Children’s Cabinet doles out $43.5 million for expanding child care

The Kansas Children’s Cabinet is dealing out $43.5 million that will start to put a dent in the demand for child care across the state.

Last week, the cabinet approved money for 52 projects that are projected to add 4,200 child care slots in Kansas plus fund programs that are intended to promote innovative strategies for addressing child care.

“This represents a really unique opportunity for Kansas to accelerate the growth in available slots for children in licensed child care across our state,” said Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Children’s Cabinet.

The money goes for a mix of new construction, operations, salaries, benefits and professional development that can be used to attract more child care providers. It is limited only to projects that expand child care.

Thirty-eight people from outside the cabinet helped vet the applications, including officials from the State Education Department, the Commerce Department, the Department for Children and Families, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The cabinet also turned to experts in early childhood care and education as well as the construction industry to help review the applications.

The program is intended to address the shortage of available child care across the state.

Data from Child Care Aware shows that the state potentially needs 84,000 slots to meet the demand for child care in Kansas.

The demand for child care was illustrated by the fact that the agency received applications for 105 projects totaling $117 million that would have created almost 9,000 slots.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration is working to address the issue while the Legislature plans to hold interim committee meetings on the topic before the next legislative session.

The Children’s Cabinet’s effort is bankrolled from $40 million in federal relief funding through both the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas task force and the Department for Children and Families.

It also received another $2.5 million from the Patterson Family Foundation.

Local agencies receiving grants from the Children’s Cabinet matched their awards with about $58.8 million of their own money.

Funding was sprinkled across the state with about $2.8 million going to north-central Kansas, $12 million going to south-central Kansas, $1.6 million going to northwest Kansas, $10.7 million going to southeast Kansas, $1.8 million going to southwest Kansas and $11.9 million going to northeast Kansas.

Here are the number of child care slots by region:

North-central Kansas: Five projects, 306 slots.
South-central Kansas: 12 projects, 1,237 slots.
Northwest Kansas: Six projects, 179 slots.
Southeast Kansas: Nine projects, 910 slots.
Southwest Kansas: Four projects, 179 slots.
Northeast Kansas: 12 projects, 1,478.

And here are the projects along with the agency’s explanation of every award:

North Central Region

Herington Community Child Care Center
Herington
Project budget: $354,245
Funding request: $267,872
Award: $267,872
Child care slots added: 24
Project summary: Center expansion on school district property. Project is led by the local school district. The Herington Community Child Care Center has a goal of having all their staff either degreed or credentialed with a CDA by August 2024.

Solomon Early Learning Center,
Solomon
Project budget: $1 million
Funding request: $386,760
Award: $346,716
Child care slots added: 21
Project summary: Adding three additional classrooms. The project also received $55,620 for training opportunities to increase provider qualifications for providing infant and toddler care. Additionally, the center will explore the development of a center substitute pool and leverage mentorship opportunities through a local high school career pathways program.

Abilene Child Care Learning Center
Abilene & Herington
Project budget: $331, 880
Funding request: $248,880
Award: $248,880
Child care slots added: 55
Project summary: A collaboration between three child care centers in Dickinson County, two in Abilene and one in Herington. “Discovery Child Care Learning Center has started an additional project and operational support will help purchase required equipment and supplies for when the project is complete. Project will also increase wages for all existing teachers through a bonus retention program.”

Abilene Child Care Learning Center
Abilene & Herington
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: Expand existing substitute program for child care programs.

Salina Area United Way
Saline
Project budget: $3.2 million
Funding request: $2 million
Funding award: $1.9 million
Child care slots: 187
Project summary:  “The Salina Area United Way applied on behalf of the Salina Family YMCA McAdams Center, which is opening a new location in an existing Montessori School. The project requires funding to complete renovations. Additionally, they are also applying for St. John’s Kid Kare and Love N Learn child care centers that are doing renovations to expand their current facilities and child care capacity.”

