Child Care Relief Fund Grants! Round 6 grants NOW AVAILABLE and will close Monday, November 16 at 5:00p.m.  After the application closes, we will not be granting exceptions due to the December dealines we are working to meet to ensure funding is spent.

** Update** MDE has announced more flexibility in how providers can spend operational funds. Review the Frequently Asked Questions to learn more. You can also review the Application Questions here.

The Child Care Relief Fund is a grant program that helps child care providers cover costs during the COVID-19 state of emergency. The goal of the program is to help you stay in business and make child care more affordable for Michigan families.

What's new this month?

• Continued funding for families is available - A flat rate tuition credit to help make child care more affordable for families.
• Operational funds to help support providers - Operational funding for providers - all open providers are eligible for at least $9,000 in operational funds.

Why are these grants available? The Legislature authorized MDE to expand this round of the Child Care Relief Fund to include operational funds for providers and tuition credits for families. Initially, $125 million was appropriated. Nearly $25 million was awarded to tuition credits to date, $20 million is supporting new subsidy policies related to school age children and absence hours, $10 million was redirected to support other COVID priorities, and the remaining $70 million will support Round 6. Funds are only available to OPEN and licensed providers.

These grants are available on a first come first serve basis. Incomplete and duplicate applications will cause processing delays and will move your application to a new processing date.

For more information, review the Frequently Asked Questions (Rev. 10/21/20) document before completing the Grant Application.

There is no deadline to spend these funds.

Round 6 is funded through the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund. States must use these dollars no later than December 30, 2020. The state is meeting this deadline by providing funding to you before that date. Child care providers are not required to spend these funds by the end of the year.

You can spend these funds on what your organization needs.

These funds are being awarded because you experienced a business interruption this year. That means at some point since March 2020, your typical operations changed due to COVID-19.

The state is permitted to use the Coronavirus Relief Fund to help organizations, like child care providers, as economic stimulus to keep their doors open. By awarding the grant to you, the state has met its federal compliance obligations, and you can use these funds to meet your unique needs. The state will not indicate what you can and cannot do with these funds. You can decide how best to support your business.

Additional Resources for you!

• CARES Grant Payments Submitted to Treasury for Processing.
• Grant Calculator to help you determine the amount of your grant prior to starting the online application.
•  Reimbursement Stipend Tracking Tool to help you calculate tuition reimbursement for families in your care.
• SIGMA - How to Check the Status of your Grant Payment.
• SIGMA - How to Find your SIGMA Vendor Code and Address ID.
• SIGMA - How to Apply for a SIGMA Vendor Code.
• September Application Questions to help you prepare before submitting your online application.

Also see the new CCDBG Grant Guidance and CFDA Information.

If you have questions about your application, Please call 866-990-3227 (option 2) prior to submitting your application.

COVID-19 Notice: For up-to-date information about Governor Whitmer's order related to child care, frequently asked questions, the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), and more, visit the child care page of Michigan's Coronavirus site.