Frequently Asked Questions
Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area benefits families, providers and local communities by assisting parents with tuition assistance who are striving to become self-sufficient and by providing child care technical assistance and training to child care providers through Workforce Solutions, the Texas Workforce Commission's (TWC) Child Care Services (CCS) program in our nine-county area.
Each adult in the household must be working and/or in school/training or a combination of these an average of 25 hours a week over a review period or actively looking for employment.
- Job Search Child Care: If a parent or step-parent meets eligibility criteria except averaging 25 hours per week of work, school, or training hours, early-learning child care tuition scholarships are available for a limited time to support you while searching for employment. For child care to continue, employment must be found within 90 days of child care starting. Parents may self-attest their need for job search child care to actively seek employment and that their family income is below 85 percent of the state median income if it applies. If after 3 months of job search child care, documented employment eligibility hours are not met, child care will end.
If participating in educational activities, must make successful progress towards completion of the degree, up through a bachelor's degree license, or certification each semester, which is defined as being officially enrolled in and meeting attendance standards of the program in which the student is enrolled. Successful progress towards completion of educational activities is only assessed at redetermination.
Families meeting the definition of experiencing homelessness may have up to 3 months to provide documentation verifying age and citizenship of child(ren) needing care, as needed.
Household must be within income guidelines. Gross earnings reported will be matched to the wage earnings submitted by employers to the UI Wage Earning System at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Information provided may be matched with other state and federal agencies.
Household members must reside within the Rural Capital counties: Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano or Williamson.
Each self-employed adult must provide requested documentation which may include up to 3 consecutive months of revenue and expense documentation.
The gross (before taxes) earned income is used in the determination of income, as well as all other sources of income with few exceptions. Families must meet income guidelines based on gross household income (before taxes) and family size. Types of other household include, but are not limited to: rental income for a house, homestead, store, or other property; income from boarders/lodgers; income from estate and trust funds, or royalties; pensions, annuities, life insurance, and retirement income, Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), workers’ compensation income, alimony, court settlements, or judgements. Child support, and other types of income, is not included in the gross income calculation, however all income must be reported. WSRCA staff will deduct income that does not apply.
In most cases, yes. Parents are assessed a portion of the cost of the child care based upon the household's total gross (before taxes) monthly income and the number of children receiving care. We call this the parent share of cost. The parent share of the child care must be paid-in-full to the child care provider on the 1st business day of each month. Failure for non-payment of the parent's cost of care may result in the recoupment of funds and discontinuation of services. If care is discontinued for non-payment, the recoupment funds must be repaid in full and the family will have a 60 day wait period before being able to reapply.
Yes, parents choose the child care provider. However, the provider must either have a current contract with CCS or be willing to sign a contract with CCS in order to qualify. Parents have access to a list of child care providers who have a current contract with CCS. Parents are also provided tip sheets about quality child care and access to developmental screenings. Parents are encouraged to visit the child care facilities before making this very important decision.
Yes, we maintain a waitlist for services. A waitlist application for services must be submitted.
Waitlist applications are processed in the date order received. We provide child care services to eligible families based on priority groups and as funds become available.
- 1st Group: Choices, TANF, SNAP E&T and Transitional Child Care.
- 2nd Group: Children of a Qualified Veteran or Spouse, Foster Youth, **Homeless, Military Deployed, Teen Parents, and Children with Disabilities.
- 3rd Group: Siblings of children currently in care, parents who are participating in a case-managed employment or education program with the goal to obtain self-sufficiency in collaboration with Workforce Solutions Rural Capital, and Children receiving care through Early Head Start Child Care Partnership grants in collaboration with Workforce Solutions Rural Capital.
- 4th Group: Counties depending on rank from highest to lowest difference between county poverty share and expenditures.
- 5th Group: All other income-eligible families.
After your waitlist application is processed, a letter is sent to you regarding your form. Please allow up to three weeks to receive the letter.
We send letters, forms and other paperwork through your For Child Care Portal Account. If your physical and/or mailing address, email address or phone number changes, notify us immediately to update your information through your For Child Care Portal Account, phone 1-877-223-0404 or email rcachildcareservices@ruralcapital.net.
If we are unable to contact you, your child will be removed from the waitlist. Should you need services in the future, you must start over and complete another Waitlist Application.
**Homelessness Subtitle VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”
The definition includes:
- Children and youths sharing the housing of other individuals due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; living in emergency or transitional shelters; abandoned in hospitals; or awaiting foster care placement
- Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
- Children and youths living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations or similar settings
- Migratory children who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in this section