Cloud County Community College/Children’s Learning Center, Concordia
Project budget: $243,326
Funding request: $14,500
Funding award: $14,500
Child care slots: 19
Project summary: “The center will recruit and retain child care professionals with sign-on and retention bonuses and paid professional development opportunities. Additionally, the purchase and implementation of new, evidence-based curriculum will better serve children and improve teacher satisfaction.”

South central region

Littles Early Learning/E9 Properties
Benton
Project budget: $740,190
Funding request: $372,690
Award: $336,469
Child care slots: 54
Project summary: “Littles Early Learning is a private center with a strong partnership with Circle School District. The partnership includes providing wraparound child care for children in the district preschool from three elementary schools, as well as a career pathway for high school students.” The facility is four miles from the planned Integra computer chip facility in Bel Aire.

Reno County Collaboration/CrossAlign Consulting
Hutchinson, Buhler, Haven, Pretty Prairie
Project budget: $5 million
Funding request: $2.2 million
Award: $2.1 million
Child care slots: 308
Project summary: “Under the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce, the Reno County Child Care Task Force has worked since 2017 to develop a collaborative, countywide project involving six partnering organizations and eight distinct projects to address child care capacity challenges. Four of these projects are located in communities with less than 1,500 people, where licensed, quality child care providers are most scarce. The initiative includes five renovations and three new facilities, with the majority being existing providers offering expanded services and would serve more than 300 children.”

Reno County Collaboration/CrossAlign Consulting
Hutchinson, Buhler, Haven, Pretty Prairie
Funding request: $247,600
Award: $247,600
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “The Reno County Task Force will develop infant/toddler incentive and workforce training programs to help address gaps in local child care for young children. Local providers will be offered financial incentives to increase the number of infants in their facility or home. Additionally, local providers will have access to subsidized training
opportunities to increase access to educational opportunities outside of business hours and
reduce the financial burden of meeting training requirements on providers.”

Advancing Barton County Children, Inc.
Hoisington, Great Bend
Project budget: $5.4 million
Funding request: $3.5 million
Award: $2.2 million
Child care slots: 177
Project summary: Construct two of thee new child care facilities across thee communities in Barton County. The money would go for projects in Hoisington and Great Bend. “These centers will focus on providing the highest level of care, an elevated center appearance,
a commitment to employee training and culture and, finally, care based on support, encouragement, and educational engagement for the youngest members of their community.”

Walnut Valley Learning Center/Creekstone Farms Premium Beef
Arkansas City
Project budget: $3.6 million
Funding request: $500,000
Award: $500,000
Child care slots: 116
Project summary: Walnut Valley Learning Center will primarily serve employees of Creekstone Farm’s Premium Beef. With a staff of 25, the center will operate from Monday to Friday starting at 5 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Creekstone employees will be able to use a discounted tuition arrangement that enables a seamless payment through payroll deduction. Designed to be a state-of-the-art facility, the Walnut Valley Learning Center aims to provide a child’s “home away from home.”  Creekstone Farms has invested $3.6 million in the development and construction of the facility.

Branches Nurture Center
El Dorado
Project budget: $2 million
Funding request: $953,000
Award: $953,000
Child care slots: 24
Project summary: Focused on serving the most vulnerable children in the community, the center will offer care for children from 2 weeks to 2.5 years old. “Reduced-fee coupons may be earned by taking classes on parenting, safety or Life In Community. The Nurture Center will be sustainable by employing innovative staff and space sharing models. Their adopt-a-grandparent program will encourage supporters to donate a portion of child-care costs for an unknown family, receiving holiday notes and other communications from those families throughout the year. Corporate sponsorships will provide opportunities for local businesses and churches.”

Flint Hills Child Care Coalition
Florence
Project budget: $503,586
Funding request: $377,280
Award: $377,280
Child care slots: 28
Project summary: “The Flint Hills Child Care Center will open in Florence to provide quality child care services for children aged 3 months to school-aged in the under-served area of the Flint Hills. Centrally located along Highways 77 and 50, the center will offer child care services to residents from Marion, Chase, and northern Butler counties. The center expects to open with an initial target of 15 students in fall 2023 and expand to up to 28 students by the following year.”

