To enroll as a provider, follow the step-by-step enrollment guide on our website. After a family selects you as their provider, you will be contacted to provide your payment information. You’ll then be asked to complete the initial authorization, confirm care for each child, and agree to the terms and conditions to finalize your enrollment. You can enroll prior to having a family utilizing our subsidy by doing our early entrance survey. Here you’ll be asked to confirm your provider details and join our growing network of providers across King County.
During enrollment, you will need to provide your provider license information, complete a W9 (including your EIN), and provide banking details for direct deposit. Additionally, you will need to confirm your care for specific children receiving the subsidy.
No, a child care provider may not accept both the Working Connections Subsidy and the Best Starts for Kids Child Care Subsidy for the same child. If a family is eligible for the Working Connections Subsidy, they will be asked to apply for that first.
Providers must be a licensed Family Child Care (FCC) or Child Care Center (CCC) and in good standing with the State of Washington. You can check your licensing status or find a provider at https://www.findchildcarewa.org/.
If you need to update your information, such as changes to your business, banking information, or licensing status, please contact our provider support team via text or call at 206-339-5570, or email at providers@bskchildcare.org
The W9 is needed to provide your business with the appropriate tax documents. You must provide us with this document to get paid.
The EIN/Social Security number is needed to provide your business with the appropriate tax documents. You must provide us with this document to get paid.
If a family owes a previous provider money, they may not enroll with the BSK program without a provider verified payment plan. We also collect monthly information from all providers to ensure families are making any additional agreed upon payments toward the cost of care.
A provider should reach out to the provider support line. 206-339-5570, providers@bskchildcare.org
There is no copay, however providers are free to charge the difference between the subsidy amount and the tuition. We do not cover any copays for other programs.
Payments will be made through direct deposit to your bank account. You will need to provide your banking information during the enrollment process to set up direct deposit.
Initial payment authorizations are sent out towards the middle of each month, requiring providers to verify enrollment. Payments typically take approximately seven business days to show up in bank accounts. Ongoing payments require providers to verify enrollment and provide attendance, typically taking 3-5 days to appear in bank accounts.
We do not cover any registration cost.
The subsidy does not cover fees beyond the cost of tuition. Families must communicate with their providers regarding any fees beyond the subsidy payment.
Families on the waitlist will be notified when funding becomes available and be invited to apply for the subsidy. Once a family has been approved, they will select their provider of choice, and you can begin the enrollment process. If you enroll via early entrance, then you’ll just be asked to confirm your payment information.
The nonprofit organization Scholar Fund is responsible for collecting the personal information you submit in the eligibility form. Such information that you provide is deemed confidential and will be protected accordingly. The information you provide is yours, and you may make corrections to such data at any time.
You can access Scholar Funds Privacy Policy here (English only).
Scholar Fund deploys appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the personal information you provide, including to help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of personal information. Further, Scholar Fund does not share personal information with third parties except in limited circumstances as outlined in the Scholar Fund Privacy Policy.
When appropriate, Scholar Fund only shares aggregate and anonymized information with third parties so as not to include personally identifying information. For example, Scholar Fund will submit periodic reports to the Best Starts for Kids Child Care Subsidy Program, but such reports will only include your data at an aggregate-level in de-identified format, including ZIP code of residence, service outcomes, and demographic information.
Personal information will only be retained for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, there is an ongoing legitimate purpose to retain the data (such as contractual obligations or identity verification), or to comply with legal or auditing requirements.
In order to reduce fraud and avoid duplicates, Scholar Fund has developed several mechanisms to screen and check applicants to spot discrepancies, which includes a thorough application review process, spam filters, and address verification. Scholar Fund personnel may also contact applicants via phone or text if application issues are detected.
For the fastest response, send us a text, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible! (Messaging & data rates may apply)
Email the team with your questions or a brief description of your issue, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible!
Call our team if you have questions, need to know where you can get application assistance or need to report a problem with the application form.