Integrated Community Planning
of Oswego County, Inc.
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Child Care Stabilization Grants 1.0 & 2.0 for Workforce Supports
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) has awarded $900 million to 15,000 eligible child care providers through the Child Care Stabilization Grant. The first Child Care Stabilization grant (known as Stabilization 1.0) was released on August 3, 2021 and $1.074 billion was made available to eligible child care providers. Applications were closed for the Child Care Stabilization 1.0 on November 30, 2021.
Based on the success of the Child Care Stabilization 1.0 grants, OCFS will distribute another round of funds to child care providers to strengthen their infrastructure and support their workforce. OCFS is prioritizing workforce support for child care staff by requiring that at least 75% of the Child Care Stabilization Grant 2.0 for Workforce Supports be spent on workforce support expenses. Applications were closed for the Child Care Stabilization 2.0 on December 14, 2022.
Child Care Deserts Grant
New York State identified $100M to build and expand child care capacity in areas with the least supply. Utilizing funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), child care desert funding represents an unprecedented opportunity and investment to build capacity and strengthen the state’s economy, by addressing the issues that impact businesses including chronic absence, productivity reductions and turnover due to inadequate options for quality child care in the most needed parts of the state.
RFA#1 for New child care providers
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Invest in NY Child Care awards were announced on July 25, 2022.
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Payments will be made no later than June 30, 2024.
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Final contracts will be issued once the program’s license/registration is completed.
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Providers awarded a Child Care Deserts Grant for New Programs are expected to participate in QUALITYstarsNY’s Start with Stars initiative once their new program is licensed.
Child Care Deserts RFA#1 Awardees
RFA#2 for Existing child care providers
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The application portal closed on August 24th, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
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Invest in NY Child Care awards were announced on Friday, October 21, 2022.
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Payments will be made no later than June 30, 2024.
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Providers awarded a Child Care Deserts Grant for Existing Providers are required to participate in QUALITYstarsNY once awarded the grant.
Grant for Payment of Retroactive Absences
The 2022 Enacted Budget authorized the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to issue payments for absences to child care providers that served at least one child in receipt of child care assistance for care provided on or after April 1, 2020, and prior to December 1, 2021.
This is a one-time grant opportunity for licensed, registered, and enrolled legally-exempt providers who are currently open and in good standing.
To receive a retroactive absences payment, providers must apply during the application period and be able to confirm the following eligibility criteria:
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They have an active license, registration, permit, or enrollment to provide childcare,
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They are currently open and “in good standing”, and
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They served, and attest to serving, at least one child in receipt of child care assistance from the New York Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) during one or both time periods,
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April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021, and/or
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April 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021.
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OCFS has created an online application portal for all potentially eligible child care providers to apply for this opportunity and invitations to apply will be sent directly to all licensed, registered, and enrolled legally-exempt providers. Eligible child care providers must submit an electronic application to OCFS using the online portal. The online application can be submitted beginning October 19, 2022, until December 16, 2022, at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Day Care Centers in New York City (permitted Article 47 group day care programs) which will be able to submit beginning November 1, 2022, until December 16, 2022 at 11:59 pm ET. Applications received by OCFS after this deadline will not be reviewed. Once applications are reviewed and approved by OCFS, providers will be notified of their award via email from OCFS. Only one application can be submitted per program.
All payments will be made through the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS). Providers who already have an SFS vendor ID must enter the ID during the application process, in order to receive payment. Information on SFS can be found here:
Providers who do not already have an SFS account will need to follow the instructions contained in the application to obtain an SFS vendor ID.
Full details can be found in the Statement of Grant Opportunity (Spanish/EspañolStatement of Grant Opportunity).
For questions related to this grant opportunity, email: ocfs.sm.retro.absences.grant@ocfs.ny.gov.
