Childcare providers are in a tight bind ever since the pandemic started.
Operating costs increased by as much as 42%.
Meanwhile, enrollments and capacity have decreased by as much as 38%.
But as the pandemic has revealed, childcare businesses are essential services that must stay open if the American economy is ever to recover.
Thus, the Biden administration has launched multiple ways to help childcare providers stay open through various relief funding, incentives, and health measures introduced.
Read on and see whether you have yet to avail of any of these ways to help your childcare service stay open for business.
Child Care Stabilization Grants
These grants help childcare centers and family child care homes augment their operating costs and keep their childcare businesses open.
From funding payroll to fixed operating expenses such as rent and utilities to buying sanitation supplies and offsetting debt, these grants extremely helped child care providers to continue providing essential services to their communities.
While these grants vary by state and territory, it certainly has helped many providers stay open during the pandemic.
According to a July 2021 survey by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 80% of child care businesses who have received these grants have used it to raise compensation for their valuable staff.
Meanwhile, 46% of those surveyed said they would have closed if not for the stabilization grants.
These grants come in the form of Paycheck Protection Program and other child care relief funds.
If you are actively looking for resources to help you continue childcare operations and serve your communities, look for your state’s specific COVID-19 programs here.
Vaccine for Childcare Workers
As new coronavirus variants emerge which seem to be more infectious to small children, vaccination becomes ever more important especially for childcare workers.
If you or any of your staff are yet to be vaccinated, you can find a COVID-19 vaccine for childcare workers near you in this map.
To further encourage childcare workers to get vaccinated, employers are incentivized to provide paid sick leaves which can be reimbursed under the employer tax credit.
This initiative gives childcare workers the benefit they deserve while helping childcare owners provide better benefits without adding expenses to their operating costs.
Employer Coronavirus Tax Credits
As childcare businesses struggle to remain open, the IRS has incentivized employers to keep their staff on payroll by providing as much as 50% of up to $10,000 worth of wages.
This tax credit is applicable to childcare providers and other businesses who have been partially suspended, or who have experienced a significant reduction in income starting from March 2, 2020 until January 1, 2021.
These are just a few of the childcare funding available to providers. The American Families Plan along with the American Rescue Plan has a lot more in store for childcare providers.
A historic investment that, if sustained, will help not only the childcare industry improve but also serve more families and push the American economy upwards.
Have you availed any of these COVID-19 relief funding? If yes, in what ways did it help your childcare business?
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