The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is announcing a new funding opportunity for licensed child care providers to ensure a stable, functional and flexible child care system that supports providers and families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fall Child Care COVID-19 Grants will help child care providers to offset increased costs associated with the pandemic and to incentivize providers to serve school-age children.
Eligible Providers
The DCYF Fall Child Care COVID-19 Grant is available to licensed providers who agree to remain open and serve children through the end of the 2020-2021 school year and who meet one of the following criteria:
- Sustainability Criteria: Providers who have been open and providing care throughout the pandemic and did not previously receive a DCYF Child Care COVID-19 Grant. *Open providers that did previously receive a DCYF Child Care COVID-19 Grant may be eligible for a difference payment if the grant amount was less than the amount currently offered.
- Reopening Criteria: Providers who were temporarily closed and have now opened and did not receive a previous DCYF Child Care COVID-19 Grant because they were closed. Providers must be open at the time of their application. *A provider is not eligible for this grant if they received a previous DCYF Child Care COVID-19 Grant and then closed their license.
- Expansion Criteria: Providers who started serving school-age children or who are newly authorized to serve children accessing subsidy, or expanded how they offer care (such as expanded hours, serving school-age children full-day instead of before and after school) as a result of the pandemic. *Newly licensed providers as of July 1, 2020, or later may be eligible for a grant.
To determine if you qualify to apply for the grant, please refer to this DCYF Fall Child Care Grant Eligibility Flowchart.
How to Apply
Interested providers will log into the WA Compass Provider Portal and select the DCYF Fall COVID-19 Grant pop-up to apply for the grant.
The grant will close Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 11:59 p.m.
Questions?
Contact dcyf.covidgrantinfo@dcyf.wa.gov or contact your local Child Care Aware regional office.