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How to apply for Raising Travis County child care scholarships and who qualifies
Summary
Workforce Solutions Capital Area explained eligibility (Travis County residency; family income at or below 85% of state median; working, in training, or job-searching), priority pulls from a multi-year wait list beginning with 0–3 year olds, outreach/enrollment timelines, and provider contracting steps (interest form, Texas Rising Star process).
Workforce Solutions Capital Area staff detailed how families can apply for child care scholarships funded through the Raising Travis County program and how providers can enroll to accept scholarship families.
Yaela Lawson, interim CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said Workforce Solutions administers federal childcare scholarship funds locally and partners with Travis County to supplement those scholarships through county contracts. "We contract with child care centers across the community," Lawson said, noting Workforce Solutions works with more than 300 child care centers in the Capital Area.
Madison Mathijs, director of Childcare Quality Initiatives, laid out family eligibility and the enrollment process: families must be Travis County residents at or below 85% of the state median income and be working, in an education or training program, or actively searching for a job. "You have up to 90 days to search for a job as well," Mathijs said for those using job-search hours.
Mathijs described the county’s wait list process: staff are pulling families who have been on the wait list for up to about two and a half years, prioritizing 0–3-year-olds first and then 4–12-year-olds and siblings. Families will receive outreach by email (followed by text) when they are pulled from the wait list, and once contacted they have 10 business days to respond; the enrollment link remains active for 14 days, and care can begin within the next two-week pay period after paperwork and provider choice are complete.
For providers: Mathijs said interested programs must submit an online interest form, provide licensing and rate information and bank details, and participate in a Texas Rising Star (TRS) introduction meeting and an introductory visit. Entry-level designated TRS providers can contract and begin accepting scholarship children while they work through the full rating process. Mathijs said the contracting process typically takes about one to two months but can be faster depending on documentation turnaround.
Staff emphasized that Workforce Solutions also offers navigators to help families through application steps and that all program details, QR codes and links will be posted on the Raising Travis County and Workforce Solutions websites.
