Washington, DC

Low Income Investment Fund Child Care Grant Programs

High-quality early care and education assures a strong start on the skills necessary for a child’s future success in school and life. Children in stimulating early education programs are more likely to be academically successful and less likely to need adult social services. Quality, affordable child care is an investment that enables the whole family to succeed by permitting low income parents to work or attend school while feeling confident about their children’s well-being. Unfortunately, demand far exceeds supply for high-quality child care, particularly for low income families. Using capital, capacity building and public advocacy together, LIIF builds sustainable community-based systems to support child care facility financing and development.

LIIF provides grant and loan capital for facilities development and improvement. In combination with capital, LIIF delivers specialized business support and development, including training and technical assistance on facilities design, development, financing and operations. Our Child Care Team also supports local communities’ efforts to identify and organize resources to increase the supply of quality local child care options.

If you have any questions or inquiries about LIIF DC and potential grant opportunities, please complete the intake form here.

LIIF will review intake forms to determine what type of sub-grant a child development facility or organization/individual may be eligible to participate in and invite those that meet “readiness” criteria to complete any available grant applications.

Please visit our website Early Care and Education – Low Income Investment Fund (liifund.org)

Access to Quality Child Care Program

As the administrator of the Access to Quality Child Care Grant, LIIF will administer sub-grants to eligible child development facilities. Several sub-grant types are available for this grant program. More information on sub-grant types can be found in the grant guidelines document. Child development facilities that are licensed by OSSE and serving families may apply to open a new facility or expand their current location. Organizations or individuals who do not currently operate a facility licensed by OSSE but are interested in opening a facility in the District of Columbia, may also apply.

Interested applicants for the Access to Quality Child Care Grant must first complete and submit an intake form. Click here to complete the intake form.

In addition to financial support, LIIF will support child development programs to build business capacity and provide technical assistance in creating high-quality, developmentally appropriate learning environments for infants and toddlers. LIIF will provide technical assistance to any child development facility in the District with questions about expanding, renovating or establishing a new child development facility.

For questions about the Access to Quality Child Care Grant, please email childcareDC@liifund.org.

Funded by the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education

Back-to-Work Child Care Grant

This program is no longer accepting applications

LIIF will administer the $32 million Back-to-Work Child Care Grant program created to help DC licensed child development facilities resume and maintain full operations as they recover from the pandemic and enable families to find the child care they need to return to work.

The Back-to-Work Child Care Grant will provide financial assistance to preserve the supply of child care in neighborhoods most impacted by the pandemic and offset costs for programs to resume operating at full capacity, opening and preserving slots for families in need of care. The grant program will also support affordability, prioritizing providers who serve children participating in the District’s child care subsidy program.

In addition to financial support, LIIF will provide subgrantees business supports to enhance marketing, enrollment, fee collection, business efficiency and adapt their business models to new realities and family needs.

The application for the Back-to-Work Child Care Grant can be found here. Interested facilities must complete and submit an application, including all required attachments, through LIIF’s online grant application by 5 p.m. on Feb. 16, 2023. More information on the application process, can be found in the Back-to-Work Child Care Grant Guidelines.

For questions about the Back-to-Work Child Care Grant, please email childcareDC@liifund.org.

Funded by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

DC Child Care Stabilization Targeted Grants

The DC Child Care Stabilization Grant was launched in 2022 by OSSE to provide financial relief to child development facilities for unexpected business costs associated with the pandemic and help stabilize their operations and preserve the supply of child care for children and families. OSSE partnered with LIIF, the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif), Hurley & Associates and the United Planning Organization (UPO) to disburse funds to eligible child development facilities and began disbursing funds in early 2022.

LIIF is supporting OSSE to disburse the DC Child Care Stabilization Targeted Grant to child development facilities that have additional needs that were not covered by their initial DC Child Care Stabilization Grant award, and who are not receiving financial assistance through the Access to Quality Child Care Grant or Back-to-Work Child Care Grant.

The application for the DC Child Care Stabilization Targeted Grant can be found here. Interested facilities must complete and submit an application, including all required attachments, through LIIF’s online grant application by 12 a.m. on August 16th, 2023. For more information grant guidelines, including how grant funds may be used, please see the DC Child Care Stabilization Targeted Grant guidelines.

For questions about the Back-to-Work Child Care Grant, please email childcareDC@liifund.org.

Funded by OSSE.

Resources

You’ll find useful content to download, such as eBooks, whitepapers, case studies, and much more. Our articles and videos cover a wide range of topics that will benefit your child care business.

LIIF's COVID-19 Response in Washington, DC

Since the onset of COVID-19, child care programs in Washington, DC have suffered financial losses that have severely impacted their ability to maintain staff and pay monthly expenses. Financial relief that helps cover expenses like payroll, operating expenses, and supplies is essential to sustain the sector. The District already has a critical shortage of child care, especially infant and toddler care. Providing immediate assistance to child care programs ensures that programs will be able to reopen, maintain the existing child care supply and provide jobs to hundreds of child care workers.

LIIF’s DC emergency child care relief efforts provided grants to cover payroll and operating expenses for over 250 home and center-based providers in the District through the DC Child Care COVID Relief Grant for home-based child care, DC Access to Quality Child Care COVID-relief Grant, and the DC Child Care Road to Recovery Fund. These funds are currently closed.

For questions about these programs, or to be added to our email list to receive notifications about future funding, please email childcareDC@liifund.org.

Last week, I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t want to let my staff or families down. Today, I feel much lighter and extremely hopeful. In the most heartfelt manner. Thank you.

Donna Mason, Executive Director, St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center
Washington, DC

Want to participate in LIIF’s COVID-19 Child Care Relief Effort?

Your generosity will provide direct relief to those child care businesses left vulnerable by the pandemic. Please contact us to learn more about how to contribute to our regional relief efforts.