Northland Foundation created the Emergency Child Care Grant Program to offer immediate financial support to child care providers caring for children whose parents/guardians are designated as emergency personnel and other essential workers.
Licensed family childcare is eligible for $1,000 grants.
Licensed center-based care is eligible for $3,000 grants.
Providers must be located within one of the following counties or Tribal Nations: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis County, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe-District 1, or Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe-District 2.
Northland Foundation intends to provide a response and funding within two weeks of applications being received. Funding will be awarded on a first-come first-served basis to qualifying applicants for as long as grant dollars are available.
Click here for a direct link to the simple online application. Click here for the Northland Foundation website.
For grant application questions email Carol Chipman at Northland Foundation.
Minnesota Peacetime emergency childcare grants
Grants starting at $4,500 per month will be awarded to licensed childcare providers serving essential workers during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Licensed family and group family programs, licensed childcare centers, and Tribal licensed childcare programs are eligible to apply. Grant recipients will receive their funding on a month-to-month basis during the pandemic.
An additional $1,000 is available for programs providing non-standard hours care, that care for children who have special needs, and/or who care for children whose first language is not English. Providers that are licensed to serve 15 or more children will be eligible for an additional amount of up to $15,500 per month.
This funding was proposed by Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan in partnership with the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet and the Department of Human Services, and was passed by the legislature as part of their COVID-19 Response Supplemental Budget. It was signed into law on March 28, 2020.
“Child care providers are providing an essential emergency response to our communities,” said Governor Tim Walz. “These grants will be critical in ensuring that child care continues to be available to first responders, health care workers, and so many other folks responding to the COVID-19 emergency.”
These grants will provide about $10 million per month over the next few months to support basic infrastructure needed to keep child care capacity available.
“Child care providers have stepped up to the challenge and are willing to respond to the needs of their communities,” said Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan. “We hope this funding will help ensure that workers can continue to respond to community needs.”
In Minnesota, there are approximately 420,000 children under the age of 12 who live in a household of an essential worker within a critical sector. Of these, the state estimates that during this peacetime emergency, about 270,000 children will need care and approximately 120,000 are likely to need and use licensed childcare settings.
Child Care Aware of Minnesota will administer and distribute these funds for emergency childcare services. Click here for details and a link to apply. For grant application questions email EmergencyGrants@childcareawaremn.org or call 651-290-9704. Applications are due by April 15. Award decisions will by April 20.
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