Olympia — Today, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) announces a second round of child care funding to help strengthen the existing child care market for working families and providers. The Governor and Legislature approved over $70 million for the child care industry to address the ongoing economic impacts of COVID-19. These additional relief funds build on the investments made in the Spring.

DCYF understands the needs of providers to maintain affordable and safe operations for Washington’s working families who need access to child care. The additional funds will focus on:

• Relief for families through a reduced copay. Co-pays will be waived for October through December 2020 and will be capped at $115 through June of 2021.

• $30 million in grants to licensed child care providers to help with COVID-19 costs, re-opening child care and stabilize the system. Formal family, friends, and neighbor providers will receive some funding as well.
• Funding for increased costs for full-day care while schools are in distance learning or hybrid models.
• Extra support for families caring for foster children to ensure they can manage dealing with the school and child care impacts of the pandemic.

DCYF continues to explore solutions in collaboration with child care providers to address preexisting concerns and exacerbated issues following the impacts of COVID-19.

###