Kids World Child Care Learning Center
Wichita
Project budget: $2.4 million
Funding request: $1.7 million
Award: $1.7 million
Child care slots: 60
Project summary: “Their current facility will be expanded to 7,600 square foot and is located in a high need, low-income community. This will add an additional 60 new seats which allow them to support the needs in that area of Wichita.”

Kingman-Norwich School District Child Care Center
Kingman
Project budget: $1 million
Funding request: $720,122
Award: $674,027
Child care slots: 24
Project summary: School district  plans to convert unused classroom space in Kingman Elementary School into a full-time child care center, which will be licensed as two separate home programs in a commercial setting. “They plan to offer prioritized and discounted child care services to school district and hospital employees with a focus on lower-income employees such as paraprofessionals, CNAs, and dietary staff.”

McPherson County Child Care Task Force
Moundridge, Lindsborg Galva, Marquette
Project budget: $1.9 million
Funding request: $1.1 million
Award: $245,000
Child care slots: 152
Project summary: “The McPherson County Child Care Task force has outlined a four-phase approach to expand capacity and increase quality child care in McPherson County.
These include career pathway engagement efforts, mentorship for professionals, shared services, and additional facilities. The increase of practitioners will allow the county, without any additional capital projects, to increase enrollment up to the desired capacity.”

McPherson County Child Care Task Force
Moundridge, Lindsborg Galva, Marquette
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “The McPherson County Task Force will focus on workforce recruitment and retention by developing a career pathway for local high school and college students interested in early childhood. They will also work collaboratively with partners throughout the county to offer a shared services model for child care professionals to increase business efficiencies and professional development opportunities.”

South YMCA Learning Center
Wichita
Project budget: $2.8 million
Funding request: $251,000
Award: $251,000
Child care slots: 13
Project summary: “The Wichita YMCA South Branch Early Learning Center renovation and expansion will increase high-quality, full day, full year child care services for infants and toddlers. The targeted demographic is low-income families in south Wichita and the surrounding area. Currently, enrollment is comprised of working families, primarily low income with some moderate income. This project will reconfigure space to provide 13
needed infant and toddler spots. The YMCA is funding most of the project from their capital fund.”

Hillsboro Community Child Care Center
Hillsboro
Project budget: $2.4 million
Funding request: $855,216
Award: $855,216
Child care slots: 83
Project summary: Adapting church building to create new child care facility. The cost of the project was cut by The cost of the project was reduced by identifying a church that could be renovated.

Tri-County Child Care Coalition
Medicine Lodge, Attica, Greensburg, Kiowa, Anthony
Project budget: $2.3 million
Funding request: $1.7 million
Award: $1.7 million
Child care slots: 198
Project summary: Renovate and expand five new child care facilities across three counties – Barber, Harper and Kiowa.

Tri County Child Care Coalition
Medicine Lodge, Attica, Greensburg, Kiowa, Anthony
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: The coalition “will partner to share child-care resources such as a toy bank, professional development opportunities, and floating substitutes across Barber, Harper, and Kiowa counties. In addition to cost savings for participating providers, this approach will also strengthen support and connection among local child care providers.”

Mindful Minis
Wichita
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “Mindful Minis will implement mental health informed approaches into their child care facility. They will incorporate sensory-friendly activities as well as speech and mental health therapies into their services, as well as engagement opportunities for families through parenting groups and modeling sessions. Mindful Minis will work to increase broader awareness of mental health needs and informed approaches in the community through collaboration and outreach efforts.”

Early Childhood Impact Center
Funding request: $225,250
Award: $225,250
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “Cowley County will pilot a multi-payer model that includes employer contributions and community donations to a community child care fund. The Share Care fund model is like a public/private funding partnerships established in other states in recent years. As part of engagement efforts with employers to encourage participation in the pilot, the Legacy Foundation and Cowley First will establish a learning cohort of employers interested in implementing child care incentive programs for their employees.”

