Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
Wisconsin Shares subsidies assist eligible, low-income parents with the cost of child care while they participate in approved activities. CSAW considers several factors to determine the amount of subsidy for which a child may be eligible.
Copayment
The copayment is the amount that is reduced from the subsidy amount based on household income and family size (see 18.2). CSAW subtracts the copayment from each child's subsidy amount prior to loading funds to the MyWIChildCare card.
| Note: The parent is responsible for paying the difference between their subsidy amount and the provider’s price. This may be more than the copayment reduced from the subsidy amount. This difference is usually referred to as the “Parent Share” (see 18.8). |
Subsidy Amount
The subsidy amount is the final amount of funds that are loaded to the parent’s MyWIChildCare EBT card. CSAW considers many factors to determine the subsidy amount, including but not limited to:
The county where the provider is located
The number of subsidized hours of care for the child
The provider’s regulation category
See Section 18.5 and the CSAW User Guide – Benefit Calculations for more information about how the subsidy is calculated.
This section last updated 10/1/2023