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Changes coming next year to Eagle County’s subsidized child-care programs

Families won't be affected, but state budgets are as federal COVID-era stimulus funding winds down

Eagle County officials are working to keep people signed up for subsidized child care, even as state and federal funding dries up.
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Eagle County’s federal and state-supported child care programs won’t see an impact this year on how those programs are funded.

Eagle County Human Services Director Megan Burch said in a phone interview Monday that the program is becoming more expensive for the county in the way care is being paid for to providers. The biggest change is that payment to providers is now made in the same way private-pay families pay providers. For instance, if a child is signed up for a month of service, that family pays for that month, regardless of whether that child attends for the entire month or not. That’s not how those on county assistance used to pay, with reimbursement paid only for the days a child was actually in attendance.

Providers now have a better idea of how much they’ll be paid for a child signed up for care, Burch said, without a family being charged any more.



But that additional cost to the state-supported program is costing the state more money. Since federal COVID-era stimulus funding is ending, the state is now overspending, and state funding is drying up.

Burch said larger counties are finding themselves in a funding pinch. Eagle County isn’t in that situation, having received roughly $3.5 million for services in 2025 to help serve 270 families through 60 providers. Burch said that’s an increase from 2019 when the federal funding was $838,000.

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Burch said her department increased its outreach to families when the federal stimulus funding became available.

Because of that outreach, “A lot of parents are able to work because they have a safe place to leave their kiddos,” Burch said.

While the program will get smaller as funding declines, Burch said those in the program today will remain eligible as long as they remain enrolled. On average, that’s about three years.

And families who want to enroll can still do so this year. Enrollment is available to those earning up to 270% of the federal poverty level. That’s roughly $5,800 per month for a family of three.

Families can enroll either through the county’s website at the Human Services Department page or in person at one of the county’s offices.

At a Jan. 27 update, Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney asked if this might be a place where the county could do its own “self-rescue,” perhaps through its lodging tax or a similar vehicle.

“I would love to understand how big a bucket we need to fill,” McQueeney said.

In a Monday telephone conversation, Burch said for this year, at least, the program will be close to spending its full allocation of state and federal funding, with future funding remaining an open question.


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