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� achmei'l� 3 s Child Care in Orange County Oranze County Child Care Resources In Orange County there are 81 licensed centers and 30 licensed homes,providing care for over 1,000 children. Roughly 80%are enrolled in child care centers, and 20%are enrolled in family child care homes. Of the 110 total licensed programs in Orange County, 79%of them are 3,4,or 5 star rated. Of the total, 55%are four or five star rated. These numbers accentuate the high quality of care found in Orange County's child care centers. Quality child care is very expensive to provide.In a good program there are low child to staff ratios.The environment is clean safe and stimulating,with many fun,child-oriented and age- appropriate toys and activities,and lots of space for children to move around.This can add up to high costs. Families can spend over$1,000 a month per child for full-time day care. In our society,most of the responsibility of paying for child care falls on parents. Orange County has the highest rates for child care of any county in the state. Many families cannot afford the cost of care on their own. Federal,State and County Subsidy Resources Because of the high costs,many working families have difficulty affording quality day care for their children.A parent making less than a prescribed income, and meeting certain eligibility criteria may be eligible for help to pay part of their child care costs. North Carolina's Division of Child Development uses a combination of state and federal funds to provide subsidized child care services to eligible families through a locally administered state-supervised voucher system. Annually,each county receives a combination of state and federal funding from the Division of Child Development for subsidized child care services. The amount of funding allocated to each county is determined by legislation. This enables increased access to child care for low income families. Orange County is one of only a few counties in the state that has a dual subsidy system. Both Child Care Services Association and the Orange County Department of Social Services handle childcare subsidy. The funding sources for the programs differ,as does eligibility criteria and waiting list priorities. The Orange County Department of Social Services provides the majority of all child care subsidies in Orange County. These funds are federal, state and county. Department of Social Services Subsidy If a family meets the eligibility criteria for the Department of Social Services,the state of North Carolina pays a portion of the cost of child care. Parents are free to choose a child care arrangement that best fits their needs as long as the provider chosen participates in the Subsidized Child Care Program. The amount the state pays for child care depends on the family's situational criteria,the family's income,and the cost of the child care provided. Most families must qualify based on need and income, and are required to pay a percentage of child care costs based on their countable monthly income. The percentage depends on the number of people in the family,but ranges from 8 to 10 percent of income. There is one fee for families receiving subsidized child day care,regardless of the number of children in care. A family may receive child care assistance for one or more of the following reasons if they are income eligible: