Wake County to help parents hurt by COVID-19 pay for child care
Wake County announced a new program Monday to help some parents pay for child care for school-age children participating in remote learning during the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has already stretched household budgets thin, and we don’t want parents to have to choose between earning a living and giving their children the care they need,” said Greg Ford, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, in a news release. “That’s why today we’re launching a new program called WakeSUPPORTS – to make it easier to afford child care and remote learning supervision.”
Parents have grappled with their children’s online classes since March. Some parents whose children would normally be in school have had to pay to put them in child-care centers during the school day.
The program uses $5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money to help cover child care associated with remote learning from Aug. 17 — the first day of school — through Sept. 30, and again during the month of December. Monday was the first day back for in-person learning for some Wake County Public School System elementary school students.
About 2,000 children are expected to be covered by the program.
“This is not a cost parents planned on,” said Keith Poston, president of WakeEd Partnership. It’s been very difficult for parents trying to go to their workplaces or work from home while juggling their children’s virtual-learning schedules, he said. This new program will give them some relief, he said.
Wake County’s program works in tandem with North Carolina’s Emergency School Age Family Support Program, which covers the months of October and November.
To qualify for WakeSupports, people must live in Wake County, have a child in kindergarten through sixth grade, meet certain income requirements and been hurt financially by the coronavirus. Those income requirements differ by family size: a family of two can’t make more than $45,180 while a family of four can’t make more than $56,460.
People can apply by visiting www.covid19.wakegov.com/wakesupports, by calling 919-212-7621 and by email wakesupportschildcare@wakegov.com.
Applications can also be picked up in person at these Wake County locations:
- Swinburne Building, 220 Swinburne St., Raleigh
- Eastern Regional Center, 1002 Dogwood Drive, Zebulon
- Northern Regional Center, 350 E. Holding Ave., Wake Forest
- Southern Regional Center, 130 N. Judd Parkway NE, Fuquay-Varina
People need to have a copy of their ID, their most recent paystub and information about the child-care provider. Parents can receive $870 per month, per child for a licensed child-care center, $645 per month, per child for a family child-care home and $516 per month, per child for a community-based organization.
People can apply for the state’s Emergency School-Age Family Support Program at bit.ly/NCFamilySupport
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 12:13 PM.
