Child Care Services

Every month, Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) supports over 22,000 families with low incomes in paying for child care so that parents can work or go to school, and children have more opportunities to thrive as learners. Providers registered with CCAP play a vital role in helping children and families access child care. CCAP pays child care providers what a provider charges, or the applicable CCAP maximum rate, whichever is less. Maximum rates vary by the county, provider type and age of child. Maximum rates are 15 or 20% higher for providers that are accredited, have certain credentials, or have a 3 or 4-Star Parent Aware Rating. See payment charts and learn more on the child care assistance website.

Additionally, providers receiving CCAP are eligible for a 10% increase to their Great Start Compensation Support payments. 

Child Care Aware Regional Grants are available on a competitive basis, helping child care programs improve the safety and quality of their programs. For more information, visit Child Care Aware's grant program website, or contact the local grant administrator using the Child Care Aware's Local Resources website.

The Early Learning Scholarships increase access to high-quality early childhood programs for children ages birth to 4 years old with the highest needs. To be eligible to receive Early Learning Scholarships, programs must be participating in Parent Aware. Starting July 1, 2024, maximum award amounts will be based on the child’s age, program type, county where the program is located, and Parent Aware participation status. View the Early Learning Scholarship Maximum Award Amounts (PDF) and the Early Learning Scholarship Maximum Registration Fees (PDF) to learn more. 
 

Child Development Associate (CDA) Awards help early educators pay for the required training, application, and renewal of the nationally recognized Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™. Learn more about CDA awards on the Child Care Aware of Minnesota website. 

The Great Start Compensation Support Payments Program supports Minnesota’s child care industry and the child care workforce through payments to increase compensation and benefits for early educators. Payments are available to all eligible child care programs on a monthly basis.

Financial bonuses are available through the R.E.E.T.A.I.N (Retaining Early Educators Through Attaining Incentives Now) program, aiming to keep strong, well-trained early educators in the field. For more information, visit Child Care Aware's bonus reward website.

Individuals working in the child care workforce may be eligible for higher education scholarships through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Minnesota program. To learn more, visit Child Care Aware's T.E.A.C.H. website, or call the Child Care Aware Coordinating Office at 651-290-9704. 

Technology Grants can help licensed child care businesses access technology to improve business management practices. Priority is given to child care businesses that currently have no or limited technology resources, and particularly to those in Child Care Access Equity areas.

For more information, visit the First Children’s Finance Child Care Grants webpage, email First Children’s Finance at grants@firstchildrensfinance.org, or call (612) 473-6020. 

The Department of Human Services (DHS) Licensing Division has a critical role in monitoring and supporting health and safety in approximately 10,600 licensed child care programs in Minnesota. Licensure provides the necessary oversight mechanisms to ensure child care is provided in a healthy and safe environment, provided by qualified people, and can meet the developmental needs of all children in care.

Parent Aware is Minnesota’s quality rating and improvement system for child care and early education programs. Parent Aware recognizes and rewards programs for using best practices by offering a Four-Star Rating scale that is posted on ParentAware.org. Child care and early education programs can learn more about Parent Aware by calling 888-291-9811 or visiting ParentAware.org, or by visiting the state's Parent Aware website.

• Lus Hmoob: Yog koj xav tau kev pab txhais lus Hmoob, thov hu rau peb ntawm 1-888-291-9811, nias tus lej 2. 
• Af Soomaali:  Si aad u hesho turjumaan Soomaali ah, fadlan wac 1-888-291-9811 oo dooro doorashada 5. Ha dooran doorashada 3.
• Espanol: Si gustaría asistencia de lenguaje en español, por favor contáctennos al 1-888-291-9811, presione la opción 1.

• As part of the Minnesota Department of Human Services' ongoing efforts to promote equity and ensure children receive the best care, we are working with key partners to redesign the program. The Parent Aware Redesign includes multiple projects that center best practices and racial, cultural, linguistic, ability and geographic equity. This multi-year effort will be informed by significant community engagement. Sign up for email updates on the Parent Aware Redesign and email questions to dhs.child.care@state.mn.u
• Child care and early education programs can connect with staff or attend an event to learn more about Parent Aware at Your Support Team webpage.  
• Child care and early education programs can apply online for Parent Aware at Developtoolmn.org, Minnesota's Quality Improvement and Registry Tool.

The department partners with state and local organizations to provide free and low-cost coaching and training to early educators. These organization also provide additional supports. 

Achieve 

Achieve operates and administers the Minnesota Center for Professional Development (MNCPD). Primarily focused on child care and early childhood education, Achieve supports career development for individuals, trainers, Relationship Based Professional Development (RBPD) specialists, and course writers. It provides information and support on Minnesota’s career lattice, job boards, scholarships, grant programs and more. 

Center for Inclusive Child Care 

The Center for Inclusive Child Care (CICC) provides free relationship-based professional development (RBPD) including support, modeling and resources to child care programs throughout Minnesota. A coach can partner with programs to provide support focused on the successful inclusion of children with special needs or challenging behaviors, implementing health and safety best practices and/or supporting the unique needs of infants and toddlers in your care. For more information, visit CICC's webpage, email CICC at info@inclusivechildcare.org, or call 651/603-6265 for more information.

Child Care Aware of Minnesota 

Child Care Aware of Minnesota partner agencies support the professional growth of child care programs. Many local services are delivered by an agency in each Region, and some services are coordinated across multiple regions by one agency in each District.

