Over 500 children were enrolled in Seattle's Child Care Assistance Program on Wednesday, Aug. 5, as their families learned their monthly out-of-pocket childcare costs are dropping by hundreds of dollars.
The city's Department of Education and Early Learning emailed participating families to announce an average $499-per-month increase in co-pay support, funded through the newly signed FEPP Levy spending plan.
Families with infants from newborn to age 1 will see the largest relief: an average $754 per month in additional support, according to Seattle's Child.
"For a family with a young baby, an extra $754 in your pocket every month makes a huge difference," DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle said. "Those dollars can go toward diapers, rent, healthcare, groceries, savings, or any number of other expenses."
In a region where licensed infant care can reach $30,000 a year, those numbers land hard.
A 2023 city report found Seattle-King County families spend 20% or more of household income on childcare. According to a Seattle's Child analysis of that data, when costs consume that much, parents tend to reduce work hours or leave the workforce entirely, widening the gap between higher-income and lower-income communities.
The subsidy increase is the first family-facing dollar figure to emerge from the $1.3 billion FEPP Levy, which Mayor Katie Wilson signed into its six-year spending plan on Monday, Aug. 3.
The levy's implementation plan calls for CCAP to serve 1,300 children up to age 12 each year, along with annual retention payments for roughly 5,000 childcare workers.
Marissa Rousselle, DEEL's Impact & External Affairs Division director, said parents who received the email were "pretty excited." One replied: "This will be such an amazing release on our financial situation. With inflation, it has been even more challenging to keep us floating."
Who qualifies and how to apply
CCAP is open to Seattle families earning between 60.01% and 110% of State Median Income. That means a family of three earning up to $128,724 per year, or a family of four earning up to $153,244. The program covers children ages 1 month up to their 13th birthday and is open regardless of citizenship or immigration status.
More than 290 licensed providers across the city accept CCAP vouchers, including center-based care, home-based family childcare and school-age programs. The city pays providers directly; families pay only the difference between the subsidy and the provider's rate.
Applications are open now at earlylearning.seattle.gov. Language assistance is available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, Amharic, Oromo, Tagalog and Simplified Chinese. Families can also call (206) 386-1050 or email [email protected].
What else the FEPP Levy funds this fall
The same levy will deliver free breakfast and lunch for all Seattle Public Schools students starting in fall 2026, expand the Seattle Preschool Program to all 3- and 4-year-olds including dual-language classrooms, fund mental and behavioral health services for more than 7,300 youth annually and provide food vouchers for up to 5,000 families during weekends and school breaks.
DEEL has not published a neighborhood-level breakdown of CCAP enrollment or cost burden by zip code. Families and advocates can request disaggregated data under Washington's Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) through the City of Seattle's public records process or by contacting DEEL directly at [email protected]. Quarterly implementation dashboards will be published at seattle.gov/education as the levy rolls out.
