The State of Tennessee has announced it will provide free child care for many essential employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

The “COVID-19 Essential Employee Child Care Payment Assistance Program” is designed to help essential workers so they can stay on the job during state of emergency until June 15, 2020.

Applications for payment assistance will be accepted online throughout the state of emergency by clicking on this link:

https://tdhs.service-now.com/relief?id=relief_registration

After an essential employee is approved for the program, the state will arrange to pay for child care at the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) licensed program where the child is currently served.

For parents whose children are not already receiving care at a licensed program, you can find a list of licensed child care agencies that can accept children of essential workers by clicking the following link:

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/human-services/documents/Active%20Provider%20Directory%20During%20COVID-19.pdf

Once the child is enrolled and the essential employee is approved, TDHS will arrange to pay for that child care.