We appreciate you asking. If you are on this site, chances are your child is likely in the most important years of development.  So, read below and learn more about your best options for choosing a quality program.  

CCAP- Child Care Assistance Program

The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps low-income families to pay for child care while working or attending school or training. Monthly payments are based on the number of hours the parents work or attend school or training, as well as the amount charged by the child care provider, family size and household income. Parents can select any Type 3 child care center, school-based before and after school program, licensed child care center determined by the Department of Defense, registered Family Child Day Care Home, or In-Home provider that is active in the CCAP provider directory.

Head Start

Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness of preschool-age children and their families by enhancing the child’s cognitive, social and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children’s growth in the following domains: language and literacy; cognition and general knowledge; physical development and health; social and emotional development; and approaches to learning.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

Family well-being and positive parent-child relationships

  • Families as learners and lifelong educators
  • Family engagement in transitions
  • Family connections to peers and community
  • Families as advocates and leaders

NSECD

The Nonpublic School Early Childhood Development Program (NSECD) provides tuition reimbursement to parents who send their children to state-approved private preschools and child care centers. The program provides six hours of daily instruction and up to four hours of before- and after-school care.

To qualify, families must meet the income requirement, which is 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

Public Schools Programs

Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program

As Louisiana’s largest preschool program, the Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program provides economically disadvantaged children with early childhood education during a six-hour-a-day program and before- and after-school enrichment.

Four-year-olds who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch are eligible to attend the program.