NIH Childcare Allowance

 

Allowance Definition
Allowance Requirements
Account Setup
Disbursement
Reporting
 

Allowance Definition

NIH has made a childcare allowance available on its NRSA fellowship and institutional training grant awards. The maximum amount of the allowance is $2,500 per budget year per fellow/trainee (not per child).

Reimbursement is excluded from F&A, per NIH policy.

For Fellowships (F30, F31, F32, and F33):
The allowance is available on NRSA fellowship awards effective April 2021.

If the fellow is eligible for this allowance (see Requirements section), requests for funds for this allowance should be made at the time of submission of the proposal. (It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure funds are requested and distributed only to fellows eligible to receive reimbursement.) Receipts from the childcare vendor are not required to be submitted to NIH. For fellowship awards active and issued prior to April 2021, supplemental funding for this allowance may be requested from NIH via OSP.

For Institutional Training Grants (T32, TL1, TU2, and T90):
The allowance is available on NRSA institutional training grants for awards issued in Fiscal Year 2022 (beginning October 1, 2021)

NIH will obligate childcare allowance funding for each training slot when the next new, renewal or continuation award is issued. No other action is needed from recipients at the time of the application to request childcare allowance funds. However, the funds may only be used to reimburse trainees that are eligible for the allowance. (see Requirements section).

You can read the NIH announcements for more details:
NOT-OD-21-074: Childcare allowance for NIH NRSA Fellowships
NOT-OD-21-177: Childcare allowance for NIH NRSA Institutional Training Grants
NIH FAQ

Allowance Requirements

This allowance is limited to NIH fellows/trainees who have incurred allowable childcare expenses for eligible child(ren).

An allowable childcare expense is defined as proof of payment from a state licensed childcare provider for childcare costs incurred within the award’s budget year. Receipts from the childcare vendor are required from the fellow/trainee in order for the fellow/trainee to receive the allowance. 

The allowance will be disbursed by Brown University to the eligible fellow/trainee on an actual cost basis up to a maximum amount of $2,500 per fellow/trainee per budget year.

Eligible child(ren):

  • Reside with the fellow/trainee; and are
  • 12 years of age or under, or 17 years or under if disabled.

Per IRS requirements, the allowance is taxable.

Allowance funds are restricted may not be rebudgeted into other cost categories on the award.

For fellowships, any allowance funds requested from NIH but not disbursed by the end of the budget year must be returned to NIH.

For institutional training grants, any unused allowance funds (due to ineligible trainee slots) must be reported as an unobligated balance; NIH will offset unused funds in future years.

For institutional training grants with eligible trainees that cross budget periods, the unused portion would be reported as an unliquidated obligation.

Account Setup

Fellowships/ Institutional Training Grants
If an NIH fellowship notice of award or a NIH institutional training grant notice of award has childcare funding in Section I, your post award accountant will create a child account under the parent account for that funding.

Disbursement

Instructions for the Fellow/Trainee:

  • Complete Supplier invoice in workday.  Due to tax implications the request cannot be done through an expense report.
    • Use ledger code 80000
    • Use spend category 9240
  • Attach a copy of the child care invoice from a state licensed facility.

Note: The NIH allowance is per fellow/trainee, not per child. Costs may be reimbursed based on any number of eligible children, but the maximum allowed per fellow is $2,500 per budget period.

Note: If two fellows/trainees have children, they are both eligible to request the allowance, but must be reimbursed for actual expenditures not to exceed $2,500 per fellow/trainees. 

For example, the child is in day care that costs $2,000/month. Fellow/trainee A submits receipts for day care for January & February for a total of $4,000 and receives $2,500. Fellow/trainee B submits receipts for day care for March & April for $4,000 and receives $2,500. Each fellow/trainee is eligible to be reimbursed up to $2,500 per budget year; the same receipt may not be used to receive more than one reimbursement.

Instructions for the Department:

  • If an NRSA Fellowship - request funds from NIH for the childcare allowance:
    • If the fellowship is on an existing grant, request funds for future years via the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR).
    • If the fellowship is new, request funds as part of the proposal submission
  • If an NRSA Institutional Training Grant - the Department does not have to request funds as NIH will obligate funding based on the number of training slots.

Reporting

NRSA Fellowship

  • Recipients must report on their annual RPPR if childcare costs continue to be needed or not in Section G.1.

NRSA Institutional Training Grant

  • Recipients must specify the number of trainees who used childcare costs in the reporting period on their annual RPPR in Section G.1.

Note: NIH only allows the full $2,500 to be requested and obligated. At the end of the budget period, if the total amount disbursed is less than $2,500, the balance must be reconciled in accordance with NIH policy.