Wake County to help parents hurt by COVID-19 pay for child care

Oct. 26--Wake County will help some parents pay for child care during remote learning with a new program launched Monday.

Parents who meet income restrictions and have been hurt financially by COVID-19 are eligible to receive child-care reimbursements for their young school-age children.

"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."

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.

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 the following 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 is under development and will be updated.

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