Child Care Business Emergency Facilities Grant Program

One-hour informational webinars will be held in February to enable applicants to prepare their applications.  Sign up for the webinar that best meets your schedule using the links below. The content will be the same for all sessions. You only need to attend one session, though you are welcome to attend as many as you would like. 

Recorded Information Sessions

Child Care Business Grants Overview (ENGLISH)

Child Care Business Grants Overview (Spanish)

 Grant Prep Class: Financial Templates

This session will help you prepare some of the key documents needed for your grant application — your historical & current financial statements, as well as your financial projections.  This session will walk you through gathering your financials and filling out the WBDC financial templates (or your own!).

(English Recording) Tuesday, Feb 20 from 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM

(Spanish Recording) Saturday, Feb 24 from 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM

Be in business as an OEC-licensed family home, group, or center with enrolled children for at least 6 months at time of application

Meet ONE of the following enrollment criteria:

• 1. Have a minimum of 60% of licensed capacity currently enrolled, including school age children if applicable

  2. Current enrollment at 60% of adjusted licensed capacity based on business model (For instance, a Family Home with licensed capacity of 9 that never takes school-age children would calculate their enrollment based on 6 regular age – e.g., 4 currently enrolled / 6 adjusted capacity = 67% enrollment) OR

  3. Current enrollment down to 40%-59% with classroom closing or staff layoff due to OEC, Health Department, or Fire Department finding

Profitable in at least 1 of the past 3 years; or broke even as a non-profit in one of these years

Be in good standing with the CT Department of Revenue Services (DRS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or on a payment plan for back-owed taxes

Have an urgent financial need, and unable to cover emergency facilities expenses from income, savings, or other funding.

Those that meet all of the above criteria are encouraged to apply.

Additionally, the following businesses are NOT eligible:

1. Businesses not actively licensed by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) as a family home (DCFH), group home (DCGH), or center (DCCC), and businesses without children currently enrolled.

2. Businesses that were awarded a WBDC Start-up Grant, Emergency Facilities Grant, or Expansion Grant in the last 6 months.

3. If your business is outside the child care industry and based in Connecticut, WBDC has other grant programs. We encourage you to schedule an appointment with a WBDC Business Advisor or participate in one of our classes to learn more.

4. Businesses outside of Connecticut.  Please contact your local SBA Resource Partner including our sister Women’s Business Centers around the U.S., to learn about funding opportunities in your area.

This Emergency Facilities Grant is for urgent facilities maintenance projects only, for those programs with unmet financial need due to severe revenue shortages. Funds may be used for emergency facilities expenses that protect the health & safety of the children and staff, and may include:

• Expenses to correct an OEC licensing citation of emergency status (i.e., preventing a classroom or outdoor play space from being used)

• Health Department or Fire Department finding impacting the program’s ability to operate fully

• Emergency facility expense impacting the program’s ability to operate or meet basic health and safety (i.e., storm damage to facility, boiler repair, etc.)

• Reimbursement of required (non-elective) facilities upgrades made in the last 6 months
  (lowest priority for funding)

If you have multiple facility needs, we encourage you to apply only for the most urgent project.  If there are multiple facilities components to your project, list them in order of priority in your grant application.  Please note that due to limited funding, only one of your listed projects may be approved.  Family homes, please note that if the project is a shared expense between your child care program & your house, space percentage will apply.

INELIGIBLE USES OF FUNDS:

This grant will not fund general facilities maintenance, elective business facilities upgrades including program quality upgrades, or operating expenses – if you are looking if you are looking for financing to assist with these, meet with Samantha Cross (English) or Zayed Rodriguez (Spanish) to explore your options – request an appointment here.

