PDG Newsletter September 28, 2022 Project Growth Partner Up! Cohort 2 Grant Awardees Announced Last Thursday, DCF announced the second cohort of Partner Up! grant recipients. The Partner Up! grant program was one of two grant programs under Project Growth. The other is the Dream Up! Supply-Building grant program, which was announced earlier this year and will have another round of competitive applications opening in early 2023. This cohort awarded a total of $10 million in Partner Up! grants to 88 businesses statewide. This is in addition to the $10 million awarded in Cohort 1. The Partner Up! grant program, administered by our partner, Supporting Families Together Association (SFTA), focuses on supporting partnerships between businesses and child care providers by offering funding to businesses that purchase slots for employees’ children at existing regulated child care providers. Awarded businesses, ranging from child care and health care to retail and manufacturing, will receive funding based on the true cost of care, number of slots, and age group. To view the full list of Partner Up! grant recipients, visit DCF’s Partner Up! page. You can also read the full press release on the DCF website. Call for Submissions: Innovative Communities DCF would like to capture the many ways in which Wisconsin communities are working together and innovating to solve the child care crisis. What do we mean by innovate? innovate (verb) 1 make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products; could include applying new processes, introducing new techniques, or establishing successful ideas to create new value. 2 introduce (something new). DCF wants to hear how new partnerships, business models, and/or investments have allowed communities to significantly enhance one or more of the following: Access to affordable child care in the community, and thus, more parents joining the workforce Quality of local child care to meet the needs of all children and families Fair compensation and job satisfaction for the early care and education workforce Equitable opportunity to a higher quality of life among community members Share your innovation by filling out our new innovative communities form.
