Texas’ 2025 child care bills could benefit hundreds of Tarrant County families
Child care advocates say major wins were garnered during Texas’ 2025 legislative session. Out of multiple bills that passed both the Senate and House and were sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, there are a handful expected to make a significant impact not only on the state but on Tarrant County.
Early childhood education advocates say the most notable legislation that came forward this session is the $100 million earmarked within the state budget for child care scholarships, also known as subsidies. This funding will begin to address the state’s growing waitlist of about 95,000 eligible families awaiting a scholarship to help pay the cost of the child care, so parents can go to work while their children receive high-quality care and education.
There are almost 15,500 families in Tarrant County on the scholarship waitlist, according to the Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. It is estimated that about 600-700 new scholarships will be awarded to these families through this additional funding, according to Catherine Davis, director of policy at Child Care Associates.
“It’s a win for working families, because we know that so many families rely on these subsidies in order to afford their child care. I really think that this is representative of the clear messaging from advocates, child care providers (and) families that scholarships are important for families and the economy,” Davis said. “I think legislators really heard that message this session, and there was really a bipartisan agreement on the need to act. That’s really exciting, and something we’re really grateful for.”
This is the first time the state has allocated funding to the child care sector beyond the minimum amounts required to draw down federal funding. Experts say there are caveats within this funding, though, because it comes from leftover dollars of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. The $100 million is considered to be one-time funding for the state’s two-year budget.
“It does set the precedent that we could potentially use unused TANF funds in the future for the same reasons. As great and celebratory as we are with $100 million, we are also very realistic that we still have to solve the problem of what is going to be our ongoing funding stream and true solutions for child care in the future,” said Kim Kofron, senior director of education at nonprofit Children at Risk.
Here are three other bills that experts say will address changes in the state’s child care system for the better:
Child care educators with their own kids get priority for scholarships
Child care educators who have children themselves face the same dilemma as working parents in other industries: How do I go to work if I can’t pay for child care, and how do I pay for child care if I can’t go to work?
Senate Bill 462 helps child care educators secure child care scholarships for their own families by listing them as a priority group. The educators must work at least 25 hours per week at a licensed child care facility and are subject to the same income requirements as other parents in their region. The Workforce Solutions of North Central Texas, which serves counties that neighbor Tarrant such as Parker, Denton and Johnson, requires families of two to have a gross monthly income of no more than $4,550 — or $54,600 a year — to qualify. Families of three must earn no more than $5,621 monthly, or about $67,400 a year.
David Feigen, director of early learning policy for Texans Care for Children, said child care providers across Texas have voiced staffing shortages as a major challenge. Prioritizing child care educators for scholarships will allow them to serve other people’s children and improve retention at child care facilities.
“I’ve visited amazing child care programs where you see a classroom just bustling with activity and an amazing educator on the ground supporting children’s brain development, and then next to it is a completely empty classroom — Despite the fact that they’re getting calls off the hook from parents trying to enroll. They just don’t have the teachers. And so anything that lawmakers can do to help get more staff is going to be very helpful,” Feigen said.
Kofron, of Children at Risk, echoed Feigen’s insights.
“Child care educators are vital to our child care system. Without educators we cannot serve more children and families. SB 462 allows child care workers who meet the income eligibility to be prioritized to receive child care scholarships. We are hopeful this will not only help those educators find care but will also help more overall families find care,” Kofron said.
This bill was signed by Gov. Abbott on May 28.
Red tape removed from child care homes and family-based care
Senate Bill 599 prohibits local governments or other entities from placing health and safety regulations on child care homes that go beyond existing state standards set by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. According to the bill analysis, this will “ensure that child care facilities can prevent incurring more costs, remain open, and have regulatory certainty.”
“Since 2019, we have seen a 24% decline in family child care providers throughout the state. We are hopeful SB 599 will help more family child care providers to be able to open and operate throughout the state. We know these providers are vital in rural communities and for families (who) need non-traditional hours for care,” Kofron, of Children at Risk, said.
In March 2024, the Star-Telegram highlighted a local child care home that operates 24/7 and serves parents who don’t work typical 9-5 schedules, such as nurses and law enforcement officers. Three out of the eight children enrolled there at the time would stay overnight or come and go during nighttime hours.
Davis, of Child Care Associates, gave an example of a home-based child care provider in Grand Prairie who wanted to make her operation licensed by the state, but she hit a roadblock with her homeowner’s association that had a rule against businesses operating out of homes. The licensed status would have allowed her to serve more children for longer periods of time under state regulations.
“It relieves family child care providers from kind of unnecessary or burdensome requirements like those that prevent them from expanding,” Davis said of the bill.
This bill was signed by Gov. Abbott on May 15.
Tweak to child care reimbursement could open up more seats for children
HB 2294 allows local workforce development boards to provide higher reimbursement rates to child care providers who enroll children with scholarships. This could allow providers to serve more children and receive more resources to do so.
“(Texas Workforce Commission) essentially sets an established reimbursement rate for programs that serve families receiving scholarships. That said, if private pay families or those who are not receiving scholarships, if they’re paying less than that established reimbursement rate, programs are reimbursed at the lower of the two rates currently,” Feigen, of Texans Care for Children, said. “The problem with that is the programs are essentially not incentivized to enroll scholarship recipients because the reimbursement is essentially capped at what these private pay parents are paying.”
As a result, there are fewer slots available for children who do receive scholarships, and the reimbursements provided don’t cover the full cost to care for those children, he said. This issue is particularly apparent in low-income areas, as the Texas Workforce Commission sets the reimbursement rates based on market rates for a region.
Kofron, of Children at Risk, said the bill will give local workforce development boards the ability to address child care deserts and workforce needs in their communities.
According to the nonprofit’s child care desert dashboard, Tarrant County has 60 ZIP codes considered to be subsidized child care deserts. These are areas with at least 30 low-income children, ages 0-5, where the demand for subsidized child care is at least three times greater than the supply of subsidized child care.
This bill was sent to Gov. Abbott’s desk on May 28. His deadline to sign or veto bills is Sunday.
This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