If there are more qualified applications than we can fund this round, priority will be given to the following programs:

•  – Not received a WBDC grant of $5,000 or more
•  – Serve infants and toddlers
•  – Currently receive Care4Kids
•  – NAFCC or NAEYC Accredited, or Head Start Approved
•  – State and/or federally funded (i.e., Care4Kids, School Readiness, Child Day Care
      Contract, State Head Start, Federal Head Start, and DCF)
•  – For-profit programs that operate full-time* (See below definition)

*For purposes of the WBDC’s Child Care Business Opportunity Fund grants, the definitions of full-time and part-time are as follows:

a) Full-time for centers (DCCC), group homes (DCGH) programs means that 50% or more of the classrooms in your program operate 30 hours or more per week.

b) Full-time for family child care homes means that your program operates 30 hours or more per week.

c) Part-time for centers (DCCC), group homes (DCGH) programs means that less than 50% of the classrooms in your program operate 30 hours or more per week.

d) Part-time for family child care homes means that your program is open less

Before you begin your application, you must complete a Pre-Application Form HERE. 

This will help you review your eligibility and provide us initial information on your project to ensure it is eligible for this grant program. We will contact you within 3 business days of you completing your pre-application form to let you know if we have any questions about your submission, and then provide eligible providers a link to the grant application.

We also ask that you create a profile in WBDC’s eCenter portal HERE to provide general information about you and your business.

If you are an existing WBDC client that has used eCenter before to register for classes, you will need to review and update your eCenter Profile by logging into eCenter, and clicking “My Information” on the left.

If you are an existing WBDC client that has not used eCenter before, click the link below to get to our eCenter. Then click “Forgot Password” in the top right corner. Enter your email and follow the on-screen prompts to access to your profile.  Once logged in, click “My Information” on the left to complete or update your information.

 There are 4 sections of the application. For the first two sections, you will be required to provide a detailed picture of your business. 

Section 1: Business Operations & Financial Summary
Section 2: How You Would Use the Grant
Section 3: Narrative of Your Business
Section 4: Supporting Documents for Uploading
Compliance and Consent

2023 Application Guide containing application questions and a document checklist: Download the Guide

*Note that the 2024 application will be slightly different than the above guide, but it will provide you a solid idea of what to expect.

What we’re looking for in an application:

• Thoughtful, complete, and well-developed picture of your business
• Clear use of funds, with a strong link to its need for continued business operations, along with strong supporting detail
• Return on investment – that funds will allow for the business’ continued operations​​
• Unmet financial need

*Please note* This WBDC grant cannot be used to cover the same expenses you are utilized other grant funds for (e.g., OEC Stabilization Funds, LISC/OEC Facilities Funding). Funds cannot be used for real estate purchases, renovations for a leased building with less than 1 year left on lease, projects that are fully covered by insurance, or wish list upgrades not required for continued operations. Funds also cannot be used for projects that require landlord approval, unless written proof of approval is provided.

WBDC Business Advisors are available to help answer your questions after you have attended a live or on-demand information session. Appointments available in English or Spanish during standard business hours and evenings. If you need an appointment in a different language, accommodations may be possible.

Request a free virtual appointment HERE.

*Please note* If you review your application with a business advisor, it does not mean you will receive a grant, as an external review committee is making the decisions on which applicants receive grants.

Download the Proposed Use of Funds’ Tracker below and fill in to indicate your proposed use of funds with the contractor/vendor, and cost of each item.  This will serve as a cover sheet for your back-up use of funds documentation.

Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

Historical financial statements are NOT required for Emergency Facilities Grant applicants. If you would like to provide them to better support your application, you can do so using your existing format (e.g., QuickBooks), or WBDC’s template below.

If you are a family home (DCFH), do not complete the Balance Sheet template.

Historical Financials Template (English/Spanish):
Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

Please request your letter from the CT Dept. of Revenue Services (DRS) myconneCT online center: 𝗺𝘆𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗖𝗧 (ct.gov)  

Here is a tutorial to on how to request the status letter for a business: Requesting a Status Letter (of Good Standing) 

Here is a tutorial on how to request the status letter for an individual (Sole Proprietor): Request Status Letter-Individuals (ct.gov)

Click here to see an example of what your status letter should like. Please note that if it does not look like this – it is the wrong document.