Childcare Voucher Assistance
The trust distributes $45,000 each year in reimbursements to eligible graduate employees for their child care costs for on or off campus licensed child care.
The basic eligibility requirements are as follows:
1) Applicants for the Health & Welfare Trust Fund childcare reimbursements must be GEO-eligible, according to the guidelines for dental & vision and health insurance, available at http://www.hwtrust.geouaw.org/eligibility
2) Applicants for the Health & Welfare Trust Fund childcare reimbursements must use licensed childcare or afterschool care that they can provide receipts for. Licensed care means that the State of Massachusetts' Office of Early Education & Care has provided a license for your provider to operate. You can find out if your provider is licensed at
http://www.eec.state.ma.us/ChildCareSearch/EarlyEduMap.aspx
Although please check with your provider as well, as some are exempt under the EEC guidelines.
The full eligibility requirements and guidelines for how we determine child care reimbursements are available for download below.
SPRING 2012 Childcare Reimbursement Assistance
The Trust Fund has already distributed child care reimbursements for the period Nov 2011-April 2012. The next application period will open on June 1 with a deadline of June 15, and will be for child care costs incurred during May 2012.
These dates may seem strange, but our benefits plan year is Nov 1-April 30 and May 1-Oct 31, so we are transitioning onto that schedule.
The application will be accessible on the front page of hwtrust.geouaw.org as of June 1, 2012.
Applications for summer child care costs for the period June-August 2012 will be available starting September 1 with a deadline of September 15.
Subsidized Childcare Slots
For those with qualifying incomes whose children attend the University's Center for Early Education and Care (CEEC), there are free slots in the Flex-Care Classroom, paid for by the Health & Welfare Trust Fund.
Get on the waitlist as soon as you can for one of these slots by calling CEEC at 545-1566.
Breast-Feeding Room in Student Union
The Health & Welfare Trust Fund has purchased a breast feeding glider chair for the breast feeding space operated by the Office of Family Resources (OFR), Rm. 428 Student Union Building. We'd like to encourage graduate student mothers to use the space!
2011.12 Child Care Reimbursement Guidelines.pdf
