Deadline approaches for Texas child care providers to apply for $775M in assistance

Jul. 16—FORT WORTH — Almost two-thirds of eligible child care providers across Texas have applied for some of the $775 million in assistance available from the Texas Workforce Commission, with just weeks until the July 31 deadline.

But with an unprecedented flow of money available for providers in a sector that rarely gets this type of public investment, advocates and organizations across North Texas are pushing for those that haven't applied to take advantage of the funds.

"These funds are to pay for the costs of child care providers that were incurred between Jan. 1-Aug. 31 of this year," Bethany Edwards, the director of the Early Learning Alliance in Tarrant County, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It is open for any child care provider as long as you are licensed and open (as of) June 18."

While several types of relief grants have been available over the course of the pandemic, the money being dispersed by the Texas Workforce Commission is specifically for child care providers, including both those in centers and those in homes.

According to TWC, the funding comes from $1.1 billion that the commission received through the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

Another $15 million was also approved for child care business technical assistance to assist facilities with adapting and updating their business models, as well as assist in identifying and accessing grant opportunities.

The local contractor managing the funds is Child Care Associates, which is also participating in a series of Zoom webinars educating child care providers about the opportunity, how to apply and what to do after receiving the money. The event is open for anyone who is interested in applying. The next one is Saturday morning.

"The funding that is currently available, and is a huge relief, ... is designed to directly prop up child care businesses for expenses and losses incurred during the pandemic and the recovery between," CCA CEO Kara Waddell said. "My understanding is that there will be additional opportunities forthcoming, where they can apply for additional rounds of relief and support."

Expenses over that time period also include damages and business interruptions related to the devastating winter storm in February that severely impacted child care providers in North Texas according to an assessment taken shortly after the storm by Child Care Associates.

While a significant number — 8,111 providers across the state out of 12,908 eligible — have applied, those in registered and licensed homes are taking advantage at a much lower rate, according to numbers provided by Child Care Associates.

About 64% of center-based child care providers have applied for the funds, which average around $79,000 per applicant, while only 44% of registered homes have applied, with funds averaging around $6,400.

Licensed homes average $6,800, and about 58% of eligible homes have applied.

Edwards said the amount of funding fluctuates based on location, including whether providers are in a child care desert, and whether they serve a low-income area.

"It is definitely not pocket change," she said. "This is some really, really good relief funds available for providers, and then also for home-based providers."

Application hesitance

While a significant number of eligible providers have submitted applications for funding, the webinars and information sessions being hosted are targeting those with concerns about the assistance process.

Waddell said some providers could be hesitant because of reporting requirements that come with any receipt of public money.

"It is a little bit tricky," she said. "For the first round, they have to spend the funds by Aug. 31, and then they also are kind of opening themselves up to being monitored."

To put those concerns to rest, child care support organizations are walking the providers through important steps, such as record keeping, submitting the proper paperwork and confirming which expenses are eligible before spending the funds.

"It is really time for local communities in North Texas to come around our childcare providers," Waddell said. "They are not used to getting public funds and this is really an unprecedented amount of funds. It is important that we help them be successful in receiving it."

Another concern cautious providers have is keeping track of the taxes that could be owed on the assistance they receive. The income from the grants is taxable, similar to the first iteration of the Paycheck Protection Program.

"That was fixed congressionally by the time they got to round two," Waddell said of the PPP loans. "The child care funding is taxable."

The whole process is foreign to many home-based providers that have little to no business training.

"The industry as a whole is led, managed and taught by women, and largely minority women," she said. "So a lot of times they went into it because they had the child of their own and weren't able to pursue another effort and this just lined up well for them, but haven't always had business training that you might expect from other types of small businesses."

Impact on future childcare funding

Beyond the immediate benefit of receiving assistance after a difficult year-and-a-half, Edwards also said these funds could set the stage for whether or not future investments are made in the historically underfunded sector.

"If we have a low application region, there are unclaimed funds," Edwards said. "It will be very hard for policymakers and advocates to ask for this type of funding ever again."

Edwards said the funding following the coronavirus pandemic comes after years of advocacy pushing for more robust public investment in child care.

"Now that we have it, we need to show that we can utilize it and utilize it effectively," Edwards said. "For (child care providers) to have an efficient use of those funds will really be able to show in the future that, 'Hey, public investment in child care, really does help the workforce and help our industry.'"

Vickie Allen, the CEO of Educational First Steps, which helps childcare providers receive national accreditation, said she hopes the funding from the Texas Workforce Commission will be the start of a trend.

"I'm hoping that given the fact that TWC has made this such a critical part of their funding structure, that it will ignite other funders from corporate and individuals and philanthropic entities to deepen their commitment to early childhood education," she said. "Because sometimes, I believe that the Early Childhood Education community ... is a forgotten sector."

Allen said the funding is important as child care providers recover from losses due to the pandemic, and prepare to support children as families return to the workforce.

"This funding is instrumental to both the industry of child development, but also for our future trajectory," she said. "I believe that right now is a critical turning point where this funding also builds confidence and it builds the level of security that's needed for parents to feel that they can take their children back into the center, and that the resources are there to support that."

But the road to regular public investment in early child care and education is a long one.

"Child care was broken before COVID," Waddell, of Child Care Associates, said. "The unprecedented funding is designed to provide some short-term relief and make sure that we have a child care industry for parents, as they get back to work."

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to clarify the amount of funding TWC has available for child care providers.

Corrected Jul 16, 2021

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