State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: Utah

•    Income eligibility limit: In 2010, a family of three in Utah could qualify for child care assistance with an annual income up to $31,992 (175 percent of poverty, 58 percent of state median income).¹

•    Waiting list: Utah 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 $1 per month, or less than 1 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 $204 per month, or 9 percent of its income in copayments.

•    Reimbursement rates: In 2010, Utah’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    Utah’s monthly reimbursement rate for center care for a four-year-old was $66, or 13 percent, below the 75th percentile of current market rates for this type of care.
o    Utah’s monthly reimbursement rate for center care for a one-year-old was $146, or 21 percent, below the 75th percentile of current market rates for this type of care.

•    Tiered reimbursement rates: In 2010, Utah did not pay higher reimbursement rates for higher-quality care.

•    Eligibility for parents searching for a job: In 2010, Utah allowed parents to qualify for or continue receiving child care assistance for up to 100 hours while searching for a job.²

¹This income limit takes into account a monthly standard deduction of $100 ($1,200 a year) for each working parent, assuming there is one working parent in the family. The stated income limit, in policy, was $30,792 in 2010. The state allows a deduction of $100 per month for the household for medical expenses as well. Also note that in 2010, families already receiving assistance could remain eligible up to a stated income limit of $38,496. The income limit to qualify for special needs care was $46,740 in 2010.
²The state’s standard child care assistance program, Employment Support Child Care, does not provide child care assistance while a parent searches for a job. However, the Kids-In-Care Program, which is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), allows parents to receive child care assistance for up to 100 hours while searching for a job. Kids-In-Care began in June 2009 and will end when ARRA expires. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants, who had previously been allowed to receive child care assistance while searching for a job, will still be able to do so.

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.