School Readiness
Financial Assistance for Working Parents
The first five years of a child's life are critical to their lifelong development. A young child's earliest experiences and environments, at home, at school, and in the community, set the stage for their future development and school and life success.
The ELCPBC's School Readiness Program can help eligible working parents with the cost of child care (frequently called a child care subsidy).
Children in Palm Beach County are eligible from birth to 5 years-old utilizing state-funding, and from birth to 12 years-old utilizing local funding from the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County. If you and your family meet the eligibility criteria, you may qualify for child care funding under the required eligibility priorities or through a referring agency.
Click to Apply Here through the DEL Family Portal
To choose a Child Care Provider/VPK Site for your child, please contact our Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) at 561-514-3300.
The Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County (ELCPBC) and all of its partners work to build community-wide commitment to ensure every child is ready to succeed, in school and in life, through comprehensive, high-quality early learning environments.
The ELCPBC does this by supporting organizations, programs, and initiatives that support and enhance a child's:
- Physical well-being and motor development
- Social and emotional development
- Approaches to learning
- Cognition and general knowledge
School Readiness services include extended-day, extended-year, and/or school age care for children to support parents in becoming financially self-sufficient. A family’s gross income (income before taxes, insurance, and any other deductions are subtracted) is used to determine eligibility. Both earned income (for example, wages) and unearned income (for example, child support, Social Security payments, Unemployment Insurance) are counted.
Depending on the family income, the family will pay a fee for each child for whom you receive financial assistance. The co-payment is based on family income and family size. Parents are expected to make their co-payment directly to the child care provider.
All families eligible for School Readiness financial assistance may select the provider of their choice. However, ELCPBC will only pay for child care if the child care provider has been approved by the Coalition.
We’re here to help you get the services you need. If you need additional help in understanding school readiness or other topics related to early childhood care and education, please don’t hesitate to contact us - we are every parent's ‘go to’ resource for early childhood information. Call us today at 561.514.3300 or apply through the Statewide DEL Family Portal.
Local Continuum of Care for Families
The ELCPBC maintains a collaborative partnership with the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County (CSC). Through this partnership, ELCPBC is able to layer funding to maximize services provided to the children and families within Palm Beach County. ELCPBC works in alignment with CSC’s goals of increased access to quality early care and education to ensure children are ready for school; and access to quality afterschool and summer programs so children are safe, reading on grade level and avoid summer learning loss.
To access a Children's Services Council (CSC) Scholarship, families must be directly referred to the Early Learning Coalition from a CSC Healthy Beginnings provider, from one of CSC's 10 BRIDGES sites, or from one of the other specific programs listed in the categories on our CSC Scholarship page.
