Workforce Solutions Lower Rio Grande Valley serves Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties. The state's office locator lists child care staff at its Weslaco office on West Pike Boulevard and its Rio Grande City office on Brand Street, and the board now takes applications through the Texas Child Care Connection (TX3C) system.
This is the piece TEFA leaves out. An Education Freedom Account can't pay for extended-day care, but a child care scholarship can cover after-school hours at a participating provider, including many of the same centers that are approved for TEFA pre-K.
The money for these scholarships runs out, and Texas boards routinely keep families on a waiting list, so file the moment you know care will be needed. When you tour a center, check two things: does it take the subsidy, and is it Texas Rising Star rated? The same rating is one of the ways a center becomes a TEFA pre-K provider.
Combining it with other sources
Valley families rarely rely on one source. This one generally combines with the school's own discounts and scholarships and with at least one other source on our list. The funding check works out the right mix for your child.