Alabama Quality STARS Incentive Information
All questions regarding incentives and subsidy must be emailed to the Alabama Department of Human Resources at DHR_QRISpayments@dhr.alabama.gov
The following incentive schedules will go into effect beginning July 1, 2026. Programs that meet the criteria will receive a one-time incentive annually from the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR).*
*Programs that opted out of the STARs program will not receive the STAR 1 incentive.
Definitions
Incentive An incentive for purposes of these guidelines is a reward or benefit offered by the Department to motivate a person or organization to produce a desired outcome related to quality child care.
Enrolled Child An enrolled child is a child who is officially registered and accepted into a childcare facility for compensation, excluding programs that are operated by federal or state entities that do not charge a fee, i.e. Head Start or First-Class Pre-K.
Centers
Alabama Quality STARS Incentive Matrix
Homes
Alabama Quality STARS Incentive Matrix
Subsidy Reimbursement Schedule:
The subsidy reimbursement schedule (separate from the above schedule) for currently STAR-rated programs can be found below:
Subsidy Tiers Updated: April 2022
QRIS/Program Integrity Informational Powerpoint
This is the PowerPoint presentation shared during the evening Zoom meetings with DHR on September 21-23, 2026