HSD Announces Availability of Funding to Increase Licensed Capacity in Preschool and Child Care Facilities Across the City of Seattle

The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce the availability of up to $5,000,000 of Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery (CLFR) Funds and up to $1,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to increase licensed capacity in preschool and child care facilities across the City of Seattle. Providers interested in applying for this RFP must have experience in:

• providing developmentally and culturally appropriate early learning programming;
• working with Seattle children and families most disproportionately impacted by the effects of COVID-19; and
• working with Seattle children 0 - 5 years old.

The American Rescue Plan Act states that "the pandemic and the necessary actions taken to control the spread had a severe impact on households and small businesses, in particular low-income workers and communities and people of color." As a result, CLFR funds should provide "assistance to those households, businesses, and non-profits in communities most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic."

At the national level, mothers of children aged 12 years and younger lost jobs at a rate three times greater than fathers of young children between February and August 2020. Throughout the pandemic, women, particularly women of color, have experienced higher levels of unemployment, threatening to undo decades of progress towards gender equity. Early learning programs are vital to an equitable COVID-19 recovery. Seattle Ordinance 126371 allocated CLFR funding to be invested specifically toward child care capital improvements.

In working with community to identify the challenges of participating in the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP), the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) received feedback from partners citing the following as ongoing challenges for sustainability: (1) the lack of available and licensable space as a barrier to SPP program expansion, and (2) organizational capacity related to board development, fundraising plans, human resources, and financial management.

HSD is supporting the expansion of early learning facilities and environments by investing in the capacity of licensed early learning programs across Seattle:

1. Nonprofit, center-based providers and preschools are eligible to apply for $25,000 (min) to $2,000,000 (max)
2. Nonprofit, home-based agencies are eligible to apply for $10,000 (min) to $75,000 (max)

For more information, and all RFP materials, please visit HSD's Funding Opportunities web page: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/funding-and-reports/funding-opportunities. Completed application packets are due by 12:00 Noon PDT, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

Questions?

Please contact Ken Astrein, Funding Process Coordinator, via email with any questions about this RFP or to request an accommodation for the information session: [email protected]

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