant other with whom you have a child. An 18 year old child can be counted if they are still in high school.

A household income is based on the total number of household members (see above question), and the monthly gross (pre-tax) income. Scroll up to see the table above or click here.

Yes! Families with one or more undocumented members are fully eligible to apply!

Yes! Families who fall into the above categories are fully eligible to apply.

Yes! Eligible applicants without permanent housing should apply. We will offer other ways to verify that your family resides in King County.

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No, because this is funded by a King County levy, all recipients must reside in King County.

Eligible applicants who are not invited to apply for the subsidy will be automatically added to our waitlist. We contemplate regular attrition (people discontinuing use) so it is still possible to be selected months after filling out the interest form. If you are not selected, you can also look into applying for Seattle’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

This depends on the number of applicants, the family sizes, and types of care required for each recipient. The numbers of families receiving the subsidy will vary month to month. Eligible applicants not selected, will be waitlisted, and as spots become available, will have regular opportunities for selection.

Due to limited funds, we are unable to serve everyone. The review process is NOT first-come, first-served. We will be using a lottery system to make selections.

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Each guardian should submit one application for that family. 

We are only able to offer the application through this online portal that you can complete via an Internet-connected computer or mobile device. If you need assistance completing the application, you can call a Family Access and Support Team member to help fill out the application on behalf of your family.

If your household submits multiple Interest Forms by mistake, Scholar Fund (Scholarship Junkies) will be able to identify that multiple applications from the same household were submitted. We may contact applicants via phone or text if they detect application issues. 

Those selected to apply to the subsidy will receive both a text and email notification with guidance and a link to the application.

You should have received email and a text notification with a timeline when you submitted your Interest Form.  Please check your junk mail and review your texts. If you cannot find your notifications, you can contact an FAS Team member for support.

Due to the anticipated high number of applications, there will not be an appeal process.