Northwest region

Plainville School District – Little Nests
Plainville
Project budget: $436,290
Funding request: $319,212
Award: $236,120
Child care slots: 12
Project summary: Multiphase initiative adding licensed group homes strategically
throughout the community. “Funds from the Child Care Capacity grant will be used to
support operational costs of the new child care facility, including staffing and ‘soft’ costs to equip the new facility. The facility will have capacity for 20 families, with a maximum of 12 children at any given time.”

Plainville School Districts – Little Nests
Funding request: $138,865
Award: $138,865
Child care slots: N/A
Program summary: “The school district will establish a child care staff reserve pool leveraging local high school and community college students, retired individuals and part-time and full-time workers looking to increase hours and/or training opportunities. In addition to addressing local staffing needs, they hope to establish a model that can be leveraged by other rural communities facing workforce shortages.”

Sheridan County Community Foundation
Hoxie
Project budget: $608,680
Funding request: $200,000
Award: $200,000
Child care slots: 24
Program summary: Support expansion of a duplex facility purchased specifically for
two licensed child care spaces. Two private child care providers operating within the duplex will be able to provide care for up to 20 children full-time combined. The foundation will  sponsor the project and own of the facility. “To assist in the upfront costs typically required of new child care providers, the duplex units will be furnished with many of the major start-up supplies, equipment, furniture, etc., and rented at discounted rates to help address the county’s child care needs in an immediate fashion.”

Oberlin School District/Decatur County Child Care Coalition
Project budget: $394,715
Funding request: $73,829
Award: $73,829
Child care slots: 12
Program summary: In the process of building a new facility located near the elementary school. Staff will receive state retirement benefits as part of project in an effort to attract child care workers.

Rawlins County Economic Development
Atwood
Project budget: $839,741
Funding request: $671,741
Award: $671,741
Child care slots: 24
Project summary: Renovated dental clinic to add two licensed child-care facilities.

Phillipsburg Child Care Center
Phillipsburg
Project budget: $272,242
Funding request: $200,162
Award: $200,162
Child care slots: 30
Project summary: Increasing capacity of existing center to serve more children.

The Grove Child Care Center
Hays
Project budget: $5.4 million
Funding request: $2 million
Award: $170,000
Child care slots: 77
Project summary: New facility connected to a new multigenerational community
center within a housing development. The Grove Community Center will be a 14,000-square-foot facility housing the Hays Senior Center and The Grove Child Care
Center. The latter will serve up to 77 children from infancy to preschool, providing
child care services in Ellis County.

Southeast Region

Coffeyville Area Child Care Coalition
Project budget: $1.2 million
Funding request: $882,103
Award: $882,103
Child care slots: 291
Project summary: Project calls for a child care center that operates 24 hours, six days a week.

Erie Community Child Care
Erie
Project budget: $998,207
Funding request: $748,207
Award: $748,207
Child care slots: 48
Project summary: Opening second center with four large classrooms and a multipurpose room to respond to their current wait list, as well as to the needs of employers and the parents who need child care in order to remain in the workforce.

The Growing Place /Humboldt Daycare & Preschool, Inc.
Humboldt
Project budget: $1.6 million
Funding request: $1.23 million
Award: $1.16 million
Child care slots: 48
Project summary: Expansion of existing an facility to serve more children, most of whom will be infants and toddlers. Ten new full-time and five part-time staff will be hired.

West Elk Early Child Center
Howard
Project budget: $1.6 million
Funding request: $1.2 million
Funding award:  $1.2 million
Child care slots: 60
Project summary: Building new child care center in partnership with West Elk School District and the Kansas Community Action Program.

Family Resource Center
Pittsburg
Project budget: $2.5 million
Funding request: $1.6 million
Funding award: $1.6 million
Child care slots: 58
Project summary: Expanding space and wraparound services to serve more families. This is a collaboration between the Ascension Via Christi Hospital, the Family Resource Center and others.

Grow at Eden LLC
Parsons
Project budget: $2.7 million
Funding request: $1.9 million
Award: $204,982
Child care slots: 48
Project summary: Expansion of existing child care facility to serve more children and
add professional development.

