North Carolina Tri-Share

25 Mar

Overview

The NC Tri-Share Child Care Program is an initiative established to promote collaboration between employers, employees, and the State in addressing the challenges of childcare affordability. By sharing the financial responsibility of childcare expenses, the program aims to alleviate the burden on working families while fostering a supportive environment for employee retention and productivity. This program divides the price of care evenly between the State, employers, and eligible employees which are those with a household income between 185-300% of the federal poverty level.

Why It Matters

Many North Carolina families earn too much to qualify for traditional childcare assistance but too little to afford high-quality care, creating barriers to workforce participation. Parents with young children, particularly those with infants and toddlers, need access to affordable, high-quality childcare to remain in the workforce.

The Tri-Share Program offers a solution by dividing childcare costs equally among three stakeholders: employers, employees, and the state. This approach helps employers attract and retain workers while enabling more parents to enter or remain in the workforce. The program specifically targets the "missing middle" - working families who fall outside the parameters of other assistance programs yet struggle with childcare costs.

Quick Facts

Core Model: Equal cost-sharing between state, employers, and employees
Notable Feature: Targets families who earn too much to be eligible for subsidy but struggle to afford childcare
Launch Date: September 2024
Eligibility: Families earning between 185% and 300% of Federal Poverty Level who are employed by participating businesses and are otherwise not eligible for subsidy
Current Funding: $900,000 per year allocated for FY 2023-2025 or until funds are expended
Program Coverage: Initially 15 counties through three regional hubs; now open to all 100 North Carolina counties

Background

The North Carolina Tri-Share Child Care Program was established through the 2023 Appropriations Act (Session Law 2023-134) as a pilot initiative to make high-quality childcare affordable and accessible for working families, help employers retain and attract employees, and help stabilize childcare businesses across the State. The program was designed to fill a critical gap in childcare support for families who earn too much to qualify for traditional assistance but still struggle with the high costs of quality childcare.

The program received $900,000 per year in state funding, distributed among three Regional Hubs in fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 or until funds are expended. Initially launched in 15 counties, the program has since expanded statewide to all 100 counties in North Carolina.

How it Works

The program divides childcare costs equally three ways:

Employers pay one-third
Employees pay one-third
State of North Carolina pays one-third

Three designated Smart Start Local Partnerships serve as Regional Hubs to administer the program at the community level. The NC Partnership for Children provides overarching leadership and backbone management, while the Catapult Employers Association serves as a third-party administrator to manage the application and benefits administration.

Key Features

Regional Hub Model: Leverages existing Smart Start Network infrastructure and relationships to ensure local coordination and support through three regional hubs, now serving all North Carolina counties.
NC Partnership for Children: Backbone support enables streamlined processes for each Regional Hub including communications materials and application process. NCPC engages the General Assembly on progress, manages contracts, projections and expenditures as well as evaluation.
Targeted Eligibility: Specifically serves families earning between 185% and 300% of the federal poverty level who are not eligible for other public childcare assistance.
Employment Requirement: Participants must be employed by businesses that have formally joined the program, encouraging employer engagement
Public-Private Partnership: Creates a balanced distribution of financial responsibility that makes quality childcare more accessible to working families

Policy Levers

Funding Appropriations: State legislators allocated $900,000 for fiscal years 2023-2025 to support program implementation and the state's portion of the cost-sharing model. A technical correction in 2024 allows for the program to continue until funds are expended.

Eligibility Parameters: Income requirements set at a household income of 185-300% of federal poverty level, which target families who fall into the gap between assistance eligibility and affordability

Regional Administration: Legislation established the Regional Hub model utilizing existing Smart Start Local Partnerships to manage local recruitment and implementation and specified NCPC to manage streamlined processes in a 2024 legislative technical correction.

Program Duration: Current funding authorization extends until funds are expended, creating a multi-year window for implementation and evaluation

Results

While still early in its development, the North Carolina Tri-Share Child Care Program has begun expanding statewide from its initial pilot phase. The program's current funding allows capacity to serve approximately 300 children (price of care differs greatly across the state as well as in classrooms with differing ages of infants and children). The enrollment numbers as of April 2025 are as follows:

16 employers have enrolled with 5 pending approval
24 childcare providers - 5 pending approval
9 children - 13 pending approval

For participating families, the program substantially reduces childcare costs, lowering monthly payments by two-thirds. This significant decrease helps families better manage other essential expenses such as housing, food and transportation. Many childcare providers themselves have enrolled as employers, helping to retain their own staff.

To increase participation, Smart Start and the NC Department of Commerce ran a "NC Tri-Share Week" in March 2025, providing information sessions to over 90 interested employers, Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development staff. Program administrators are also working with the North Carolina General Assembly regarding potential sustainability and expansion beyond the current implementation period.