First Children's Finance 

First Children's Finance can help with a variety of professional development opportunities. Whether a provider is starting a new child care business, or increasing their knowledge as a child care CEO, they are here to help. Trainings and workshops are designed for family child care entrepreneurs and child care center owners and directors. All curriculum and trainers are approved by Develop, Minnesota’s Quality Improvement and Registry, so early educators are provided credit on your career lattice. 

Parent Aware 

Parent Aware’s mission is to help families find the quality care and education their children need to succeed in school and life. The educational experiences children have during the first five years of life will shape the adults they become, making it especially important for all children to have access to quality care and education. As a child care or early education professional, you play a critical role in helping complete this mission. When you volunteer to participate in Parent Aware, you go above and beyond basic health and safety requirements and use best practices that support child development.

Licensed child care programs participating in the Full-Rating Pathway are assigned a Parent Aware Quality Coach and Professional Development Advisor (PDA) once they have applied to participate in Parent Aware. Learn more about your support team here. 

Empower to Educate provides personal support from a local Workforce Advisor who can help guide early educators on their path. Empower to Educate also offers financial support, free training options, job placement support, and an opportunity to be mentored by an experienced early childhood educator.

Develop, Minnesota's Quality Improvement and Registry, offers professional development and quality improvement tools to support early learning and school-age care. Visit Developtoolmn.org to:

• Search for training opportunities
• Search for coaches, consultants and mentors
• Create professional development plans
• Design quality improvement plans
• Track and verify employment, education and training history
• Document achievements, including accreditation and Parent Aware Ratings.

There are easy steps and resources early educators can take to make their spaces more inclusive to children with disabilities. Creating Inclusive Child Care Spaces is a guide to help providers think more inclusively about children with disabilities, and provides easy to access steps and free resources to improve care for children with disabilities. Creating inclusive spaces is especially important for children with disabilities, whose families often struggle to find care who meet their needs. As an educator you can positively impact these families and grow your business by providing quality child care. Learn more by reading the guide. 

The Child Care Assistance Program can pay a higher rate for children with special needs if children require higher levels of care for their age due to a physical, behavioral or medical disability. The disability must be documented, and the provider must explain why the child needs a higher than normal level of care, what their extra costs are and what steps they have taken to meet those needs. To ask for a special needs rate for an individual child, the parent and provider must complete the  CCAP Special Needs Rate Variance Request DHS-4194 (PDF), include proof of the child's special needs due to disability and submit the form to the child's case worker.

Additionally, the Center for Inclusive Child Care offers a number of resources to help early educators create inclusive spaces for all children.  

The Minnesota Department of Education guides work on high-quality learning in early childhood education.

Early Childhood Indicators of Progress (ECIPs): Minnesota's Early Learning Standards, are a shared set of expectations of what child can know and do.

• ECIPs for Birth - 5 are on the Minnesota Department of Education site
• Minnesota's Learning Guidelines, School-Age Indicators of Progress (DHS-6398) (PDF) are here.

The Knowledge and Competency Framework for Early Childhood Professionals combines what an early childhood educator needs to know about research and theory, and the skills needed to work effectively in the field. Translated versions of the framework and corresponding Companion Guides are now available for download in Hmong, Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese. 

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the primary source of federal funding for child care subsidies, parent information and child care quality supports. 

The Early Childhood Connector is a cross-agency effort to keep child care providers and early educators in Minnesota up-to-date on state initiatives. By signing up for the newsletter or attending a call, early educators of all types can expect to relevant content to their field. Learn more on the Early Childhood Connector website. 

Early Childhood Connector Newsletter

Sign up to receive communications from the Early Childhood Connector Newsletter, a cross-agency effort to provide updates to child care providers and early educators in Minnesota. By signing up, you can expect to receive a quarterly newsletter highlighting resources, supports and updates on child care and early education from the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet and Departments of Education, Health and Human Services. Content will be tailored to licensed and nonlicensed child care, Head Start and prekindergarten programs. In addition to the Early Childhood Connector newsletter, occasional updates will be sent.   

Early Childhood Connector Calls 

On a quarterly basis, the state is hosting Connector Calls with child care providers and early educators to answer questions related to legislation, licensing, programs, grants and more. The purpose of the call is to answer clarifying questions that providers may have. Calls are hosted online on WebEx, and providers attending the call will not be on video or be able to ask questions live. Calls will be recorded and available publicly for those that weren't able to attend.

Learn more about Connector Calls and submit your questions here. Questions must be submitted two weeks before the provider call to be answered. State staff will try to answer all questions, but may not have time to get to all of them. 

When you care for the children of family, friends or neighbors, you are providing critical support in helping families and the community thrive. You are more than a babysitter; Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers are a critical part of the child care and early education workforce. The departments partners with grantees across the state to support these caregivers, including culturally appropriate training and resources. Learn more on the FFN Minnesota website. 

Stay up to date on the state's child care and early education news, initiatives and latest reports.

Child Care Wayfinder is your one-stop navigation network for starting and growing child care programs in Minnesota. They offer personalized support and resources to help you succeed, including personal support from a Wayfinder Navigator.

The Minnesota Tribal Resources for Early Childhood Care (MNTRECC) provides technical assistance and support to Tribal child care programs throughout the state of Minnesota. MNTRECC serves as a foundation and link where child care and other early childhood programs can access resources, information and get technical assistance. Their goal is to enhance and strengthen the child care delivery system for Native American children and families throughout the state of Minnesota. Services are provided in cooperation with the Child Care Aware Minnesota and Minnesota Tribal Child Care Programs.