The Tree House Early Education Foundation
Independence
Project budget: $675,203
Funding request: $387,905
Award: $387,905
Child care slots: 52
Project summary: Supports completion of a renovation to expand an existing child care
facility serving low-income families.

SugarCreek Child Care Center
Frontenac
Project budget: $8.9 million
Funding request: $3 million
Award: $2 million
Child care slots: 206
Project summary: Creation of new child care facility with mix of schedules to accommodate multiple shifts and providing ongoing business support. The center will be located in the the Frontenac Regional Industrial Park. The goal is to offer a new facility that can accommodate a variety of work schedules at their facility and other local employers and to make seats available to the community as well.

SugarCreek Child Care Center
Frontenac
Funding request: $80,370
Award: $80,370
Child care slots: N/A
Program summary: Will partner with the Frontenac School District “to increase the local early childhood workforce by leveraging the district’s career pathway program. High school students who complete this program will graduate with a CDA, increasing the pool of qualified applicants in the community. The center will offer professional development opportunities to local providers and offer a substitute pool to cover short-term staffing shortages.”

USD 461 Neodesha Early Learning Center
Neodesha
Project budget: $2.9 million
Funding request: $2.5 million
Award: $2.5 million
Child care slots: 99
Project summary: New child care facility in Wilson County. The project has been in development since 2017.

USD 461 Neodesha Early Learning Center
Neodesha
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “USD 461 Neodesha will work with local high school students interested in early childhood through an internship model, work-study, and/or
community-based training. This model is based on a successful existing approach within the district and will now be tailored to early childhood career opportunities. Participating students will gain hands-on experience and training in local child care settings.”

Southwest Region

LIFT Minneola
Minneola
Project budget: $734,200
Funding request: $530,300
Award:$530,300
Child care slots: 24
Project summary: Renovate existing building into two licensed child care facilities.

Grow & Learn Child Care Center
Leoti
Project budget: $470,000
Funding request: $229,032
Award: $229,032
Child care slots: 10
Project summary: “The Grow & Learn Child are Center opened in 2022 and will use…funding to expand their capacity to serve 10 more full-time children. The project will recruit five full time highly qualified professionals and five qualified substitutes and retain these staff via sustainable strategies that decrease the chance of burnout and ensure competitive wages.”

Jays Nest Day Care
Ashland
Project budget: $500,248
Funding request: $412,756
Award: $412,756
Child care slots: 11
Project summary: Small center pilot approach to enable expansion of existing child
care facility.

Garden Academy Early Learning Center
& Finney County Child Care Early Learning Network
Garden City
Project budget: $2 million
Funding request: $621,825
Award: $621,825
Child care slots: 60
Project summary: Support launch of new child care facility and expansion of early
learning network.

Northeast region

The Learning Experience – Blue Valley
Overland Park
Project budget: $1.6 million
Funding request: $457,500
Award: $457,500
Child care slots: 159
Project summary: Final funding to support the opening of a new facility. Will serve children from 6 weeks to 6 years old. The facility is intend to be open to the public by this summer or fall.

Hilltop Child Development Center
Lawrence
Project budget: $8 million
Funding request: $2.5 million
Award: $2.5 million
Child care slots: 138
Project summary: “Hilltop Child Development Center will build and operate a new facility, developed in response to requests from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, KU, and KU Endowment. Hilltop West will have 10 classrooms serving 138 students, and will open its doors 8/2024 with enrollment beginning Spring 2024.”

The Kids Place – Integrated Behavioral Technologies, Inc.
McLouth
Project budget: $340,308
Funding request: $220,442
Award: $220,442
Child care slots: 12
Project summary: Minor renovation and staff recruitment to add slots to existing
infant/toddler capacity.

Hope Chapel Legends
Kansas City
Project budget: $1.8 million
Funding request: $944,094
Award: $944,094
Child care slots: 92
Project summary: New facility with shared staff and training leveraged from sister facility. “Hope Chapel Legends will be the second facility operated by Hope Church in Olathe. It also allows the sharing of staff, which will begin with the movement of several key staff from the Olathe facility to the Legends facility.”

