Kentucky child care assistance and state preschool: CCAP, All STARS and KRS 157.3175 (2026)

How CCAP decides who qualifies in Kentucky

Your child must live in Kentucky, be a U.S. citizen or qualified immigrant, and be under 13. A child up to 19 qualifies if a health professional documents that they cannot care for themselves, or if they are under court supervision ⁠¹. Children also need a current immunization certificate. If shots are missing, benefits continue for 30 days while the family catches up ⁠¹. CCAP will not pay a parent, stepparent, guardian or anyone living in the home to provide care. It also will not pay for Head Start hours themselves, though it can pay for wrap-around care before and after Head Start ⁠¹.

Section 8 of the rule sets one income test: gross family income at or below 85% of Kentucky’s state median income (SMI). That is the highest limit federal CCDF rules allow, and the same limit applies at application and at each yearly recertification ⁠¹⁠⁵. CHFS’s current tip sheet gives these gross monthly limits ⁠³:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Yearly figures are the monthly limits times 12. The “previous” column comes from the FFY 2025-2027 CCDF State Plan ⁠⁵. CHFS still linked this chart in September 2026 ⁠². If the limits are updated for October 2026, the kynect prescreening tool will use the new figures.

Some families are judged without this chart. If CHFS approves care through child protective or preventive services, there is no income test and no copay ⁠¹⁠⁴. Two groups have all household income excluded, to the extent funds are available. One is parents who meet the work-hour rule and are employed in a licensed child-care center or certified family child-care home. The other is working foster parents ⁠¹. 2026 House Bill 6 (Acts ch. 146) wrote the child-care-worker exclusion into statute in April 2026. It also covers child-care microcenter staff and owners of certified homes and Type II centers ⁠⁶. The 2026-2028 budget sets aside $17,240,000 for that exclusion in fiscal year 2026-27 ⁠⁷.

Work, school and job-search hours Kentucky accepts

A single parent must be employed an average of 20 hours a week. Two adults need 40 combined hours, and the one who works less must have at least 5 ⁠¹. If one parent works 20 hours and a health professional documents that the other cannot provide care, the family also qualifies. For self-employed parents, CHFS divides countable self-employment income by the state minimum wage to get hours ⁠¹. Other qualifying situations ⁠¹⁠⁴:

• Students at a certified trade school or accredited college, enrolled in at least 6 credit hours (in person or online), in good academic standing. Student-based CCAP has a 60-month lifetime limit. A parent who does not finish a term owes that term’s child care tuition.
• Teen parents in high school or working toward a GED.
• Kentucky Works (KTAP) and SNAP Employment and Training participants.
• Job search, homelessness, or a job or school program that just ended. These cases get at least three months. DCC-113 says the job-search period is available once in a 12-month period at initial eligibility.

Once approved, a family keeps CCAP for 12 months unless income goes over 85% SMI, the qualifying activity ends for good, or the family leaves the state ⁠¹. If a family goes over the limit, the child keeps care for a six-month transition period while CHFS pays the provider 50% of the usual rate ⁠¹. The 2026-2028 budget funds that transition with $1,440,000 in fiscal year 2026-27 ⁠⁷.

Kentucky’s daily copay chart in 922 KAR 2:160

Kentucky charges a flat daily copay based on gross monthly income and household size. It is not a percentage of income, and it is paid straight to the provider ⁠¹. CHFS waived all copays from 2021 until September 30, 2024, using federal relief money and then state funds. Its 2025-2027 CCDF plan said the new chart was designed around a cap of 7% of income ⁠⁵. An excerpt from the chart ⁠¹:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Each $300 income band raises the copay by $1. Households of 7 or more pay $1 less for each extra member, down to $0. A family with more than five members pays no more than $25 a day ⁠¹.

Here is an example using our own math: a family of three earning $3,000 a month owes $7 a day. With five days of care a week, that is about $152 a month, or roughly 5% of income. The copay is set at application or recertification and cannot go up during the 12-month eligibility period ⁠¹. A May 2026 federal rule removed the national requirement to cap copays at 7% of income ⁠¹⁵. Kentucky’s copay chart is part of its own regulation, so that federal change does not raise it. Families also pay any overage: the gap between the provider’s price and the state’s maximum daily rate from the DCC-300 chart. Providers may not charge CCAP families more than private-pay families ⁠²⁠⁵.

Who gets served first if CCAP money runs short

CHFS’s family page tells parents to apply by phone or through kynect and does not mention a waiting list ⁠². The regulation, however, lets the cabinet stop approving new applications when funds run short. It also requires 30 days’ notice to families before any cut in benefits ⁠¹. If that happens, Section 13 sets this order ⁠¹:

1. Child protective or preventive services cases

2. Children with special needs

3. Children experiencing homelessness

   Homeless families also get immediate approval and three months to bring verification ⁠¹⁠⁵.

