nola.com · Patrick Wall · September 8, 2026
Eligible Louisiana families wait years for childcare aid | Education | nola.com
# Thousands of eligible Louisiana parents face long waits for childcare assistance
- By PATRICK WALL | Staff writer and MORIAH BALINGIT and LAUREN COFFEY | Associated Press
#### Patrick Wall
- Author email (patrick.wall@theadvocate.com) - Sep 8, 2026 - 1 hr ago - 5 min to read
Dynasty Bartholomew is determined to give her kids a better life.
She started training this year to become a medical assistant, making the program’s honor roll while raising her three sons in Alexandria. While at school, she puts her 2-year-old in childcare — a necessity that, at $720 a month, consumes most of her fixed income. She’s had to seek help from relatives and local nonprofits to pay her other bills.
Dynasty Bartholomew and her youngest son. She and many others have struggled to secure childcare assistance. (Provided photo)
She is an ideal candidate for government-funded childcare assistance, which is supposed to enable needy parents to work or attend school without going broke. But eight months after Bartholomew was deemed eligible, she has yet to receive any aid.
“I always call and check, and they always give me the same status,” she said. “I’m on the waiting list.”
Childcare is notoriously expensive. Louisiana families who don’t receive subsidies report paying an average of $11,000 annually per child — nearly as much as LSU’s in-state tuition.
Childcare assistance, funded by the federal government with help from states, is meant to aid working parents who are low-income, homeless or caring for foster children. But waitlists have ballooned since 2023, when just eight states had them, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
As of this spring, hundreds of thousands of children were sitting on childcare assistance waitlists in 23 states and the District of Columbia, the analysis found. In Louisiana, more than 7,700 eligible children were on the waitlist this March, a 70% increase from the prior year, according to state data.
Many of the waitlists first started after $28 billion in pandemic aid expired in the fall of 2024. The Republican-led Congress declined to extend the extra money. Some states have increased funding to try to fill the gap, but families' need for childcare assistance has only grown, as they've faced mounting costs for food and gas.
While eligible families sit on waitlists, untold numbers of adults are sidelined from education or the workforce because they can't afford childcare. Those parents who remain in school or keep working make difficult tradeoffs. In interviews, parents described forgoing necessities, falling behind on bills or relying on acquaintances to watch their children. Unable to find viable childcare, some have resorted to bringing their children with them to work or class.
If Bartholomew received Louisiana’s subsidy, which covers up to the full cost of childcare, she’d have no trouble paying her bills, she said. After she completes her training and begins working full-time, she could even start saving money. But for now, much of what she has goes to childcare.
“It definitely holds me back from my future goals,” she said.
### Long waits in Louisiana
For a brief period during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal aid flooded in, childcare assistance became widely available.
Louisiana received about $1 billion in childcare relief funds, allowing the state to expand eligibility for its Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP. At its peak in 2022, the program helped subsidize childcare for more than 25,000 children from low-income families.
“It was like Christmas,” said Sonjia Brown-Joseph, executive director of Clara's Little Lambs Preschool Academy in New Orleans. “We were able to serve more families that needed care.”
Director Sonjia Brown-Joseph holds 6-month-old Rai'lynn Rhinehart at Clara's Little Lambs Preschool in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Staff photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Even with the federally funded expansion, demand was so high that Louisiana established a waitlist in October 2022. The neediest children, including those who are homeless or in foster care, were allowed to skip the line, but other eligible families had to wait until more funding became available.
As the pandemic money ran out, Louisiana kicked in more. In 2023, state lawmakers allocated nearly $88 million for CCAP, more than triple what the state spent in 2020.
But the boost was short-lived. This year, the Legislature allocated about $79 million for the program, and federal funding is about $66 million below its pandemic peak. In June, the program served about 10,000 fewer children than it did four years ago.
Meanwhile, thousands more eligible families have waited months, or years, for assistance. An official with the Louisiana Department of Education, which manages CCAP, said at a July meeting that about 280 families were recently added to the program — after they waited more than two years.
Brown-Joseph tells parents applying for childcare assistance not to count on it.
“If you're filling it out now, chances are you will not get on,” she said. “And if you do, your child will probably be heading to school by that time.”
Libbie Sonnier, who leads the advocacy group Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, argued that high-quality childcare is an essential service that prepares children to succeed in school and allows parents to join the workforce. Yet policymakers sometimes treat it as optional, she said.
“We wouldn't think about not funding 4th grade,” she said, “but we do think about not creating access to childcare for families that need it.”
### Funding shortfall
Even before the recent growth in waitlists, federal funding for childcare assistance has always fallen short of providing for every needy family, only providing enough money to serve a fraction of those eligible. Experts say waitlists represent the tip of the iceberg, because many eligible families who need the help don't know about the program or haven't applied, daunted by tales of long waitlists.
The origins of the funding shortfall are cultural, said Ruth Friedman, who headed the Office of Child Care under Democratic President Joe Biden.
For decades, “childcare was the responsibility of the family,” she said. “The system is fundamentally broken, and if the government doesn’t help fix the system … it will not be affordable for families.”
Kids play on the playground at a childcare center in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
There are stark differences of opinion on whether the government should provide help — or how much. This year, 40 congressional Republicans called for “robust” funding of the federal program that underwrites childcare assistance. Instead, it received the same money as the year before. President Donald Trump said during his campaign that he could make childcare more affordable by using tariff revenue, but this spring he told a White House audience that paying for childcare should be up to states.
“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of daycare. You got to let a state take care of daycare, and they should pay for it, too,” Trump told people gathered for an Easter luncheon.
His administration has largely focused on allegations of fraud in the program, at one point halting funding to five Democratic-led states. After a lawsuit, a judge ordered Trump's administration to restart the funding.
### Moms bring babies to college or work
Without affordable childcare options, parents have resorted to bringing their children with them to work or school.
In Minnesota, Deaira Gresham's 1-year-old daughter has been on the waitlist for childcare assistance since birth, one of 9,000 children in her state awaiting aid as of this spring. Gresham, who works as an in-home health aid