At the Patterson Family Foundation, we recognize that access to safe and affordable child care is a foundation of community success. Unfortunately, rural communities are more likely to be classified as child care deserts — areas where the demand for licensed child care exceeds the local capacity to provide it.
This lack of access can be a limiting factor for working parents who support the functions that keep a community humming, such as health care, education, local industry, and elder care.
The Patterson Family Foundation is proud to launch a grant program for child care centers run by public school districts and nonprofit community-based organizations in our catchment. This funding program will help organizations preparing to open new child care centers, as well as existing child care centers that would like to increase capacity, ages served, or hours of operation. Organizations must be a licensed child care center or have a temporary operating permit to be eligible for this grant.
Applying public school districts and nonprofit community-based organizations may request funds for short-term operational needs, training and certification needs, and/or minor capital needs aimed at expanding or enhancing child care access. This program’s goal is to increase the capacity and number of licensed child care centers in rural communities throughout our catchment.
Applications will be received from June 26, 2024 through 12 p.m. CST on July 30, 2024. Funds will disbursed by the end of September 2024. Read on for more details.
Note: We understand that some public school districts may need approval from their school board to apply for grant funding. If your school board's schedule does not align with our application deadline, please contact us.
Eligibility
Applicant organizations must be:
• Located in and serving a county or community within the Patterson Family Foundation catchment in Kansas or northwestern Missouri.
• Must be 501(c)(3) organizations or public school districts.
• Must be licensed child care centers or awaiting a temporary permit/licensing approval from the state.
Grant Award / Use of Funds
The purpose of this grant is to increase child care capacity, ages served, facility hours and/or other forms of increased access within your community. All net-new child care centers must have a business plan to demonstrate commitment to their project.
Applicant organizations may request funds for:
• Expenses related to existing and net new public school district and nonprofit community-based child care centers/facilities, including program materials, one-time operational needs, training, certification and other capacity-building needs, or minor capital improvements.
• The maximum award amount is $175,000.
Funding requests must be for year-round child care operations. Operational needs may include coverage for utilities and even staffing-related needs, in addition to program materials, but budget makers should note that these funds will not be awarded on an ongoing annual basis.
Funds exclude:
• Grant dollars may not be used to fund Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms, after-school programs, or summer programs.
Supporting Documentation
At the time of application, grant applicants should be ready to share their organization's:
• Proof of state licensing letter or temporary permit
• Project or business plan for child care center (both new and existing)
• Organizational Budget
• Project budget (a full budget breakdown for all proposed expenditures)
• Letters of support (if available)
How to Apply
Interested and eligible organizations can apply via the Patterson Family Foundation Grants Portal between June 26, 2024, and 12 p.m. CST, July 30, 2024.
1) Organizations will first register for a grants portal account. Please note that registration closes on July 19, 2024. Registration requests will be reviewed and verified according to eligibility criteria before access to the grants portal is allowed. Please note that it may take 1-2 business days for your access to be enabled. Updates on your organization’s account status will be shared via the email address you supplied during registration.
Have you previously registered with the Patterson Family Foundation Grants Portal? If your organization has already created an account with the Patterson Family Foundation Grants Portal, you will access the grants portal with your preexisting credentials. To reset your password, please follow the account recovery process at login. If you need additional support, please contact us at info@pffkc.org. We will do our best to respond to your request in a timely manner.
2) Once our team has reviewed and confirmed registration, your organization can access the online Rural Child Care Program: School Districts and Community-Based Centers application through the grants portal. Applications close at 12 p.m. CST on July 30, 2024.
Reporting Requirements
We are committed to the ongoing success of our grant recipients. We request that our awarded grantees submit reports six months and one year after funding to share the project's status.
Some items we'll be curious to learn include:
• Summary of the project and its current status
• Number of enrolled children
• Available capacity
• Number of staff
• Current child-to-staff ratio
• How PFF grant dollars were allocated based on the initial proposal
• Budget: planned versus actual (six months and one year)
• Other funding or grants awarded and their amounts
• Other interesting outcomes, impacts, and testimonials
Resources
If you have any questions about this program, please contact:
Denise Schuele, Program Officer
Patterson Family Foundation
denise@pffkc.org
