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When you need child care
For any parent or guardian in the United States who needs someone to look after a child and can’t find a place, can’t pay for one, or isn’t sure a place is safe. This page passes on what ChildCare.gov, the federal government’s child care site, says about the kinds of care, how to search, help with the cost, what a license means, and where to report a problem. It builds the questions to ask a program. It gives no state’s rules or income limits, because every state sets its own. Take only what you need today.
Right now
- A child in danger right now? Call 911.
- You suspect a child is being abused or neglected? ChildCare.gov gives the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, by call or text: 800-422-4453.
- Need care and have none? Get on the waitlist at every program that might fit. ChildCare.gov says openings sometimes come up unexpectedly.
- Can’t pay? ChildCare.gov says every state and territory has a child care financial assistance program for families with low incomes. Ask yours.
- At the end of your rope? Call or text 988, at any hour.
More help
- A baby on the way, or just arrived: Pregnant, or with a new baby.
- A child at school who needs more: Help at school for your child and Letters to your child’s school.
- You are raising a grandchild, niece or nephew: When you’re raising a relative’s child.
- Money for the rest: When the money runs out, When you need food and Money plan.
- Tax credits: Taxes: free help, and what to do if you can’t pay.
- The other parent should be helping: When it’s about child support.
- Work will not bend: When something is wrong at work and When you’ve lost your job.
- Before you call a program: Call script and Paper trail.
- If a child is being hurt: If a child is being hurt.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No child care licensor, provider, benefits worker or parent has reviewed it. The facts come from pages of ChildCare.gov, a website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, read on October 7, 2026: its pages on the kinds of care, finding and choosing care, what to do if you can’t find care, financial assistance options, licensing, staff background checks, monitoring and inspections, your responsibilities once you find care, services for children with disabilities, preventing expulsions and suspensions, and its contact and reporting pages. The page says when it is passing on ChildCare.gov’s words, and what is marked “ours” is our own suggestion. What we did not read: any state’s rules, income limits, copayments or waitlists; ChildCare.gov’s pages for military families, on faith-based care, on quality ratings in detail, and the tip sheets themselves; the Head Start locator beyond opening it; the tax rules behind the credits it names; and the disability rights laws. We called no phone number. It saves nothing and loads no tracking.