Rhode Island Child Care Bond Launches with Information Session

PROVIDENCE, R.I. June 8, 2022 – LISC Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Department of Human Services will hold a joint information session on Wednesday, June 15th at 11 am via Zoom. The session is open to all Rhode Island early learning and child care providers and interested stakeholders. This signals the official launch of a groundbreaking $13 million grant program that will set Rhode Island on a solid pathway to improve and expand its early learning infrastructure. The funding is available thanks to the outcome of a special election held in Rhode Island on March, 2021, where voters overwhelmingly approved the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Capital Fund. 

All who are interested in learning more about the program and how to apply for grant funding should join the June 15th session. The interactive web session will address frequently asked questions and provide an overview of the application process, scheduled to go live on July 1, 2022. The $13 million is slated to go toward supporting physical improvements to existing child care spaces, as well as the development of new licensed early childhood care and education facilities. 

Participants can register for the Zoom session HERE.

“All children deserve high-quality, developmentally appropriate learning environments that are designed to keep them safe, healthy, and support their physical, behavioral and cognitive development. Equitable access to a high-quality early learning experience is essential to providing children with a strong pathway in school and life,” said Nicole Chiello, Child Care Administrator for Licensing and Regulations, DHS. “We’re proud to partner with LISC Rhode Island in delivering this funding to the providers that will use it to add additional child care spots and improve the facilities for others.”

“From an economic development perspective, funding child care is critical for working families and for the economic momentum of Rhode Island,” said Erin Cox, Senior Program Officer at LISC. “Rhode Islanders recognized that there is a deficit of safe, high quality child care spaces, a fact clearly laid out in Rhode Island’s 2014 and 2019 comprehensive assessments of early learning facilities across the State. Research clearly supports what Rhode Islanders know, high quality spaces are critical for child development and education success, and they voted overwhelmingly in support of the bond.”

The grant funding will be awarded through a competitive application process that will be opened July 1, 2022. Approximately $1.5 million in funds will be available for small renovation and repairs to address urgent health and safety needs, quality improvements and reconfiguration of spaces. The remaining funding will support large construction, rehabilitation of vacant or blighted properties, and large-scale expansions that create new, high quality spaces.

For more than twenty years, LISC has operated a dedicated and staffed an early learning facilities fund in Rhode Island. Through this program, we have paved the way for hundreds of centers to improve their facilities through specialized technical assistance, innovative financing, public policy initiatives, and by sharing expertise, resulting in a positive impact for thousands of children.

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