Children’s Services

Department of Children’s Services

It is the mission of the Department of Children’s Services to promote and support high quality child care that is affordable and accessible to all families seeking care in Camden County.

As the child care resource and referral agency for Camden County, the Department of Children’s Services is responsible for coordinating child care services within the 37 county municipalities. Since 1971, the office has operated under the administration of the Board of Commissioners and is supported by local, state and federal funding.

News and Updates

COMING SOON! Thriving by Three Infant and Toddler Child Care Grant

New Jersey Bill S2476 was signed into law in June 2022, establishing an infant and toddler child care grant program, known as Thriving by Three.

To support this, New Jersey has committed $28 million to strengthen and increase high-quality child care services and programs for our most vulnerable young children. A total of $20 million was allocated to the Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development (DHS/DFD) and $8 million to Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to implement the Thriving by Three (TBT) Grant Programs, in collaboration with the Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing (OOL).

The Thriving by Three Infant and Toddler Child Care Grant will help support the development and creation of infant and toddler slots and provide technical assistance to providers for the expansion of child care spaces.

The first Thriving by Three Grant will be open to licensed child care centers and Head Start/Early Head Start programs. An online application is scheduled to launch by late March.

This grant offers providers an initial grant award in year 1 of $3,000 for each new infant or toddler slot. Years 2 and 3 provide the opportunity to apply for an additional $1,200 per infant and toddler slot.

A Thriving by Three Grant for registered family child care providers will be available later this year.

For eligibility information, an overview video and more details on this grant, visit the ChildCareNJ.gov Thriving by Three Grants page.

Resources

• Department of Human Services NJ Resource Guide: English
• Departamento de Servicios Humanos Recursos de NJ: Spanish