State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: Oklahoma

•    Income eligibility limit: In 2010, a family of three in Oklahoma could qualify for child care assistance with an annual income up to $35,100 (192 percent of poverty, 73 percent of state median income).¹

•    Waiting list: Oklahoma had no waiting list for child care assistance as of February 2010.     

•    Parent copayments: In 2010, a family of three with an income at 100 percent of poverty ($18,310 a year) receiving child care assistance paid $120 per month, or 8 percent of its income in copayments. A family of three with an income at 150 percent of poverty ($27,465 a year) receiving child care assistance paid $189 per month, or 8 percent of its income in copayments.

•    Reimbursement rates: In 2010, Oklahoma’s reimbursement rates for child care providers serving families receiving child care assistance were below the federally recommended level—the 75th percentile of current market rates, which is the level designed to give families access to 75 percent of the providers in their community.
o    Oklahoma’s monthly reimbursement rate for center care for a four-year-old in the Enhanced Area (Metro) Counties²  was $38, or 8 percent, below the 75th percentile of current market rates for this type of care.
o    Oklahoma’s monthly reimbursement rate for center care for a one-year-old in the Enhanced Area (Metro) Counties was $5, or 1 percent, below the 75th percentile of current market rates for this type of care.

•    Tiered reimbursement rates: In 2010, Oklahoma paid higher reimbursement rates for higher-quality care.
o    The reimbursement rate for center care for a four-year-old in the Enhanced Area (Metro) Counties was at the highest quality tier was 67 percent higher than the rate at the lowest quality tier.
o    The reimbursement rate for center care for a four-year-old in the Enhanced Area (Metro) Counties was at the highest quality tier was above the 75th percentile of current market rates.

•    Eligibility for parents searching for a job: In 2010, Oklahoma allowed parents to continue receiving child care for up to 30 days while searching for a job.³  However, Oklahoma did not allow parents to qualify for child care assistance while searching for a job.⁴  

¹The income limit depends on how many children are in case. This income limit assumes that the family had two children in subsidized care. The income limit for a family of three with only one child in subsidized care was $29,100 in 2010.
²Enhanced Area Rates apply to 19 out of 77 counties in the state (Caddo, Canadian, Cherokee, Cleveland, Comanche, Creek, Garfield, Kay, Logan, McCurtain, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Payne, Pittsburg, Pottawatomie, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, and Woods).
³Parents receiving child care assistance can continue to receive it while searching for a job if they have been receiving assistance for at least 30 days and will continue to use the same child care provider.
⁴Only Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants can qualify for child care assistance while searching for a job and it must be part of their employability plan; they can receive child care assistance for up to 4 consecutive weeks.

Source: Karen Schulman and Helen Blank, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: New Federal Funds Help States Weather the Storm (Washington, DC: National Women’s Law Center, 2010). These data reflect policies as of February 2010, unless otherwise indicated.