Montana child care assistance: Best Beginnings Scholarship, copays and pre-K options (2026)

Child Care Resources or Family Connections: which agency handles your Montana case

You apply online, and the system sends your application to the Child Care Agency that covers your county ⁠¹:

• Child Care Resources (Region 1), Missoula, 406-728-6446. It serves 23 western and south central counties, including Missoula, Flathead, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Silver Bow, Ravalli, Lake and Park ⁠⁷.
• Family Connections (Region 2), Great Falls, 406-761-6010. It serves 33 central and eastern counties, including Yellowstone, Cascade, Hill, Custer, Big Horn, Glacier and Richland ⁠⁷.

The scholarship pays licensed centers, registered group and family homes, family, friend and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and relative caregivers. It does not pay a parent or a member of the child’s own household ⁠⁴. Children must be under 13 when eligibility is determined, unless they have a disability or special needs. Families must have less than $1 million in assets ⁠⁴. Tribal families may be eligible for both their Tribe’s CCDF program and the scholarship ⁠¹.

Montana’s 185% of poverty entry limit, and what it means as a share of SMI

A 2023 state law requires DPHHS to set the scholarship’s qualifying income at no less than 185% of the federal poverty level ⁠³. The scale DPHHS currently posts took effect July 1, 2025 and uses the 2025 poverty guidelines; no 2026 update was posted as of October 20, 2026 ⁠². Child Care Resources lists the same limits ⁠⁸.

The scale covers households of 2 to 16 ⁠². For three people, $4,109 a month is $49,308 a year.

Montana’s CCDF plan for FFY 2025-2027 uses a state median income (SMI) of $6,685 a month for a family of three and $7,958 for four. When the plan was approved in 2024, the entry limit was $3,981, or 59.55% of SMI ⁠⁶. By our calculation, today’s $4,109 limit is about 61% of that SMI, well below the federal ceiling of 85% (about $5,682 a month for three people) ⁠⁶. Educational loans and grants, the earned income tax credit, tribal per capita payments, SNAP and SSI are not counted as income. Child support you receive is counted ⁠⁴.

Families already on the scholarship can keep it under graduated eligibility. At their annual redetermination, a non-TANF family with income above 185% and up to 200% of poverty gets another 12-month eligibility period ⁠²⁠⁴. Income above 85% of SMI must be reported within 10 days; federal rules end eligibility above that level ⁠⁴.

How Montana’s copay scale works, from 0.5% to 7% of income

The copay is a percentage of gross monthly household income that rises with income, never less than $10 a month, paid directly to the provider ⁠¹⁠². Families receiving TANF cash assistance pay the $10 minimum. Children placed in care through protective services pay nothing ⁠⁴.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

DPHHS lists the copay at the bottom of each income band. Your copay is your actual income times the band’s percentage ⁠².

The scale in Montana’s 2024 CCDF plan topped out at 8% of income, both at the entry limit and in graduated eligibility ⁠⁶. The July 2025 scale lowered the top rate to 7% ⁠². In May 2026, the federal government repealed the CCDF rule that required states to cap copays at 7% of income ⁠¹⁵. Montana’s posted scale still stops at 7%. The August 2026 rule proposal changes how copay changes take effect but does not change the percentages ⁠²⁠⁴. Providers may still charge scholarship families registration or other fees that they charge private-pay families ⁠⁶.

Montana’s work-hour test: 60 hours a month for one parent, 120 for two

ARM 37.80.201 sets monthly minimums ⁠⁴:

• Single parent: at least 60 hours of work a month, or full-time school or vocational training. A single parent in part-time school must also work at least 40 hours a month.
• Two parents: 120 combined hours a month, with no minimum for each parent.
• No hour minimum: TANF cash households (care follows your Pathways Family Investment Agreement), teen parents in high school or an equivalency program, parents who are homeless, parents with a short-term medical emergency, and parents with severe disabilities ⁠¹⁠⁴.

The scholarship does not cover study beyond a bachelor’s degree, or study by a parent who earned a degree in the past five years ⁠⁴. If you lose your job or leave school for good, report it within 10 days. Care can continue through a grace period (90 days under the current rule) ⁠⁴⁠⁶.

Who is served first if DPHHS starts a Montana waiting list

DPHHS posts no waiting list now, but may start a statewide one when demand for non-TANF scholarships exceeds funding ⁠⁹. Current ARM 37.80.201(5) ranks families in this order ⁠⁴:

1. TANF households

   in employability activities that require child care.

