How to Apply

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) helps low-income families pay for child care while the parents work, look for work, or go to school.

Who Can Get CCCAP?

To get help from CCCAP to pay for child care, you must:

• Live in Colorado.
• Be working, looking for work, or attending school or training.
• Have at least one child who is under 13 (or under 19 if the child has special needs or a disability and requires child care).
• Have a family income that is less than the CCCAP income limits, which vary from county to county. The Colorado Department of Human Services provides a chart listing each county's CCCAP income limits (the limit when you apply is called the "Entry Income").
  • If you get Colorado Works benefits, need child care, and get a referral from your Colorado Works eligibility worker or case manager, you automatically qualify for CCCAP (and bypass the waiting list, if there is one).
  • If you are in the Colorado Child Welfare program (for situations of abuse or neglect), you automatically qualify for CCCAP (and bypass the waiting list, if there is one).

  How to Apply

  You can apply for CCCAP:

  • Online through Colorado PEAK
  • By contacting your local county human services department, or
  • By downloading a paper form, filling it out, and mailing or taking it to your local county human services department.

  When you apply, you must provide either:

  • Copies of pay stubs (or other documents showing where you work and how much you earn), or
  • Written proof that you are enrolled in an education program.

  You will get a letter or email from your county letting you know if you have been approved for CCCAP within 15 days after you send in your signed application and all needed documents.

  You have up to 30 days to send in copies of these documents or CCCAP won't help pay for your child care. (Remember that the sooner you send in your documents, the sooner you will find out if you can get CCCAP.)

  If you can't get the documents you need, talk with your county child care worker. The county worker may also call your employer to ask about your hours and wages.

  Other helpful programs

  You may also be interested in:

  • The Colorado Preschool Program (CPP), which offers low-cost half-day or full-day preschool or full-day kindergarten for children who are considered at risk of failing in school in the future.
  • The Denver Preschool Program (DPP), which helps Denver families pay for high-quality preschool.
  • Head Start / Early Head Start, which helps children from low-income families be ready to go to school.

  If you have a school-age child with special needs or a disability, the Colorado Department of Education has a website for parents and families with details about special education issues, programs, and resources.

  And when you apply for CCCAP benefits online through Colorado PEAK, you can apply for other programs at the same time, including:

  • Head Start / Early Head Start
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • Colorado Works
  • Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), and
  • Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP).