Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grants

Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grants

Illinois was awarded federal relief dollars through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to ensure that child care programs can weather the pandemic – and emerge from it stronger than before. So far, this funding has been used to provide Child Care Restoration Grants and the Child Care Workforce Bonus program. In 2022, the Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grant (SGCC) will provide stable, predictable funding to support high-quality child care and invest in our critical child care workforce.

For the next phase of stabilization funding, IDHS Division of Early Childhood (DEC) will be offering Strengthen & Grow Child Care grants. These grants were designed to align with the Early Childhood Funding Commission’s recommendations.

  • The new grants were designed taking all funding streams into account to maximize access to stable and predictable funding in order to improve quality and support workforce development.
  • These grants prioritize equitable and transparent funding across all of Illinois, focusing on those hardest hit by the pandemic, including those providers operating without existing grant-based revenue.
  • Programs that operate without predictable grant funding from sources like Head Start and Preschool for All struggle the most to pay reasonable wages and make investments in quality programming.
  • In alignment with what the Funding Commission heard from the field, the SGCC grants will provide the additional resources that providers with minimal existing grant-based public funding need so that they can make necessary investments in workforce development and quality programming.
  • As recommended by the Funding Commission, the State can no longer make our investments in early childhood one funding stream at a time, but rather must take all sources of programs’ funding into consideration. To achieve truly equitable funding, we must intentionally support those providers who have historically had the least funding stability, especially where they are serving low-income families. The SGCC grant focuses on supporting these providers.

SGCC Round 6 applications were open from March 6, 2023 - March 24, 2023. Round six budgets will cover five months of funding (May, June, July, August, and September 2023).

  • To receive the SGCC round 6 grant you must have completed all reporting for any COVID relief funding your program has received. This includes Child Care Restoration Grants (CCRG), Child Care Workforce Bonus (CCWB), and SGCC reporting for rounds 1-4. 
  • All required reporting needed to be completed by Friday, April 14, 2023, to be approved for a SGCC round 6 payment.

Quarters will run as follows:

  • SGCC Round 1: February – April 2022 (Applications available January 10, 2022 - February 4, 2022)
  • SGCC Round 2: May – July 2022 (Applications available March 1, 2022 - March 18, 2022)
  • SGCC Round 3: August – October 2022 (Applications available May 31, 2022 - June 21, 2022)
  • SGCC Round 4: November – January 2023 (Applications available August 29, 2022 - September 16, 2022)
  • SGCC Round 5 February – April 2023 (Applications available November 28, 2022 – December 22, 2022)
  • SGCC Round 6 May – September 2023 (Applications available March 6, 2023 – March 24, 2023)

Programs are strongly encouraged to prepare their applications in advance to ensure smooth processing and speedy awards. Reviewing the tip sheets and FAQ at the bottom of this webpage will help programs prepare a successful application and budget. For new programs, there are two steps to a complete application, the application and submitting a budget. An application without a budget is not complete. 

pdf SGCC Flyer (387 KB)  - pdf Spanish (412 KB)
pdf SGCC FAQ (1.12 MB)  -  pdf Spanish (1.13 MB)

Change from DUNS number to Unique Entity Identifier

On April 4, 2022, the federal government changed the unique entity identifier used across the federal government from the DUNS number to the Unique Entity ID (UEI). Entities doing business with the federal government will now require the Unique Entity ID created in SAM.gov. This transition allows the government to streamline the entity identification and validation process, making it easier and less burdensome for entities to do business with the federal government.

New entities that have not registered to SAM.gov for their Unique Entity ID can find a fact sheet with information about the change and what entities need to do.

Existing registered entities can find their Unique Entity ID by following the steps here. 

The Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grants will be available to all programs who:

  • are licensed as a child care center, child care home, or group child care home. 
  • were in operation as of March 2021 and continue to care for children today. 
  • operate full-day and full-year, defined as a program that is open and offering at least eight consecutive hours of care per day, five days per week. 
  • enrolled 10% or more of the program’s licensed capacity (for Round 6 this is licensed capacity as of February 2023) with children in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) during any month in 2020-2023 and currently participate in CCAP.   
  • Starting in round 5 programs that receive up to 75% of total early childhood program/site revenue from Early Childhood Block Grant funding (including Preschool for All (PFA) and/or Prevention Initiative (PI)) or Head Start/Early Head Start are eligible to apply (other eligibility requirements must be met). This is an increase from the previous eligibility threshold of up to 50% of revenues from those sources. 

The Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grant will provide child care homes with $2,500 per program per quarter, group child care homes with $3,750 per program per quarter, and child care centers with $6,250 per classroom per quarter.

Additional add-on funds are available for programs in areas where families are facing greater systemic barriers, such as low employment, poverty, or crowded housing. Funds will be awarded in advance of each quarter so that programs can plan to incorporate them into their regular operating budgets, creating predictable and stable funding models. For more information on the Social Vulnerability Index and how this could increase your grant payment review the pdf SGCC Preparing to Apply Tip Sheet (1.09 MB) .  

What to Expect:

Programs will be required to spend at least 50% of their quarterly award on new investments to recognize, reward, and adequately compensate their workforce to acknowledge the key role that early childhood staff plays to deliver high-quality care.

Programs can spend the remaining award on additional workforce investments or can use the funding to enhance their child care environments and the early childhood education programming they deliver. Funding can also be used in a program’s continuing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Programs will be required to provide a budget as part of the application. Use this  pdf Budget Worksheet (1.10 MB)  to begin planning your budget now. Programs will also be required to provide quarterly reporting after each grant period. 

How to Apply:

The Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) will administer the Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grants. INCCRRA will provide technical assistance through its website and via email throughout the life of the grant. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions. 

The application for SGCC is available to programs in the Gateways Registry Director Portal. If your program meets the eligibility requirements above and you do not have the option to apply, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for technical assistance.

All applicants will need to sign an  pdf SGCC Attestation Round 6 (403 KB)  - ( pdf Spanish (405 KB) ) confirming the information they provide is true and accurate, that they meet all required eligibility requirements, and they agree to meet the terms and conditions of the grant agreement. 

SGCC 2023 Appeal Process

SGCC Round 6 appeals are closed and were due April 21, 2023.

Applicants for the Strengthen and Grow Child Care Grant (SGCC) have the right to appeal if they have been deemed ineligible to apply for SGCC or believe the reason for their ineligibility is incorrect.

Appeals were accepted for the following reasons:

  • Programs found Ineligible due to CCAP Enrollment Percentages if programs can prove they had at least 10% of their licensed capacity enrolled in CCAP during any month of 2020-2023, AND are still caring for children in CCAP.
  • Programs who are caring for foster children and are receiving payments from DCFS.
  • Programs who ran into issues when applying, and have been in contact with the help desk to try and troubleshoot. (Proof of communication will need to be submitted with appeal documentation)

pdf SGCC Appeals Procedure Round 6 (129 KB)

SGCC Reporting

We encourage you to use the resources below to help you in completing the required reporting. All SGCC Round 1-5 reporting will be required to receive future grant funding. Round Six reporting should be completed by September 15, 2023.

Resources to help complete quarterly reporting:

SGCC Reporting Dashboards

The following items are required to complete a new SGCC grant application:

Tip sheets and Information Resources:

Helpful Links:

 

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