Welcome Parents!

The cost of paying for child care is a major consideration for most families. Many families today are spending over half of their income toward high-quality child care programs. There are many reasons why child care can be so expensive. Some of the reasons include lower ratios of children to adults, teacher or provider qualifications, location of care, and costs of space, insurance, equipment, and special programs. Quality care for infants and toddlers can be especially expensive, due to small group sizes. Hiring an in-home caregiver tends to be the most expensive form of care, followed by centers and family child care homes.

With the CEL, parents can enroll just once by either completing a CEL application at any participating CDE agency, at CCCC or via the Internet and automatically gain access to many possible openings. The CEL's web-based database makes a family’s information available to any of Kern's CDE funded programs, eliminates duplicates and allows subsidized child development programs in the system to directly enroll and access children that are eligible for their programs.

What's New

  • Bakersfield City School District State Funded Pre-Kindergarten Pre-Registration Information 2008-09 (MS Doc)
  • Bakersfield City School District Prekinder financiado por el estado información de preinscripción para el año escolar 2008-09 (MS Doc)

    Parent Toolkit

  • How to apply today to CEL
  • Child Care and Development Programs Income Rankings Chart
    This chart is applicable for parents who apply for enrollment into subsidized child care services programs funded by the California Department of Education. The chart displays the family size across the top, the income ceilings for each rank up to 75 percent of state median income, and the ranks on the left-hand column, beginning with rank 1 to rank 66. Rank 1 includes families with incomes between zero and the amount identified in the rank 1 boxes. These families are at equal priority and are admitted before families in all higher ranks. To determine a family’s rank, go to the column that matches the size of the family and move down the column to the location where the family’s adjusted monthly income falls on the chart. A ruler may be helpful to track between the ranks and the income levels. For example, for a family of four with a gross monthly income of $980, locate the income amounts nearest to $980 in the column for a family size of four. In the family of four column, the family’s income ($980) is more than $968 (rank 9) and less then $1,021 (rank 10), placing this family at rank 10.
  • Frequently asked questions to CEL
  • Choosing quality child care
  • Participating child care programs
  • Words to know
  • Subsidized Child Development/Child Care Services in Kern County & Eligibility
  • Contact CEL staff

    Did You Know?

    When child care spaces become available, the participating agencies must move quickly to serve families so be prepared.
    • Always keep your application updated
    • Make sure the CEL has a current phone number where you can be reached or where a message can be left (don't depend on Caller ID)
    • Return call as soon as possible
    • Keep the following documents ready
      arrow: Income verification (pay check stubs)
      arrow: Birth certificates for all children
      arrow: Immunization records for all children under the age of 5
      arrow: Original Social Security Cards for all family members
      arrow: Picture ID for parent

    CEL Privacy Statement
     CCCC recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of the Child Care Centralized Eligibility List of Kern County. Any personal information can only be accessed by authorized and qualified agency personnel. Since security and privacy remains the primary concern of on-line consumers, CCCC uses secure server digital certificates to protect the personal information disclosed in the application form.

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