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

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    Parent Toolkit

  • How to apply today to CEL
  • Eligibility Ranking Guidelines pdf symbol:
  • 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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