Help Paying for Child Care

Children’s Council’s Family Services Department provides child care payments for to eligible low-income families. They must be working, in job training, in transition off welfare, or have special family needs. Our CalWORKs subsidy programs help support more than 2,500 families and 4,500 children each year.

Have you received welfare payments (CalWORKs) within the last two years? If so, you may immediately qualify for our programs, depending on income and family size. You must still be working, going to school, or in an approved activity to qualify. Call (415) 276-2951 to get started!

If you have never been on welfare and would like to see if you qualify, go to the Human Services Agency (HSA). It is at 170 Otis Street, 1st Floor, between 13th Street and Gough Street. There, you can meet with an Eligibility Worker, who will determine if you qualify. If you do, HSA will send a child care authorization to us and we will immediately assign you to a Family Service Specialist. You may call the Human Services Agency for further details at (415) 557-5723.

If you do not qualify for welfare, you can still apply for child care assistance through the Centralized Eligibility List (CEL). Complete a CEL application by visiting our Resource & Referral drop-in room at 445 Church Street, Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm, or by calling (415) 276-2951 for an application.