Grants will be awarded to assist with sustainability of eligible childcare providers as outlined below:
- Eligible Organizations: The following organizations are eligible to apply for grants from the childcare endowment fund:
- Non-profit organizations,
- Public School districts,
- Private School districts with verified charitable status, or
- Governmental organizations.
- Geographic Eligibility: Organizations must be in the 26-county service area covered by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation and the Northwest Kansas Innovation Center which include: Cheyenne, Cloud, Decatur, Ellis, Ellsworth Gove, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln, Logan, Mitchell, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Rooks, Russell, Saline. Sheridan. Sherman, Smith. Thomas. Trego, and Wallace Counties.
- Childcare Facility Eligibility: Childcare facilities and providers must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Be licensed with KDHE and operate within current staff/child ratios.
- Provide care for at least 8 children. Exceptions may be made for providers temporarily holding a space for a sibling of a currently served child or an infant slot for an expectant mother.
- Accept infants.
- Employ at least one full-time childcare provider.
- Open year-round. An exception could be made if the provider is directly funded by a school district and childcare is not needed during the summer.
- Accept families receiving the DCF childcare subsidy. They may charge DCF families for their fees above the childcare subsidy.
- Some funding initiatives may require that a childcare facility offer a benefit package to at least one full-time employee.
- Agree to share financial information as a part of the grant review process.
Funds must be spent within a 12-month period or an extension must be requested. Grantees will be required to submit a final report at the end of the grant period. Please note - Only the following file types are accepted for file attachments: Adobe PDF, Images (*.jpg, *.gif, *.png), Word (*.doc, *.docx), Excel (*.xls, *.xlsx) or PowerPoint (*.ppt, *.pptx). MacIntosh / Apple file formats are not accepted.