Nevada Child Care Assistance for Grandparents and Relative Caregivers

Childcare in Nevada runs $800 to $1,400 a month depending on the child's age and your county, and that number hits differently when you are a grandparent on a fixed income who suddenly has a toddler in the house. Nevada's Child Care and Development Program (CCDP) can cover most or all of that cost — but the application route depends on where you live and your household income.

Who Handles Applications

DWSS administers the CCDP statewide, but intake and processing are split between two regional contractors:

• Northern and rural Nevada (14 counties including Washoe): The Children's Cabinet handles applications and certificate issuance
• Southern Nevada (Clark, Lincoln, and Nye counties): The Las Vegas Urban League processes applications

You apply through the contractor serving your county, not through DWSS directly.

Income Limits

CCDP uses the State Median Income (SMI) as its benchmark, not the Federal Poverty Level:

To get on the program initially, your household income must be at or below 41% SMI. Once enrolled, you stay eligible up to 49% SMI at renewal. Active certificates terminate only if income exceeds 85% SMI during the certificate period.

You also need an approved "purpose of care" — gainful employment, job training, or secondary education.

The Guardianship Income Trap

This is where childcare subsidies diverge from other benefit programs in a way that catches kinship caregivers off guard.

Under informal kinship care or standard Child-Only TANF, your personal income is excluded from the child's benefit calculations. But when you hold formal court guardianship, your income is counted for CCDP eligibility. The guardian's income becomes part of the household income test.

A grandparent receiving $2,800 per month in Social Security who was eligible for CCDP as an informal caregiver might lose subsidy eligibility after obtaining court guardianship — because the $2,800 now counts against the 41% SMI cap.

This does not mean you should avoid guardianship. Guardianship opens higher TANF payments (the COK track) and provides full legal authority for medical and educational decisions. But it is worth understanding the tradeoff before filing the petition, so you can plan around the childcare cost change.

Who Pays No Copay

Even after qualifying, most families pay a sliding-scale monthly copayment directly to the childcare provider. However, several groups are completely exempt from copays:

• TANF/NEON participants
• Active Child Protective Services (CPS) or foster care placements
• Homeless families
• Enrollees in approved Substance Use Disorder recovery programs

If you are receiving TANF and the child is in a CPS placement, you pay nothing for childcare out of pocket.

How to Apply

Contact the intake contractor for your county:

• The Children's Cabinet (Northern/Rural): childrenscabinet.org
• Las Vegas Urban League (Clark/Lincoln/Nye)

Bring proof of identity, Nevada residency, household income, and the child's living arrangement. If you have a court order (guardianship or custody), bring it. The contractor verifies eligibility and issues a childcare certificate that participating providers accept.

Wait times vary — capped funding means slots are not always immediately available, especially for non-priority families. TANF households and CPS placements receive priority placement.

Choosing a Provider

Your CCDP certificate works at licensed childcare centers, licensed family childcare homes, and certified in-home providers. The certificate specifies a payment rate that varies by provider type, child age, and county. You can choose any participating provider that has availability.

If the provider's rate exceeds the certificate amount, you may be responsible for the difference.

Our Nevada Kinship Financial Help Guide covers the full childcare subsidy process alongside TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid — with income threshold tables and a comparison of how each program treats your income under different care arrangements.

See more Nevada guides →