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July 1, 2026

159 Subsidy funds and registration fee funds are available for use up to 90 calendar days from the date the funds were loaded to the parent’s EBT Card. Any amount not expended by the 90th day will be returned to the state. When a parent makes a payment to a provider the funds are deducted from the parent’s subsidy balance in a last-in/first- out system.

Example: Ricardo has an authorization for March 1 – June 12 for his child, Zeus. His EBT card is loaded with $300 in subsidy funds on March 1. He does not pay any funds to the provider in March. An additional $300 for April is loaded to his card on April 1. If Ricardo only pays $300 to his provider in April, these would be the April funds. He would need to pay more than $300 to access the March funds. He must use the March funds before May 29 or any remaining March funds will age off the card. If May benefits are loaded to the card before he spends the March funds, he would need to pay both the May funds and March funds to avoid losing his March funds.

Subsidy funds can be used to pay the entire provider bill for the current month or a past month. Use of subsidy funds is not limited to attendance. Subsidy funds cannot be paid to a provider and banked to apply for future months. If a provider needs to return funds, see Appendix VIII – Returning Funds. Subsidy payments can only be applied to the child with the authorization to that provider.

This section last updated 7/1/2026

Section 18.8 Parent Share Wisconsin Shares is not intended to cover the full cost of child care. When the provider’s price is more than the Wisconsin Shares subsidy amount, the parent is responsible for out-of-pocket costs to pay any remaining balance to the provider. This remaining balance is the “parent share.”

After an authorization is created for a child, the family receives a written notice that includes the subsidy amount and number of authorized hours (see 19.1). The parent should use this notice to help determine their out-of-pocket cost. For more information, see https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/wishares/maxrates.

This section last updated 12/1/2022

Chapter 19 Registration Fees

Section 19.1 Registration Fee Eligibility Parents may receive funds for registration fees that their provider charges. Registration fee amounts are specified in Section 19.2.

Registration fees are fees that a provider might: • Initially charge to enroll or register the child