Washington awards $56M

Washington state is awarding $55.8 million for child-care facility projects expected to add about 2,000 spaces statewide. (newsfromthestates.com) Gov. Bob Ferguson announced the grants on April 16, and the money will go to 74 recipients in more than 50 jurisdictions. The awards come through the state Early Learning Facilities program, which is run by the Department of Commerce. (newsfromthestates.com) The grants can pay to plan, expand, remodel, buy or build early-learning classrooms and child-care sites. Recipients include local governments, school districts, commercial-property projects and in-home child-care providers. (newsfromthestates.com) Washington is aiming the money at places with too few licensed providers, a shortage the state tracks as “extreme child care access deserts.” The Department of Children, Youth, and Families defines those areas as ZIP-code-based communities with too few licensed early-learning providers for the estimated number of children who need care. (dcyf.wa.gov) That shortage has been persistent enough that Commerce says its separate Child Care Partnership Grants have already produced plans for more than 2,000 licensed slots, with projects spread across more than 30 counties. Commerce says those partnerships focus on underserved and historically marginalized communities and on barriers such as workforce shortages, financing and language access. (commerce.wa.gov) The new construction money is landing as Washington is still reshaping early-learning policy after budget cuts in 2025. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families said the 2025-27 budget delayed subsidy-rate increases, delayed eligibility expansion, reduced Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program slots, and eliminated Early Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program funding, even as lawmakers kept the facilities grant program funded. (dcyf.wa.gov) The state says the facilities grants will support providers that serve lower-income families, including Working Connections Child Care providers and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program contractors. News From The States reported Commerce received 325 applications seeking $277 million, and the state gave priority to rural projects and sites serving low-income families. (newsfromthestates.com) The demand gap is larger than this round of funding can close. Commerce has awarded more than $235 million through the Early Learning Facilities program since 2017, and this year’s applicants sought roughly five times the money the state had available. (newsfromthestates.com) Ferguson said the grants are meant to build more capacity “literally” for child-care and early-learning providers. For families in places with few or no nearby openings, the state is betting bricks, renovations and licenses can turn grant dollars into actual seats. (newsfromthestates.com)