PDG Newsletter March 8, 2023

Resources to Help With Drafting Your Dream Up! Application

The Dream Up! Child Care Supply-Building Grant Program is a community-focused program. Through this program, awarded communities receive strategic planning support and $75,000 in grant funding. Additional $5,000 stipends will be given to participating child care providers who submit updated business plans during the strategic planning process. Through a collaborative community approach, teams of community stakeholders will work to evaluate, plan, sustain, and expand existing child care, and support new child care programs.

Want ideas for who to include on your application for your Core Team? Curious how your team will work together if awarded a grant? We’ve created a couple of resources on the Dream Up! webpage to help. At the bottom of the page, you can expand the accordions to view:

  • An informational chart outlining the Dream Up! process
  • Two community scenarios: one for a rural community and one for an urban community

As a reminder, child care providers are encouraged to participate in a community’s Core Team, but may not be the Core Team Lead.

Deadline to apply: March 17, 2023 at 5 p.m. CST

Dream Up! Webinars Now Available on Demand

DCF recently held two webinars to kick-off the application window for the third cohort of Dream Up! grants. Both of those webinars were recorded and are now available for on-demand viewing.

Ver instrucciones para subtítulos en español.

Lead Remediation Work Update

Lead exposure and the clean water needs of Wisconsin’s youngest children are a public health issue. Young children are at particular risk from lead exposure, even at low levels. Their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults. Many young children spend a lot of time in child care settings. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), child care facilities may have a higher potential for elevated lead levels in their drinking water. This is usually due to being closed over weekends, holidays, and extended breaks. During these breaks, lead in pipes and other fixtures can leach into the water.

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Health Services (DHS) are working together to help fix this issue for our early care and education (ECE) centers. Funding from the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) Grant from the EPA is used to test water in licensed group ECE facilities for lead contamination. Then, based on test results, PDG funding is used to carry out lead remediation services. These services may include filter installation and maintenance, replacing lead fixtures, and providing bottled water and/or clean water filling stations.

This program piloted in Rock County in 2021 and expanded statewide last year. This program has helped many child care centers reduce harmful lead contamination, making them safer for children. This is the program’s impact as of the end of February 2023:

  • 135 centers are enrolled in the program
    • 86 have completed at least one round of testing
    • 64 have completed the program
    • 13 require/required full replacement of at least one water fixture
      • Replacement is complete in seven of these centers
    • 1,714 separate water samples have been processed by the state lab
    • A maximum of 6,012 children (determined by each center’s reported maximum capacity) have been served.

24 local public health departments (LPHDs) have signed contracts to coordinate the program within their jurisdictions. And even more are awaiting approval! Approved LPHDs are:

  1. Appleton Health Department
  2. Ashland County Health Department
  3. Barron County Health Department
  4. Bayfield County Health Department
  5. City of Madison, Dane County Public Health Department
  6. City of Milwaukee Health Department
  7. Cudahy Health Department
  8. Dodge County Health Department
  9. Douglas County Health Department
  10. Dunn County Health Department
  11. Eau Claire City-County Health Department
  12. Jefferson County Health Department
  13. Lafayette County Health Department
  14. North Shore Health Department
  15. Oconto County Health Department
  16. Racine County Health Department
  17. Rock County Health Department (program completed)
  18. Sauk County Health Department
  19. Croix County Health Department
  20. Walworth County Health Department (program completed)
  21. Washburn County Health Department
  22. Waupaca County Health Department
  23. Winnebago County Health Department
  24. Wood County Health Department