PDG Newsletter October 26, 2022 PDG Grant Funding Update A number of stakeholders have been reaching out to us regarding the September announcement of new Preschool Development Grant (PDG) opportunities, outlined on the Administration for Children & Families website. Wisconsin is not eligible for these opportunities because we are only in the second year of our three-year award. The recently announced opportunities are for states that are in their third and final year of the PDG grant. Additionally, a few states did not previously apply for PDG funding, and are eligible for planning grants. The federal program office indicated that they anticipate similar funding to be available for states currently in their second year at this time next year (2023), at which point Wisconsin will likely be eligible to apply. Innovative Communities Around Wisconsin Recently, DCF launched a new form to collect examples of communities innovating to solve the child care crisis in Wisconsin. We’ve already received some great responses and have added them to our new Innovative Communities Around Wisconsin webpage for others to read about. In this first round of submissions, you can see communities that have: Implemented a collective impact model to address child care for the whole community Created a training program for refugees with built-in child care Raised wages for child care staff Created a coalition of partners and community leaders working to support the local early childhood education sector Does your community have their own solutions to share? Submit them through our innovative communities form and you may see them featured too. Project Growth Overview: October 2022 Project Growth is one of many initiatives DCF has introduced to stabilize our communities’ child care systems and bolster Wisconsin’s economy. To date, $30 million has been invested in businesses, communities, child care programs, and families through Project Growth and its two grant programs: Dream Up! and Partner Up! Now that two cohorts have been awarded for each grant program, DCF has partnered with KW2 to conduct an evaluation of both grant programs. Background Across Wisconsin, businesses are experiencing historic challenges in recruiting and retaining their workforce, while our families are facing barriers in locating accessible and affordable child care. And child care businesses are struggling to retain experienced staff. That’s why, when businesses partner with early childhood programs to cover the true cost of child care, everyone benefits. Businesses show that they care about the well-being of their employees and their families, child care programs get help covering their operating costs and paying their staff living wages, and working parents gain access to high-quality, affordable child care. Population trends show that the Wisconsin workforce will remain tight across industries. Benefits like these help businesses recruit and retain employees. Findings The research shows that Project Growth has had an impact across Wisconsin by serving: 420 families 312 child care programs 199 businesses 28 communities You can review the full findings in the Project Growth Overview: October 2022 report.
