Seattle (January 22, 2021) – The City of Seattle announced that applications for the Child Care Stabilization Fund have opened for licensed child care providers, and family, friend, and neighbor caregivers in Seattle. These grants are intended to support childcare providers though the economic hardship they have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our childcare and community caregivers have made it possible for our firefighters, nurses, grocery store workers to continue their essential work throughout this pandemic. In the months to come, we must continue supporting our providers and community members who are supporting our kids and workers,” said Mayor Jenny A. Durkan.
“Childcare is essential to our economic recovery. While we’re hopeful our economy will begin to recover alongside the rollout of the vaccine, this vital funding creates a bridge for our childcare providers to continue providing essential services to children now, and remain open when at-home working families return,” said Seattle City Council President M. Lorena González (Position 9, Citywide).
“This $2.4 million fund is part of the city’s COVID relief efforts, as we continue to stabilize our economy by investing in frontline workers, small businesses like childcare providers and vulnerable communities. To make Seattle’s economy resilient through this pandemic, we need childcare providers to stay afloat so when working families return to their employers, we have accessible and affordable childcare providers available to watch our kiddos,” said Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide).
Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) is partnering with Child Care Resources to administer the grant and offer application assistance and language support to child care providers. Grants up to $10,000 are available for licensed child care providers and school-age only programs operating within Seattle city limits. Grants of $500 are also available to income-eligible family, friend, and neighbor caregivers living in Seattle who care for children aged 0-12 more than 10 hours per week.
“The impact of COVID-19 on child care providers has been profound,” said DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle. “We are excited to partner with Child Care Resources to bring this needed resource to child care providers and friend, family, and neighbor caregivers quickly. To our caregivers, thank you for your efforts to deliver high-quality childcare during the pandemic and for always keeping families at the center of your work.”
Child Care Resources notified the child care community that applications were open on Friday, January 15. Licensed providers and school-age only programs can apply for a grant here and have until Wednesday, January 27 to submit applications. A separate application for family, friend, and neighbor caregivers is available here, with a deadline of Friday, January 29. Applications are available in the following languages: English, Spanish, Somali, Simplified Chinese, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese.
“Supporting child care providers; family, friend and neighbor caregivers; and school age programs operating in Seattle is an investment into the future of every child, family and community,” said Phoebe Sade Anderson, CEO of Child Care Resources. “We are pleased to team up with the City of Seattle to distribute COVID relief funding and continuously work towards ensuring a sustainable future for child care.”
Child care stabilization grants are noncompetitive; however, should demand exceed available funds, prioritization will go to FFN caregivers below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and to licensed providers and school-age only programs who are serving families on state or city subsidies or who are in a priority geographic area using the City’s Office of Planning & Community Development’s Race and Social Equity Index.
Applicants should contact the Child Care Resources Provider Line at 1-800-446-1114 to receive language support and assistance in completing their application. Notification of awards will be sent by February 15, with disbursal of funds beginning in late February.