Travis County is looking to provide guaranteed child care availability for low-income families and expand child care options for families working during nontraditional hours.

The $75 million Raising Travis County initiative—approved by voters in November 2024—is expected to support several programs aimed at increasing affordable child care for around 9,800 children, according to previous Community Impact reporting. The county has awarded nearly $29 million in annual funding to the Workforce Solutions Capital Area nonprofit, local school districts and other community organizations, according to county documents.

The update

Travis County is planning to pay child care providers to reserve a certain number of slots for children from low-income families, said Cathy McHorse, a consultant for the Raising Travis County initiative, at a Feb. 24 Travis County Commissioners Court meeting. The model, known as contracted slots, is anticipated to increase the supply of child care for infants and toddlers ages up to 3 years old, she said.

County officials will decide how many children should be served through child care scholarships versus contracted slots, McHorse said. Additionally, the county will set requirements for participating child care providers and a minimum wage for teachers participating in the program, she said.

Travis County is currently seeking feedback from child care providers about the contracted slots program, McHorse said. The county is aiming to begin offering contracted slots in late 2027.

What else?

The Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, recommended that the county incentivize child care providers to open earlier and remain open later, help home-based providers extend their hours of operation and increase the supply of in-home caregivers for families working late into the evening and overnight, McHorse said.

One in 3 children, or 18,000 children, under the age of 6 in Travis County have parents who work outside of the typical 9 a.m.-5 p.m. workday, according to 2023 study by the Urban Institute. Meanwhile, about 2,000 regulated child care providers offer services outside of traditional daytime work hours, only some of which accept subsidies or scholarships, McHorse said.

Many local child care providers have struggled to hire additional staff to work during nontraditional hours and pay overtime, she said.

“The providers can and will expand hours when financial barriers are addressed,” McHorse said. “All of our pilot providers who participated expressed an interest in continuing nontraditional-hour care, but they reported they could not do so without financial support.”

County officials will decide how to fund the program and which types of care to support, such as expanding hours at existing licensed and registered providers, strengthening relative and in-home care, or pursuing grant opportunities.

The county may focus on expanding nontraditional care hours after rolling out the contracted slots program so providers that are short-staffed have the ability to receive funding, she said.

The background

In the November 2024 election, Travis County voters approved Proposition A—a tax rate increase of $0.025 per $100 property valuation to support expanding affordable child care opportunities. The initiative comes as the county has some of the highest child care costs in the state, according to previous Community Impact reporting.

Following the passage of Prop A, Travis County has awarded $17.34 million for child care scholarships and $4.16 million for staff-related costs through Workforce Solutions Capital Area. The county has allocated $9.7 million in funding over two years to cover extended prekindergarten and after-school care at Austin, Del Valle and Manor ISDs.

About 1,000 child care scholarships have been awarded, according to county documents. From September to January, 160 child care centers and 15 child care homes received funding to cover financial gaps, one of which used the funding to provide a 2% raise for all staff members, McHorse said.

The county is planning to launch emergency care for children experiencing homelessness as well as after-school and summer programming in Pflugerville ISD, said Leah Meunier, strategic adviser for the Raising Travis County Initiative.

Next steps

Raising Travis County staff are planning to update the commissioners court in April and present a draft plan in August, according to county documents.

County staff will work with community members, parents, child care providers and a community advisory council to receive input on the plan, Meunier said.

“We will be revising, adding feedback and making sure that this plan is co-created with our community and meets the needs of our community,” Meunier said.