Any working parent will likely call child care essential to going back to work, and D.C. is ensuring that providers have the financial help they need to stay in business.
The District is allocating $10.7 million to a new grant program that will offer financial relief for licensed child care centers. It also created a $3 million fund for providers affected by the public health emergency.
Calling child care “critical,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement that the funding provides the “robust relief they need to stay in business, serve families and make it to the other side of this pandemic.”
Grants will be available through the Washington Area Community Investment Funds and the Low-Income Investment Fund websites.
Combined with support offered in the last year, more than $24 million in financial assistance has been opened up to child care providers, the mayor’s office said.
“Along with other strategies we have put in place during the public health emergency, including the Public Health Emergency subsidy rate that increases payments to subsidy providers, these funds will help ensure that child care providers can continue their crucial work supporting families and preparing children to succeed in school,” said Interim State Superintendent Shana Young.