Shawnee County Collaboration-Greater Topeka Partnership
Topeka
Project budget: $3.9 million
Funding requested: $2.83 million
Award: $2.76 million
Child care slots: 451
Project summary: Combination of new construction, major renovation of child care
buildings previously licensed for child care, expansion of physical space dedicated to child care in existing child care facilities and workforce strategies to open closed classrooms in currently licensed programs. The work covers nine projects in all.

Shawnee County Collaboration-Greater Topeka Partnership
Funding request: $249,875
Award: $249,875
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “Improve workforce recruitment and retention through a human resource shared services model for child care providers. Proposed activities include piloting a shared centralized intake process for local child care applicants, an awareness initiative to promote center-based employment opportunities and exploration of competitive wage and benefits options throughout the county.”

Little Learners Early Childhood Center–Early Childhood Consultants
Olathe
Project budget: $5.3 million
Funding requested: $4 million
Award: $700,000
Child care slots: 41
Project summary: Expansion of existing facility to support community with high
economic development growth.

Little Learners Early Childhood Center–Early Childhood Consultants
Olathe
Funding request: $72,611
Award: $72,611
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: Will offer a “CDA program for its staff as well as local high school
seniors and home and center-based professionals.” The goal is “to reduce barriers for
prospective and current child care professionals access and complete training opportunities. Qualified program participants may be referred for local child care openings to help address staffing shortages.”

Children’s Treehouse Learning Center
Leawood
Project budget: $1.9 million
Funding request: $272,000
Award: $272,000
Child care slots: 158
Project summary: Children’s Treehouse Learning Center is opening a new facility in Leawood. They have operated their current facility in Lenexa since 2015. The grant will cover about 15% of the total project cost, reducing the barrier to opening a new facility.

Doniphan Darlings, Inc.
Highland
Project budget: $801,320
Funding request: $467,520
Award: $467,520
Child care slots: 15
Project summary: Completion of renovation on a center from former school building.

Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
Manhattan
Project budget: $6.2 million
Funding request: $2.25 million
Award: $2.17 million
Child care slots: 100
Project summary: New building for a Child Care Business Incubator with shared
professional development and business growth opportunities

Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
Manhattan
Funding request: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: Incubation model for child care, including cost sharing. “The Flint Hills Accelerator Program will offer shared space, training and support for child care providers,
including the development of a volunteer and substitute network for local child care programs to access. Training will also be offered to local medical and wellness professionals that interact with families during pre and post-natal care to help build connection points to child care opportunities. The program will also partner with a local technical college and health care provider on career pathways and cost sharing initiatives to support the local workforce.”

Bright Beginnings Child Care Center
Centralia
Project budget: $712,692
Funding request: $385,884
Award: $385,884
Child care slots: 40
Project summary: New four-room center in Centralia in Nemaha County. It will serve children ranging in ages from 2 weeks to 6 years old.

Delightful Village & Delight Ahead
Kansas City
Project budget: $453,996
Funding request: $113,498
Award: $108,698
Child care slots: 85
Project summary: Supports completion of renovations to recently purchased facility to
expand child care. “The new location will increase spaces available to the nearby businesses and government offices from 23 to 108 with the option for employer sponsored child care and extended care for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years of age.”

Community Children’s Center
Lawrence
Project budget: $9.6 million
Funding request: $2.2 million
Award: $628,421
Child care slots: 69
Project summary: Community center renovation to add nontraditional hours and
wraparound services.

Community Children’s Center, Lawrence
Funding: $250,000
Award: $250,000
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: “Community Children’s Center, Inc. and its partners will expand service hours through drop-in, occasional, and scheduled care options for families. This will increase opportunities for families to access care in the evenings and/or on weekends. Additionally, they will pilot a public/private funding partnership model with employers to help employees secure infant/toddler child care.”

Success by Six
Lawrence
Funding request: $63,103
Award: $63,103
Child care slots: N/A
Project summary: Provides money to  increase culturally responsive supports for child care through outreach and engagement with Black, indigenous and people of color and Spanish-speaking families.