NASHVILLE – Tennessee child care providers are seeing a 10% jump in payment rates for children whose families are enrolled and meet requirements in the state’s assistance programs for low-income families.
Department of Human Services officials said it’s a step to help parents and caretakers better balance their lives while raising a family and holding down a jobs.
The increase, which took place Friday, applies to all categories of care in the state’s Child Care Certificate Program.
“Many child care providers have continuously and consistently served families throughout the pandemic, enabling parents to work and children to continue their critical early learning,” Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Clarence H. Carter said in a statement. “This rate increase will create incentives to grow the child care industry and remove some of the barriers that make it challenging for parents to enter the workforce and support their families.”
(READ MORE: Chattanooga child care centers ramp up COVID-19 protocols as cases rise among children)