Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) dashboard

Over 650,000 Minnesota children may be in child care each day. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Care Assistance Program provides financial assistance to help families with low incomes pay for child care so that parents can go to school or work, and so that children are well cared for and prepared to enter kindergarten.

Minnesota counties provide child care assistance services for almost 30,000 children in an average month. Yet, many families face barriers to accessing quality child care. Since 2012, there has been an 18 percent net decrease of family child care programs and a 9 percent net increase in the number of child care centers, making it difficult for some parents to attend school and go to work without stable, reliable, quality child care for their children. In addition, there are waiting lists for child care assistance in many counties.