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Grants available for early child care facilities, playgrounds

BY LORY POUNDER
summit daily news
January 31, 2007

SUMMIT COUNTY — More than $356,000 is waiting for early child care providers to snatch up and use to renovate, expand or construct a facility.

“It’s a grant that’s expected to increase the capacity of child care,” Jann Engleman, youth and family manager for Summit County, said about this final component of the Right Start Program.

The goal of Right Start is to improve the quality, availability and affordability of early child care and education for local families through a voter approved mill levy. This piece will address the issue of space and quality to help service the need in the county, Engleman said.

Some of the criteria for evaluating grant proposals include the location, target populations, type of service, demonstrated need, benefit to families, children and the community and the ability to ensure quality care.

Currently, the largest need is for night and weekend and infant and toddler care, Engleman said. Quality care is a “theme for all the projects,” she added.

Applications will be available next week. According to a tentative schedule, the applications will be due by April 30 and grants will be awarded by the end of May. A committee of six to eight people including county staff, board members and Early Childhood Options will review the proposals regarding the grants.

“It’s a quick turn around since the money is in place,” Engleman said.

Child care providers can apply for up to $200,000 this grant cycle. Some of the conditions include that 50 percent of the total project cost come from another source, implementation begin within six months of notification that the grant has been awarded and that the project be completed within three years.

“This is something that will be more than likely be offered every year,” Engleman said.

Grants for playground improvements will also become available next week. Centers can apply for up to $25,000 and licensed early care home providers can apply for a smaller amount, said Lucinda Burns, executive director of Early Childhood Options.

These quality improvement grants for playgrounds will only be available this year, she added. About $200,000 has been set aside and the money will be awarded within the next couple months.

“We really need to improve our playgrounds around the county,” Burns said.
These capacity building and quality improvement grants are funded through a half mill property tax approved by the voters in November 2005 that provides the Right Start Program $600,000 each year for 10 years.