Childcare while job hunting, what worked? after 18 years as a pharmacy technician

I have 18 kids and I need to interview and work without a sitter. I have been trying to stay organised about it. I looked into subsidies but the forms are long. How long did subsidies take?

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It made the follow-up calls so much easier.

Libraries and community centres run free activities that gave me a couple of hours.