New Hampshire program
Help paying for child care (Child Care Scholarship)
New Hampshire’s Child Care Scholarship helps eligible families pay for enrolled child care, including some license-exempt settings.
What it is
New Hampshire’s Child Care Scholarship helps eligible families pay for enrolled child care, including some license-exempt settings.
Another child may still need care while you are at the hospital. The scholarship helps with child care costs for eligible families. A temporary work absence to care for a family member can preserve an existing award during its eligibility period.
Eligibility rules
- The income screen uses monthly gross income at or below 85% of state median income for family size.
- Both parents in a two-parent home usually need to be working, in training or looking for work, unless one has a verified disability. The child needs to be under 13, or under 18 with a disability that makes care unsafe without supervision. Caring for a child with cancer does not by itself qualify a new application; ask DHHS for its current dollar table.
- Eligible job search has a limit of 92 calendar days under the retrieved rule. An initial award generally cannot start within 30 days before a child turns 13, except through the special-needs rule. DHHS confirms the age-transition and activity requirements for your application.
What you get
- Payments toward eligible child care, with a family share of the cost.
- A 12-month eligibility period for an award.
What the protection includes
- A temporary absence from work for illness or care of a family member can preserve an existing award within its eligibility period.
- Your share is nothing if income is under the poverty line, $5 a week just above it, and 7% of income above 138% of poverty. Your award letter gives the exact figure.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the Department of Health and Human Services about the Child Care Scholarship application.
- Bring current income, your child’s age and care needs, the adults’ qualifying activities and the proposed child care setting’s enrollment details.
- If you already receive the scholarship, explain a temporary caregiving absence and ask how it affects your award.
NH DHHS Child Care Scholarship · NH EASY · ASK DHHS, 844-275-3447. The social worker can help you find the current application and check which children and activities to include. · Official page ↗
After you ask
- An award names the child care setting and the family’s share of the cost. DHHS decides income and activity eligibility.
Good to know
That protection keeps an award you already have. A parent who has stopped work to be at the hospital cannot start it new.
Other details
- Income limits change each July 1. The social worker can explain in writing why a parent needs to be at the hospital.
Official sources
“Could the scholarship help with child care while we manage treatment? What would we pay, and could you help check the activity rules?”
Why I’m asking: I want to understand how child care could continue while our family manages treatment.
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
Apply for the other children and say plainly that the absence from work is temporary and for caring.
Your social worker
The social worker can write that a parent has to be at the hospital.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The NH Department of Health and Human Services.
- Ask your social worker
- “My other children need care while I am here. Can you help me apply for the child care scholarship?”
How to apply
First step: The social worker can help check the current activity and income rules and, if you decide to pursue it, the application route.
- The social worker can help check the current activity and income rules and, if you decide to pursue it, the application route.
- If already on the scholarship, tell the office the absence is temporary and for caring.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Apply through the department's child care scholarship route.
What to gather
- This month's income
- The other children's details
- The child care provider's licence details
How long: An award runs for a twelve-month eligibility period.
What a yes looks like
An award naming the provider and the family's share of the cost.
What a no looks like, and the next move
A no on income or on the work activity. Ask which, and reapply if pay drops.
Watch out
- The social worker can help check the current activity and income rules and, if you decide to pursue it, the application route.
- The income standard is 85% of state median income for family size. DHHS confirms the current monthly table and effective date; the July 2026 manual entry is identified, but its dollar cells were not verified in the September 21, 2026 review.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Help with child care costs, screened at 85 percent of state median income. A temporary absence from work to care for a family member does not end an existing award.
- $85/year — Income standard, as a share of state median income
- $12 — Length of an eligibility period
Covers: Payment toward eligible enrolled licensed or license-exempt child care
Legal protection: A time-limited absence from work because of illness or the need to care for a family member keeps an existing award alive within the eligibility period
What it costs the family: The reviewed He-C 6910.18 schedule sets family share at $0 at or below 100% of poverty, $5 a week above 100% through 138%, and 7% of income above 138% through 85% of state median income, subject to the rule. DHHS confirms the amount for the case.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Income
- The income standard is 85% of state median income for family size. DHHS confirms the current monthly table and effective date; the July 2026 manual entry is identified, but its dollar cells were not verified in the September 21, 2026 review.
- Period
- a 12-month eligibility period
- Update
- income limits change on July 1 each year
The trap: The social worker can help check the current activity and income rules and, if you decide to pursue it, the application route.
Where I read this
- New Hampshire Administrative Rules, He-C 6900 (child care scholarship) — NH Office of Legislative Services, read September 10, 2026