4. Children in the cabinet’s custody

5. KTAP recipients in Kentucky Works

6. Teen parents in high school or a GED program

7. KTAP recipients moving to employment, and families whose KTAP case closed in the last 12 months

8. Low-income working parents

9. Parents in education or training programs

The 2026-2028 budget’s base CCAP line is $10,176,000 in state General Fund for fiscal year 2026-27. The budget describes that money as serving families at or below 160% of the federal poverty level ⁠⁷. That is a funding description, not the eligibility rule, which stays at 85% SMI in 922 KAR 2:160 ⁠¹.

Applying through kynect or a DCBS office

1. Prescreen on kynect

   Use the Child Care Assistance prescreening tool on kynect benefits. It compares your household size and gross income with the current chart ⁠².

2. Gather documents

   You need ID for the head of household and proof of each child’s citizenship or qualified immigrant status, such as a birth certificate. Add proof of Kentucky residence (a lease or written statement), pay stubs or self-employment records, child support papers, and a school schedule if you are a student ⁠³.

3. Apply

   Apply online at kynect.ky.gov/benefits, call 855-306-8959, or go to your local DCBS office. Interpreters are free at 866-291-8931 ⁠²⁠³.

4. Use presumptive eligibility

   If you report that you are working or in school and show ID, CCAP can start right away. You then have three months to prove the rest ⁠¹.

5. Expect a decision within 30 days

   The cabinet must send a written notice within 30 calendar days of receiving your application ⁠¹. If approved, you sign the DCC-94 Child Care Service Agreement and Certificate with your provider ⁠¹.

6. Report the required changes

   These include income over 85% SMI, a lasting change in work or school, a household or address change, and a change of provider or care hours ⁠³⁠⁴.

7. Appeal if denied

   CHFS must give 10 days’ notice before reducing or ending benefits. You can ask for an administrative hearing on any eligibility decision under 921 KAR 2:055 ⁠¹.

Kentucky All STARS ratings and the money behind them

Kentucky All STARS is the state’s five-level quality rating system under KRS 199.8943 and 922 KAR 2:270 ⁠⁸. Any center or family child-care home that takes public funds, including CCAP, must take part. New providers start at Level 1. Levels 3 to 5 require an on-site environment assessment, and Level 5 needs 41 to 50 points across four domains plus classroom scores of at least 5 ⁠⁸. Ratings last three years and are checked every year ⁠⁸.

The rating affects your options in two ways. Centers at Levels 3, 4 and 5 receive an extra $25, $35 or $45 a month for each CCAP child under 3 they enroll ($23-$43 for older children). Smaller homes get $18-$40 ⁠⁸. Separately, CCAP pays accredited providers $5 a day more and pays $10 a day more for care on nights or weekends ⁠¹. HB 6 requires CHFS to send lawmakers a plan to modernize All STARS by October 1, 2026 ⁠⁶. State-funded preschool classrooms enter All STARS at Level 3 ⁠¹¹.

Free state-funded preschool through your school district

Kentucky’s state-funded preschool program is free, but it is not universal. School districts must serve every 4-year-old “at risk of educational failure”, which KRS 157.3175 defines as qualifying for free school lunch. The child must be 4 by August 1 ⁠⁹. Children who are 3 or 4 by August 1 and have an identified disability or developmental delay also qualify ⁠⁹⁠¹¹. Free lunch is 130% of the federal poverty guidelines ⁠¹². Using the 2026 guidelines, the 2026-27 limit works out to $35,516 a year for a family of three and $42,900 for four (our calculation) ⁠¹²⁠¹³. That is far below the CCAP limit.

Under 704 KAR 3:410, districts must offer at least 2.5 hours of instruction a day. Options are half-day five days a week, half-day four days, full-day four days, or an approved local design. Each class can have up to 20 children, with one adult per 10 ⁠¹⁰. Eligible children may not be put on a waiting list. Other 4-year-olds can attend if there is space, and some districts charge tuition or use other funds for them ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹. You can establish eligibility up to six months before school starts. At enrollment you need a birth certificate, an immunization certificate and a health exam from the past year. Transportation is up to each district ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹.

Bills in the 2026 session to expand preschool to all 4-year-olds, including HB 574, died in committee ⁠¹⁴. Most preschool days are shorter than a workday, so CCAP can still pay for care during the hours preschool does not cover ⁠¹. Families comparing other states can use the 50-state child care assistance table.