About the Child Care Scholarship Program

The Child Care Scholarship Program vouchers provide financial assistance with child care costs to eligible working families in Maryland.

Eligible families receive payment vouchers from CCS Central to cover part of their child care costs. The voucher shows the subsidy rate (the part of the child care costs that the State is paying for the family), and the family co-payment (the amount that the family is required to pay according to State regulation). Families take the voucher to a child care provider that participates in the Maryland Excels Program. The voucher is a signed agreement between the State, provider and parent. The voucher is returned to CCS Central for processing. The family is responsible for paying the State assigned co-payment directly to their child care provider. Once the child begins care, the child care provider submits an invoice for payments and is then reimbursed for the subsidy portion of the payment by the State.

“Annual household income” is what is written in Line 11 (Adjusted Gross Income) of your 2021 Form 1040 Tax Return.

To be eligible for the CCS Program, you must be:

• A Maryland resident who is working/employed, in an approved training program or attending school. For families where both parents live within the same household, both parents must meet all eligibility requirements.
• UPDATE (8/24/22): Expanded eligibility guidelines now allows parents in graduate or professional programs (such as medical school, law school, AND kollel) to qualify for CCS
• Within CCS income guidelines (see above) or a recipient of Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• Willing to have your child immunized to Maryland state standards or provide documentation supporting Exemption from Immunization.
• Pursuing child support, if both parents do not live within the same household composition. (Includes court-ordered, voluntary or have “Good Cause” for not pursuing child support)
• Willing to provide proof that each child needing child care is a citizen of the United States or a qualified alien. (Provide a Birth Certificate for each child or documentation that certifies the child’s status.) NOTE: Parents ARE NOT required to be citizens of the United States.
• Willing to provide proof of identity for all members within the household composition. (Proof of identity for the parent can be any form of a government issued document. The birth certificate or immigration status documentation can serve as proof of identity for each child in the household composition.)
• Willing to provide a Photo I.D. (Only required of the head of households.)

To apply, a family must submit the following to CCS Central:

• The Child Care Scholarship (CCS) application (PDF)
• Verification of work/training activity and income
• To complete the application you MUST send in the information listed for all household members. This includes you, and your spouse or your child’s other parent living in your household.
• Most recent four (4) weeks of consecutive pay stubs
• Proof of identity (i.e. driver’s license, birth certificate, government issued identification, etc.)
• Proof of approved activity (i.e. work, school or job training)
• Proof of all other income
• Proof of address (i.e. utility bill, lease, etc.)

Completed applications and supporting documents should be sent to CCS Central 2 by:

Click here for more information on the Child Care Scholarship and the Maryland EXCELS program