Access to Quality Child Care Grant Guidelines


This funding is provided through the Access to Quality Child Care Grant, funded by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) has been selected to administer the grant program. The Access to Quality Child Care Grant aims to increase the supply of child care services for infants and toddlers, which may include establishing new or expanding child development facilities serving infants and toddlers. Specifically, this grant seeks to increase the District’s infant and toddler child care supply by September 2023, through the provision of sub-grants and technical assistance.
Funding is available to eligible early care and education center-based providers or to current or future providers that plan to open a new center or expand an existing center. The following sub-grants are available:

• New Center Development
• Pre-Development (for Child Development Centers only)
• Expansion Grants for Child Development Centers
• Expansion Grants for Child Development Homes

Additional Information can be found in the Guidelines linked here. Interested applicants for the Access to Quality Child Care Grant must first complete and submit an intake form.

LIIF will review intake forms to determine what type of sub-grant a child development facility or organization/individual may be eligible to participate in and invite those that meet “readiness” criteria to complete the grant application. More information on the application process can be found in the grant guidelines document.

Back to Work Child Care Grant Guidelines

The Back-to-Work Child Care Grant is a program of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The Low-Income Investment Fund (LIIF) has been selected to administer the grant program. The Back-to-Work Child Care Grant will provide financial assistance to preserve the supply of child care in neighborhoods most impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and offset costs for programs to

resume operating at full capacity, opening and preserving additional slots for families in need of care. The grant program will also support affordability, prioritizing providers who serve children participating in the District’s child care subsidy program.

The objectives for this grant are as follows:

• Provide financial assistance to the District's child care providers during the COVID-19 recovery phase.
• Preserve or increase the availability of child care in areas of the District experiencing high unemployment rates.
• Preserve or increase the availability of child care in areas of the District that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
• Increase access to quality child care for the District's most vulnerable children.

To achieve these objectives, LIIF will complete programmatic and financial assessments, utilizing relevant indicators of the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and Business Administration Scale (BAS), within 60 days of award. Within 60 days of completing these assessments, assessment results will be used as a guide to collaborate with sub-grantees in developing their financial sustainability plans.

Funds can be utilized for costs that support operations, with an emphasis (through technical assistance) on costs that will lead to program sustainability by supporting full enrollment, full fee collection and revenues covering cost-per-child.

Eligible applicants must:

• Participate in the Child Care Subsidy Program.
• Serve infants and toddlers.
• Be experiencing financial instability due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Have been licensed as of April 17, 2022.

Additional information on the grant can be found in the link guidelines linked here.

All interested applicants must complete an application form. Applicants will be required to submit information that LIIF will utilize to understand their current business conditions, including their cost-per-child, fee collection practices and enrollment.