Families and child care providers across the state are celebrating the return of a popular child care subsidy program.

For many families of the St. Paul's Child Development Center, Care 4 Kids was a crucial service that allowed them to pay for child care.

When it closed last year due to rising costs, the development center says a lot of families had to pay for the expenses out of pocket. Some even had to leave the preschool program.

St. Paul's Child Development Center is one of dozens of child care providers in the city that benefits from Care 4 Kids.

When the program ended in August 2016, state Sen. Ed Gomes says over 5,800 children across the state were left unsupported.

He says the new state budget allowed them to secure $31 million over two years.

Last week, the state's Office of Early Childhood, which sponsors the program, began accepting families from the waitlist once more, providing relief for many.

St. Paul's says it has about a dozen people on their waiting list. It's left to be seen how many will be accepted.