2. Households with a child with special needs or disabilities

3. Households headed by a teen parent

4. Households experiencing homelessness

5. All other families,

   ranked by income as a percentage of poverty. The lowest income goes first, and ties go to the earlier application.

MAR Notice 2026-533, published August 7, 2026, would put children placed in foster care by the Child and Family Services Division at the top of this list. The comment period closed September 4, 2026 ⁠⁴. The same notice would make these changes ⁠⁴:

• Raise the rule’s income limits to 185% and 200% of poverty to match state law.
• Pay providers monthly by enrollment, with part-time care up to 25 hours a week and full-time 26 to 50.
• Limit each child to one primary provider (plus a part-time second provider only if the first is part-time).
• Allow presumptive eligibility once in 12 months, never during a waiting list.

As of October 20, 2026, the notice appeared only under proposed rules on the DPHHS rules page ⁠⁵.

Montana’s Treasures replaces STARS to Quality

Montana’s old five-star provider rating, STARS to Quality, lost its state funding in the 2021 session, and DPHHS redesigned it as a three-stage Quality Recognition System ⁠¹¹. The new system, called Montana’s Treasures, launched October 1, 2026 ⁠¹². Every licensed program starts at Stage 1 ⁠⁶. During the bridge year (October 2025 to October 2026), Star 5 programs moved to Stage 3 and Pre-Star through Star 4 programs moved to Stage 2. From now on, providers are evaluated each year near their license renewal date ⁠¹¹.

The stage affects provider payments, not your copay: a $73 add-on per scholarship child per month at Stage 2 and $115 at Stage 3 (the same FAQ also lists $114) ⁠¹¹.

No state pre-K: Montana’s Early Targeted Interventions for 4-year-olds

Montana funds no universal or income-based pre-K. A 2023 law (HB 352), expanded to math by HB 338 in 2025, lets districts offer Early Targeted Interventions ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴:

• Who qualifies: a child who will be 4 on or before September 10, has not started or completed kindergarten, and is screened as below the trajectory for 3rd-grade reading or math proficiency. The school screens a child only if a parent or guardian asks ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴.
• Classroom-based program: half-time (360 instructional hours) or full-time (720 hours). A full-time program must also let parents enroll their child half-time. Classes have one licensed teacher for every 10 children, and no more than 18 children with two adults ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴.
• Home-based program: the Waterford Upstart online program, paid for by the Office of Public Instruction (up to $1,000 per child a year). It has 1,500 licenses each school year, given to districts first come, first served ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴.
• Cost: eligible children in the classroom program are counted in the district’s enrollment (ANB) funding, and OPI pays for the home-based program. Neither OPI nor the statute sets a family fee ⁠¹³⁠¹⁴.

Each district decides whether to offer these programs. Since HB 338, screenings no longer have to happen in April, May or June, so you can ask your district for one at any time ⁠¹⁴.

Applying for a Best Beginnings scholarship through MAQCS

1. Check income and hours

   Compare your gross monthly income with the table above and confirm the 60-hour or 120-hour monthly minimum, or a school exception ⁠²⁠⁴.

2. Choose a provider first

   The application asks for your primary provider. Use the MAQCS provider search or call your Child Care Agency ⁠⁴⁠⁷.

3. Create a Montana Okta account

   Go to okta.loginmt.com, sign up, and open the “HHS MAQCS BBS Parent Portal” app ⁠¹.

4. Gather documents

   You need proof of each child’s U.S. citizenship or qualified alien status, a Work Verification Form signed by each employer (or two months of pay stubs plus your schedule), and any self-employment or school verification form. If a parent lives outside the home and does not pay court-ordered support, you must also cooperate with Child Support Services or show good cause ⁠⁴⁠⁹.

5. Submit and watch for presumptive eligibility

   When there is no waiting list, the scholarship can pay your provider for 30 days while the agency checks your information. The full packet is due within 30 calendar days. If a third party holds your documents, you can get a 15-day extension. If you are denied for missing papers, you have 30 more days to send them without starting over ⁠⁴⁠⁹.

6. Pay your copay and report changes

   Pay the provider each month. Report job, school, address or income changes, including income above 85% of SMI, within 10 calendar days ⁠⁴.

7. Renew every 12 months

   At renewal, income up to 200% of poverty keeps you eligible under graduated eligibility ⁠²⁠⁴.

8. Appeal in writing within 90 days

   A parent has 90 calendar days from the date a notice was mailed to request a fair hearing. DPHHS first holds an administrative review within 20 days of the request. You cannot get a hearing if the only reason for a denial is that funding ran out ⁠¹⁰.

See child care assistance in other states, Montana TANF cash assistance or other help in Montana.