WHAT IS THE CENTRALIZED ELIGIBILITY LIST?

Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) systems are located in every county in California and are funded through the California Department of Education, Child Development Division. The Monterey County Centralized Eligibility List (MCCEL) is a single database of families who have applied for child care within Monterey County.  The MCCEL is used to enroll children in  subsidized child care programs as space and funding is available.

In the past, a child development provider kept a waiting list for parents wishing to enroll their children in subsidized child care programs, Head Start Programs, and Alternative Payment Programs. Now all child care programs in the county are required to use the MCCEL to find eligible families to enroll in their programs.  Each family seeking subsidized child care must apply to the MCCEL. 

The term "eligible" is used because families are ranked by eligibility factors for subsidized care (income, size, and need), not just time spent on the list.  Based on eligibility, each applicant family receives a rank number. Rank numbers range from 1-66. Families with the lowest rank number are served first.

Once your family is determined eligible, your information is entered in the MCCEL. The database compares your need with all other applying families on the MCCEL and a dynamic placement is assigned to your family. Placement on the list is not fixed and may change when new families are entered. When you submit an application you will be put on the list for all MCCEL participating agencies. To see a list of participating agencies, click here.

When an MCCEL participating agency has an opening in their program or funds to provide services, they will access the MCCEL to find families who meet the eligibility requirements of the agency's individual program. Families listed on the MCCEL may receive a call from any of the participating agencies. When an agency has an opening, parents with children meeting the enrollment guidelines will have an opportunity to enroll their child. 

It is important for parents to know that the MCCEL system is only the keeper of the applicants’ information; we do not offer direct services to the families and we do not know when openings will occur at the participating programs.

MCCEL enables families to have access to all subsidized programs in Monterey County for which they qualify. Communities and counties can plan better to address the demand for care. Local, state and federal funding can be more focused to address the needs of eligible waiting families. Local leaders are provided information on the need for child care in their communities to aid them in making decisions that impact the planning for affordable, quality child care services.

WHAT ELSE DO WE DO?

• Maintain a web-based database of family/child application data
• Maintain eligibility lists of applying families/children according to State eligibility rules for contracted programs (organizations who contract with the California Department of Education to provide subsidized childcare)
• Support state contractors to share eligible family/child data for enrollment 
• Maintain contact information for participating contractors
• Community Outreach