Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam today approved more than $65 million in extra funding to support child care programs throughout the commonwealth. The funding largely comes from the federal CARES Act, Congress’ original COVID-19 relief package passed in the spring.
Virginia First Lady Pamela Northam made the announcement during a meeting of the governor’s Children’s Cabinet, which focuses on child welfare and early childhood development, and which the first lady chairs. The $65.8 million in new funding will provide direct cash assistance to open child care programs, with priority given to those that previously sought the grants but were placed on a waitlist. It also will bankroll another phase of grants through December and support public-private partnerships that offer young students supervised spaces for virtual learning.
“Providers will be free to use them for whatever they need most,” Pamela Northam said. Roughly $58 million of the funding stems directly from U.S. coronavirus relief funding, while another $7.5 million will be reallocated from Child Care and Community Block Grant dollars, according to the commonwealth’s chief school readiness officer, Jenna Conway.
Conway said the cash assistance has been “wildly successful” so far, noting that about $47 million has already been sent to more than 4,200 open child care programs. On average, these grants have ranged from approximately $9,000 to $12,000 per program.
“Nearly everybody said this really helped them stay open,” Conway said, citing survey responses. The pandemic has driven up the cost of child care, because providers have to hire and retain more staff, are facing capacity limits due to social distancing, and are purchasing cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment. One-fifth of the more than 2,000 providers whom Virginia recently surveyed said that without economic relief, their businesses couldn’t survive beyond three months at current enrollment levels, according to a Children’s Cabinet presentation.
As of Oct. 19, about two-thirds of the commonwealth’s more than 6,000 child care providers were open, with another 927 having given planned reopening dates to Virginia officials. Still, the 2,000 closed providers mean more than 148,000 child care slots are currently unavailable, Conway said. One-third of the closed providers usually care for children enrolled in Virginia’s child care subsidy program, which helps eligible families pay for child care.
Child care providers aren’t the only caretakers in the commonwealth who are receiving financial assistance under the CARES Act. Last week, Gov. Northam said more than 43,000 home health care workers who’ve worked during the pandemic could apply for one-time hazard payments of $1,500 each.
