Hawaii program
Help with child care or preschool (CCCH and Preschool Open Doors)
Hawaii offers child-care subsidies, including a preschool route that does not require a parent to work.
What it is
Hawaii offers child-care subsidies, including a preschool route that does not require a parent to work.
Treatment can leave you needing reliable care for another child. The main subsidy pays while a parent works or studies; being at the hospital does not count. Preschool Open Doors has no work requirement, and an existing subsidy keeps going through a temporary absence to care for family.
Eligibility rules
- The main subsidy ordinarily requires an approved activity such as work, education or training.
- Preschool Open Doors has income and other eligibility rules even though it has no parent activity requirement.
- The main subsidy's income line is about $6,202 a month for three people. Preschool Open Doors goes much higher, to five times the poverty line.
- CCCH generally serves children under 13, with an exception for certain children under 19 unable to care for themselves. POD can cover up to three preschool school years, including the youngest cohort reaching age two by July 31. Hospital bedside care alone does not establish a new CCCH activity entitlement.
What you get
- Help paying eligible child-care costs.
- A preschool route without a parent work-activity requirement.
- Protection for an existing subsidy during a qualifying temporary absence to care for family.
What the help covers
- An existing CCCH recipient may keep assistance during a temporary work absence to care for a family member within the minimum twelve-month eligibility period. A nontemporary loss of the qualifying activity follows a separate three-month continuation rule. The agency decides how your circumstances fit; this protection does not by itself establish initial eligibility.
- Preschool Open Doors pays up to $1,500 a month toward an accredited preschool, or $1,200 otherwise. Your share is at most 3% of the fee, and nothing at the lowest incomes.
- DHS confirms the current CCCH age-and-setting payment caps and family share separately. POD percentages are not CCCH copay rules and are not percentages of household income.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the Department of Human Services or its child-care contractor which route fits the sibling’s age and your work situation.
- Explain whether you already receive a subsidy and whether time away from work is temporary.
- Ask about Preschool Open Doors if the main activity rule does not fit.
Hawaii DHS Child Care Connection Hawaii and Preschool Open Doors. · Official page ↗
What happens next
- The department or its contractor checks the child, income, activity and care arrangement.
- Preschool Open Doors takes applications from April 1 before the school year until the end of May in that school year. DHS child-care subsidies is 1-855-643-1643.
Good to know
A parent at the bedside cannot start the main subsidy new. A family already getting it can keep it through a temporary absence.
Other details
- The sibling’s age, program, child-care household, income and existing subsidy status all matter. The main subsidy and Preschool Open Doors use different income tests; your answers here do not settle every rule.
Official sources
“Which child-care option could fit a sibling while our child is in treatment? What would we pay, and could you help us check the rules before applying?”
Why I’m asking: I need to understand sibling care when hospital time changes our work routine.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for the route that matches whether a parent is working.
Your social worker
The hospital social worker writes the letter about the care the child needs.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The Department of Human Services and its child care contractor.
- Ask the agency
- “One parent has stopped work to be at the hospital with our child. Which child care route fits us, and does Preschool Open Doors apply?”
How to apply
First step: Call the Department of Human Services and ask which child care route fits, naming Preschool Open Doors.
- Ask about Preschool Open Doors by name if a parent has stopped working.
- If you already have the subsidy, tell the branch this is a temporary absence to care for a family member.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the department which route fits, and ask about Preschool Open Doors by name if no parent is working.
What to gather
- The ages of the other children
- this month’s income
- a letter about the hospital schedule
How long: DHS confirms current intake, funding and processing. POD’s rule-defined application window spans 14 months, April 1 before the school year through the last working day of May in that school year at 4:30 p.m.
What a yes looks like
A subsidy paid toward a provider, with a twelve-month eligibility period.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask which activity rule was applied and whether the preschool route was considered.
Watch out
- Being at a bedside was not confirmed as an approved activity for the main subsidy.
- If you already have the subsidy, a temporary absence to care for a family member is protected: say so.
- CCCH and POD have different income tests. The contractor confirms the current table for each program instead of using one shared cutoff.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Help with child care costs. The preschool route does not require a parent to be working, and existing subsidies survive a temporary absence to care for a family member.
- $12 — Minimum eligibility period under the current plan
Covers: Subsidised child care for a sibling · A preschool route that does not require a parent activity
Legal protection: A temporary absence from work to care for a family member is protected within a running eligibility period
What it costs the family: POD 2026–27 copays are 0%, 1%, 2% or 3% of the lesser of actual care cost and the payment cap, by income band. Monthly caps are $1,500 for qualifying accredited/Hawaiian-medium care or $1,200 otherwise. CCCH charges need its current schedule.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Subsidy
- ordinarily requires an approved activity such as work, education or training
- Preschool open doors
- No parent activity requirement; May 29, 2026 rules use 500% Hawaii poverty, qualifying preschool ages and up to three preschool school years.
- Continued eligibility
- a temporary absence from work to care for a family member is protected within the twelve-month period
- Income
- CCCH uses an 85%-SMI framework with the current dollar table confirmed by its contractor. POD separately uses 500% Hawaii poverty under the May 2026 rule; no common 400% cutoff applies.
The trap: Sitting at a hospital bedside was not verified as an approved activity for the main subsidy. What is verified is that the current plan protects a temporary absence from work to care for a family member within a twelve-month eligibility period, which helps a family already receiving the subsidy more than one applying fresh.
Where I read this
- Child Care Connection Hawaii subsidies and Preschool Open Doors — Hawaii Department of Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- Child care and development fund state plan, federal fiscal years 2025 to 2027 — Hawaii Department of Human Services, read September 10, 2026