BISMARCK – Child care providers and parents will begin to experience additional enhancements to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) this month., according to North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS).

Recent enhancements include a reduced co-pay amount for most parents, an increase in the maximum amount that CCAP will pay a child care provider for services and a new bonus for child care providers who care for infants and toddlers enrolled in CCAP.

“To address North Dakota’s child care needs, we are continuously exploring ways to utilize existing infrastructure to help address high priority needs,” Economic Assistance Director Michele Gee said. “Since the beginning of the North Dakota Child Care Initiative, HHS has made several high impact improvements to CCAP both to improve affordability for working families and to support the financial health of child care businesses.”

Other enhancements to the state’s CCAP that have been implemented include the Child Care Workforce Benefit, extending the 12-month eligibility period to 18 months and quality-based bonuses for child care providers.

In 2023, Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1540, which allocated nearly $66 million of state funds to work alongside federal funds for the ND Child Care Initiative.