How to Fill Out the New Jersey CC-188 Verification of Employment Form

The NJ CC-188 Verification of Employment form is a one-page document your employer completes to confirm your job details when you apply for New Jersey’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). You don’t always need it. The standard proof of employment is four weeks of recent paystubs, and the CC-188 only comes into play when those paystubs are missing information, when you’ve just started a job, or when your employer’s pay records don’t break down hours or gross income clearly enough for the state to verify eligibility.¹

When You Actually Need the CC-188

CCAP’s default employment documentation is payroll records from your most recent four weeks of work.² You should reach for the CC-188 in three situations:

Your paystubs don’t show hours worked. The state needs hours to verify your schedule meets the minimum.
Your paystubs don’t contain enough detail to calculate gross income, such as a clear breakdown of wages, commissions, or bonuses.
You’ve just started the job and don’t have paystubs yet.¹

If your employer won’t fill out the CC-188, there’s a workaround. A letter on company letterhead confirming your job title, start date, hours, and pay rate is accepted as long as it substantially covers the same information the form requests.¹

One boundary worth knowing: self-employed applicants don’t use the CC-188 at all. They verify work through a federal income tax return with all schedules, W-2s, and 1099s.²

Where to Get the Form

Download the CC-188 from your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency. New Jersey maintains a directory of county-level agencies at childcarenj.gov/CCRR.³ Some CCR&R offices also hand out paper copies in person.

How to Fill Out the CC-188

The form has two parts. Part 1 is for you. Part 2 is for your employer. Complete your section first so your employer knows whose employment they’re verifying.

Part 1: Your Section

Fill in your identifying information so the form connects back to your CCAP application. Then hand the form to your employer.

Part 2: Employer Section

Your employer provides the details the state uses to decide eligibility. The form asks for:⁴

Company information: name, street address, city, state, zip, email, phone, and fax.
Job details: your job title or description, whether you’re currently employed, your start date, and your end date if applicable.
Hours worked per week. This field is critical because it determines whether you meet the minimum work-hour threshold for CCAP.
How you’re paid: cash, personal check, business check, or paystub with direct deposit.
Pay frequency: daily, weekly, biweekly, bimonthly, or monthly.
Compensation: annual salary or hourly, daily, or weekly rate, plus any commissions, bonuses, or other earnings and how often they’re paid.
Paid time off: whether you receive vacation, sick, or snow days.
Signature block: printed name, title, phone, and email of the person completing the form, with their signature and the date.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

A few points save time:

The CC-188 does not ask for your Social Security number or your employer’s Federal Employer Identification Number, despite claims circulating online that it does.⁴ Don’t hold up the form chasing an FEIN you don’t need.

If your schedule varies week to week, ask your employer to report an average number of hours rather than writing “varies” or leaving the field blank. The state needs a reliable figure to compare against the minimum employment requirement, which, as of October 2025, is 25 hours per week. School enrollment of 12 or more credit hours per term, or job training of at least 20 hours per week, can qualify instead of paid employment.⁵

Keep a copy of the completed form before you send it. If anything is lost in transit, that copy saves you from starting over.

Where to Submit the Form

Send the completed CC-188 to the CCR&R agency that serves your county. Each agency processes applications for its designated area, and you can find yours through the directory at childcarenj.gov/CCRR.³ Delivery options vary by office. Most accept documents by mail, fax, and in person, and some now use digital upload portals. Call your CCR&R to confirm what they accept before sending.

What the CC-188 Fits Into

The CC-188 is one piece of the broader CCAP application. The full packet also includes photo ID, proof of address, your children’s birth certificates and Social Security cards, proof of citizenship or immigration status, and documentation of any other household income such as Social Security, TANF, SNAP, or child support.² If you have four weeks of paystubs that fully document your hours and gross pay, you likely don’t need the CC-188 at all.

What Happens After You Submit

Once your CCR&R has all required documents, including the CC-188 if you need it, the agency has 30 calendar days to make an eligibility decision. The clock starts when your file is complete, not when you first applied.⁵

If something on your form is missing or unclear, the agency will contact you. You then have 10 calendar days to send what they’re asking for. Miss that window and your benefits are terminated, which means restarting the application. If you need more time, call your CCR&R before the deadline to ask for an extension.⁵

After approval, you have 60 days to start using your child care benefits before your 12-month eligibility period begins.⁵

One last point about accuracy. The CC-188 is signed by your employer and certifies your employment information to the state. Submitting false or misleading information, or leaving out required details, can result in termination of benefits for up to 12 months, with repeated or severe violations leading to permanent disqualification and repayment of any overpaid benefits.⁶ Review what your employer wrote before you send the form in.

1
New Jersey Department of Human Services. Important Information – Child Care In New Jersey
2
Bergen County, NJ. New Jersey Child Care Assistance Application Check List
3
New Jersey Department of Human Services. CCR&R – Child Care In New Jersey
4
Child Care Resource and Referral agencies. CC-188 Verification of Employment Form
5
New Jersey Department of Human Services. Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) – ChildCareNJ.gov
6
Child Care Resource and Referral of New Jersey. Disqualification of Services