Effective Date: 7/24/20
Revision Dates: 9/1/07; 4/1/08; 10/1/09; 04/01/11; 7/1/11; 7/1/12; 7/1/13; 7/1/14; 7/1/15; 11/09/15; 07/01/16, 07/01/17; 8/25/2017; 10/01/2017, 07/01/18, 12/31/18, 07/01/19; 10/1/19, 7/1/20, 7/1/21, 7/1/22, 7/1/23, 7/1/24
Cross Reference: 01.03.02 - Employment
Policy Statement:
A family is considered income eligible when the combined non-exempt gross monthly base income (earned and unearned) of all family members is at or below the amounts listed below for the corresponding family size. In two-parent families, both incomes must be combined to determine eligibility. Two-parent families include those with 2 or more adults living in the home, such as the applicant and his or her spouse or parents of a common child in the home.
Families whose monthly non-exempt income that does not exceed 225% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for their family size at the time of initial program application are eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
Family income must not exceed 275% FPL, with all other eligibility criteria met to be approved for another 12-month period when eligibility is redetermined up to 30 days after the ending date of an eligibility period. Redeterminations received more than 30 days past the last date of eligible will be treated as new applications and must have income at or below 225% FPL.
Families being redetermined with non-exempt income between 275% FPL and 85% of the State Median Income (SMI) will have their 12-month eligibility period extended 3 months. Copayment amounts should be updated to the highest amount for the family's size during this Graduated Phase Out period.
Whenever a family reports an increase to their non-exempt family income that exceeds 85% of the State Medium Income (SMI), the case is to be canceled effective 10 calendar days from the date of the termination notice sent to the family and provider(s).
If the family request child-care assistance at any time after the graduated phase-out period has ended, the request must be treated as a new application with family income below 225% of the Federal Poverty level or less to qualify.
Income Guideline
2024 FPL & SMI Comparison
| Family Size |
225% FPL |
275% FPL |
85% SMI |
| 2 |
$3,833 |
$4,684 |
$5,427 |
| 3 |
$4,841 |
$5,917 |
$6,704 |
| 4 |
$5,850 |
$7,150 |
$7,981 |
| 5 |
$6,859 |
$8,383 |
$9,258 |
| 6 |
$7,868 |
$9,616 |
$10,535 |
| 7 |
$8,876 |
$10,775 |
$10,775 |
| 8 |
$9,885 |
$11,014 |
$11,014 |
| 9 |
$10,894 |
$11,254 |
$11,254 |
| 10 |
$11,493 |
$11,493 |
$11,493 |
Procedure:
To the extent resources permit, it is the intent of the Department to provide child care services to all applicants that meet the income eligibility requirements set forth in this Section.
In the event the Department must limit participation due to insufficient appropriations or available resources, applicants included in the priority service groups are:
*Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as described in subsection (c)(1);
*Teen parents enrolled full-time in elementary school, high school or high school equivalency classes to obtain a high school degree or its equivalent;
*Families engaged in an eligible employment and/or educational activity with a special needs child and family income that does not exceed 185% of FPL for their family size;
*Working families whose monthly incomes do not exceed 185% of the most current FPL for their family size;
*Families that are not recipients of TANF whose monthly incomes do not exceed 185% of the most current FPL for their family size that need child care assistance to participate in education and training.
Parents are responsible for providing income verification and all other information required by the Department in order to determine income eligibility for child care services.
Documentation must be secured for all earned income and maintained in the family eligibility file or stored electronically in the Child Care Management System (CCMS) prior to approval for child care payments as stated in policy 01.03.02.
Other non-exempt income (see policy 01.02.02) listed on the Child Care Application (IL444-3455) is self-certified by the applicant's signature and should be included in the family's income calculation.
All non-exempt income discovered by preforming searches to State systems and databases as directed by Subsidy Management should be included in the family's income calculation
All income must be documented in the CCMS case file with either proper pay documentation, screen prints of State systems or on the self-certified child care application.
