BELLEVILLE – Families with children under age 6 in St. Clair County spend approximately 17% of their annual income on child care.

There are programs available to help, including a tax credit and other income-based efforts. Here’s how to find help paying for your child’s day care.

Child Care Assistance Program

The Child Care Assistance Program offers sliding-scale options for families who meet certain guidelines. Answers to frequently asked questions about the program are available online.

The first step to receiving this assistance is calling Children’s Home & Aid at 800-467-9200.

Program eligibility is based on gross household income, family size, whether your children are under 13 years old, status as an Illinois resident and other factors.

Not all child care programs accept assistance rates, so factor your eligibility for the program into your provider search.

Illinois Head Start is an educational program aiming to promote school readiness for children from birth to age 5. Programming focuses on language skills, literacy and social/emotional development.

Head Start is designed for low-income families, and the webpage has a calculator to determine eligibility. Children in foster care, from families receiving public assistance and who are experiencing homelessness are all eligible for Head Start regardless of income.

Early Head Start serves infants, toddlers and pregnant women whose incomes are below the federal poverty level.

An online locator is available to find Head Start and Early Head Start programs near you.

There are also Head Start programs designed specifically for families of migrants and seasonal workers, as well as Indigenous peoples. Those programs can also be found using the locator tool.

The Child Tax Credit is available to married filers making less than $150,000 annually, heads of household making under $112,500 per year and all other filers making less than $75,000 per year.

Qualifying families receive $3,000 for each child older than 6 and $3,600 for each child younger than age 6. You can receive this assistance in the form of advance monthly payments.

To qualify for free preschool through Preschool for All in Illinois, both of the following qualifications must be met:

—Your child is 4 years old (they must turn 4 by Sept. 1 of the calendar year of enrollment).

—Your family is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.