During these difficult and unprecedented times, we commend Congress for prioritizing child care in the recently passed third COVID-19 economic relief package, the CARES Act. The package sustains small businesses in a variety of ways through new operational grants, expanded loans and loan forgiveness assistance. 

For our part, ReadyNation urged that Congressional responses to the current pandemic address the tremendous burden being placed on the American workforce, especially the child care sector. The package provides financial relief that will sustain some child care providers to remain open now for healthcare workers, first responders and other essential workers, and allow for re-opening on a larger scale when Americans go back to work. Council for a Strong America joined with other national organizations in signing this letter to Members of Congress, while select members of the ReadyNation CEO Task Force on Early Childhood engaged Congressional offices directly during critical negotiations.


We Want to Hear from You:

Some of our members have reached out to us already about this issue and how their companies are responding to COVID-19, which we very much appreciate. If you would like to share challenges that your company, organization or business is currently facing and/or solutions around supporting your employees, including helping to find child care for your employees, please email us at  [email protected] . And, as always, ReadyNation remains available as a resource so do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you have questions during these uncertain times.


What Child Care Providers Need to Know:

Some of you have asked us if we have information to share directly with child care providers. Here are some financial relief tools that are being made available to them:
 
  • $10,000 quick grants from the Small Business Association (SBA) to cover operational costs in the short term while a loan/loan forgiveness application is being processed
  • SBA loans up to $10M that can be forgiven, if a child care center reopens and keeps staffing numbers consistent

Congress is giving additional funds to SBA resource partners to make sure that child care providers know how to access the above financial relief. This assistance will be critical to address child care providers’ economic losses and help them stay in business so that they are ready to provide care for our nation’s children when parents go back to work. 
 
In addition, Congress has allocated $3.5B to the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a critical funding source for lower-income parents to afford child care, that will do the following:

  • Help states pay CCDBG providers regardless of child attendance
  • Provide subsidies for first responders, health care workers and other essential workers determined by states, who would not normally qualify for CCDBG subsidies
  • States may also designate dollars to non-CCDBG providers to help sustain their operations by assisting with increased costs associated with safety and health during and after the public health crisis
 

Select Resources:
 
 

Wishing you and your families a safe and healthy time ahead.


Sincerely,


Daniel Frank, J.D.
Co-Global Director

Nancy Fishman
Co-Global Director