2023-2024 Dependent Care Travel Grant Guidelines

 Application periods for each quarter are as follows: 

• Fall Quarter 2023: 

• • Application Period: October 1, 2023 through December 2, 2023
  • Service Period activities from September 25, 2023 through December 16, 2023
    • Retroactivity to 9/25/2023 permitted for Fall Quarter 2023, if application received by the November 20, 2023. 

• Winter Quarter 2024:

• • Application Period: December 3, 2023 through February 26, 2024
  • Service Period activities from January 4, 2023 through March 25, 2023   

• Spring Quarter 2024 

• • Application Period: February 27, 2024 through May 13, 2024
  • Service Period activities from March 27, 2024 through June 14, 2024 

Restrictions on eligible expenses and caretakers are detailed below. 

All applications are due 30 days in advance of travel or eligible fund use.

Contingent upon the availability of funds, applications for Summer 2024 will be accepted during the following application period:

•  Summer 2024
  • Application Period: May 14, 2024 through June 30, 2025
  • Service Period activities from June 19, 2024 through September 6, 2024 

Dependent upon the availability of funds, a Summer DCTG announcement will be issued at a later time.

• Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year may be submitted via the InfoReady link provided above.  

• Applications for grants should be submitted for grant pre-approval no less than 30 days before planned travel or provided home dependent care.  

• Applicants will receive a response within 10 business days in most cases.  

• Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received.

DCTG funds may be requested by Senate Faculty at all ranks who: 

• are either single caretakers of a dependent, or 

• have spouses or partners unavailable for dependent care during their professional travel or research due to work obligations or extenuating circumstances .

• have requested and received approved academic leaves from chairs or administrators, where applicable, for related travel during the service period.

For the purposes of this program, eligible dependents are: 

• a healthy child (≤ 12 years) who resides with the applicant and for whom the applicant is a primary caregiver; or 

• a child/adolescent (≤18 years) who is physically or mentally disabled, requires assistance with daily activities, resides with the applicant, and for whom the applicant is a primary caregiver; or 

• a disabled adult/elder (child, spouse, parent, parent-in-law or grandparent) who spends at least eight hours every day in the applicant's home and for whom the applicant has arriving responsibility.

• Eligible senate faculty may be eligible to receive, but not exceed, up to $2,500 in DCTG grant funds per academic year. 

• Eligible senate faculty may request DCTG funds on a quarter by quarter basis (Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024), limited to one (1) eligible activity request per quarter OR one (1) eligible activity request per academic year. 

• Approved grant funding will be processed upon faculty return from travel after faculty member certifies incurred expenses or at the close of each quarter when above and beyond dependent care expenses are certified.

• Grants will be approved and disbursed continuously as eligible expense certifications are received until funds are depleted for each year.

• Once program annual funding maximums have been neared or reached, applicants will be placed on a waitlist for consideration if funding becomes available.

Eligible expenses include the following:  

1. Travel expenses for the dependent.
2. Fees paid to a caregiver (other than a spouse, partner or other immediate family member) for services provided.
3.  Travel expenses for a caregiver (either to travel to the faculty member’s home to provide care or to provide onsite care for the dependent).
4.  Accommodations for a caregiver when s/he stays overnight to care for the dependent.
5.  Meals for dependent and/or caregiver during travel to conference or research meeting, or alternate research location.
6.  Food for caregiver if s/he must travel to provide at-home dependent care.
7.  The cost of shipping breastmilk for a child at home while the faculty member travels for research.
8.  Reasonable dependent care expenses over and above the cost, if any, that the faculty member would normally incur at home (e.g., additional weekend or evening care), or if the dependent must travel with the faculty member during the trip.

Expenses listed below are not eligible for DCTG:  

1. Dependent care expenses at home that would normally be incurred (i.e., aftercare at school, dependent care that is provided on an on-going basis, or meals/groceries for dependents or caregivers that would normally be incurred).
2.  Caregiver fees paid to immediate family members.
3.  Any of the faculty member’s expenses, conference or otherwise.
4.  Entertainment activities.
5.  First or business class travel tickets.
6.  Alcohol.
7.  Other expenses not associated with the additional care or travel of the dependent(s).
8.  Expenses associated with UC San Diego teaching assignments for which the applicant serves as the instructor of record.

• Approved grant funds must be used in the dependent care support manner designated in the application. Funds not certified by applicant as used in the pre-approved manner will not be disbursed.  

• Grant recipients are expected to perform the research and attend the meeting or conference as designated in the approved application. Absent extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness) funds will not be disbursed if the faculty member does not attend the conference/meeting, or engage in scholarly work as described in the application.  

• Significant deviation from planned travel (i.e. substantially different trip or several hundred dollars difference in projected dependent travel expenses) must be approved prior to travel. In the event of a change of travel plans, faculty may submit a revised application to Gabriel Lopez at gal037@ucsd.edu.  Modifications for pre-approved application expenses will not affect application ordering in queue. 

• In the event of canceled travel or a change of plans, grant recipients must notify the program coordinator as early as possible to release reserved funds.

• Via the procedure detailed on the InfoReady application, within 30 days of completed travel, or the last impacted date for which funds were applied in the case of the home caregiver provision, faculty must certify dependent care expenses were incurred.  Expenses not certified within 45 days of travel will be ineligible for funding.  

• • While receipts are not required upon submission of certification of expense, they must be available upon request. 

• • For approved applications, logging back into your application on the InfoReady site after travel will allow for you to complete your travel expense certification by accessing the Progress Reports menu on the right-hand side and then clicking the Travel/Exp certification tab and certifying expenses.   

• Please contact Gabriel Lopez at gal037@ucsd.edu if you encounter any issues accessing your certification. 

• After a faculty member certifies his/her travel or care expenses were incurred as pre-approved, the DCTG program coordinator will contact the department/unit fiscal contact and arrange for a funds transfer.  

• UC Path payments of funds will be set up by unit or department contacts.   

• Disbursements after submitted post-travel or quarter's end certifications can take up to 60 days.