WCCC Blog

I’d like to share some info re the requests expressed by the small group working on child care issues at the October 23 Summit. I heard the small group on Child Care report that their two main requests were 1) More funds for child care vouchers and 2) Families understanding how the voucher system works so that they can get access. Here’s some information that might help you with the second request. Jane Hiesey, Santa Cruz County Parents Association

Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) systems are located in every county in California. Our local Santa Cruz County CEL (Santa Cruz County CEL) is here to support families in need of subsidized child development services countywide. The website link for the Santa Cruz County Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) ” Connecting Parents with Child Care to Nurture Young Minds and Spirits” is http://www.santacruzcountycel.org/ Information you might find useful in helping families understand how the voucher system works can be found throughout this website.

Downloadable application forms in English and Spanish for the Santa Cruz County CEL are available on the website. To download an application for a family, start by clicking on Search for Childcare located on the left side of the home page; this will take you to the Searching for Subsidized Care page. At the bottom of the Searching for Subsidized Care page, click on the “I Understand and Agree” button. This will take you to the Do You Live in Santa Cruz County? page; click on the “Yes” button at the bottom of the page. This will take you to the Income Levels page; under Maximum Income Levels for Subsidized Care near the bottom of the page, click on an appropriate figure for “your family’s gross Monthly Income for the number of people in your family”. Then you will go to either the Resources and Referrals page with “Eligibility Results: Your family’s gross maximum income level exceeds the State Qualification Levels for any available subsidized childcare program at this time” and recommendations for next steps or to the AP, SP and HS Programs page and at the bottom of this page, click on the “Apply for Eligibility” button. This will take you to the Application Instructions page which has both “Instructions for downloading the Standard Intake Form” and “Instrucciones para bajar la forma de elegibilidad” for you to click on so that you can print an application.

A family may send the application by mail to Santa Cruz County CEL, 9047 Soquel Dr., Suite D, Aptos, CA 95003 or submit it in person at the Santa Cruz County Parents Association office (same address) or at any of the Santa Cruz County CEL partner centers or agencies.