Child Care Business Start-Up Grant Program (Connecticut)

Child Care Business Start-Up Grant Program (Connecticut) is sponsored by Women's Business Development Council (WBDC). This program offers one-time cash grants to qualified child care start-up businesses in Connecticut to help cover start-up operating costs. It is designed to support aspiring, unlicensed, and newly licensed child care providers.

Child Care Business Start-Up Grant Program - WBDC Child Care Business Start-Up Grant Program WBDC is pleased to offer grants of up to $25,000 to qualified start-up child care businesses The Women’s Business Development Council is offering grants of up to $25,000 to qualified child care start-up businesses in Connecticut.

Are you almost a Connecticut licensed child care provider with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), or have you recently become licensed with OEC? Are you in need of funding to help cover some of your start-up operating costs? Then this WBDC Start-Up Grant may be right for you!

We will be offering one-time cash grants of up to $5,000 for family home providers, up to $10,000 for group homes and up to $25,000 for centers to help individuals in financial need become licensed and operating child care providers with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).

This grant program is designed to support aspiring, unlicensed, and newly licensed child care providers in need of financial assistance to cover start-up operating expenses. It is open to those in process of becoming a licensed and operating family home (DCFH), group home (DCGH), or child care center (DCCC), and those operating as a family home, group home, or center with enrolled children for less than one year.

Make sure to read the Eligibility section below before beginning the process to apply. We also encourage you to attend an Information Session (scroll down for link). If you have any questions during the application process, please email us at childcaregrants@ctwbdc.

org . WBDC advisors are here to assist you at no cost with free 1:1 advising to help guide you. This is a competitive process and the WBDC will not be able to fund all strong applicants.

August 3rd - August 31st 11:59 PM Learn About the Start Up Grant Program Information Sessions (Watch Recording) Join us for a Grant Information Session to learn about what the grant can be used for, eligibility requirements, and what information we’re looking for in the application. If you have attended a Grant Information Session in the past year, the information will be similar.

Child Care Business Grants Overview (Bilingual) Tue, Aug 4 1:00 – 2:30PM Child Care Business Grants Overview (Bilingual) Thur, Aug 6 1:00 – 2:30 PM Child Care Business Grants Overview (Spanish) Mon, Aug 10 6:00 – 7:30PM Child Care Business Grants Overview (English) Tue, Aug 11 6:00 – 7:30PM Cómo Calcular Proyecciones Thur, Aug 13 1:00 – 2:30PM How to Calculate Projections & Financial Statements Tue, Aug 18 1:00 – 2:30PM Si prefiere una sesión en español, inscríbase en una de las siguientes Watch Recording English | Watch Recording Spanish Once you’ve attended a Grant Information Session, we encourage you to take advantage of the multiple sessions to help you complete your grant application.

WBDC Grant Prep Sessions (English): Use of Funds Tracker & Financial Statement How to Calculate Projections Preparación de Subvenciones WBDC: (Spanish) Cómo Calcular Proyecciones Rastreador de Uso de Fondos y Estado Financiero Applied in the past? We encourage past applicants who are familiar with our grants to skip the Information Session. Instead, book an advising appointment to discuss your grant project and work on your application.

We invite you to also join the Grant Prep Sessions most relevant to you. Preparing Your Financial Statements & Projections (Recording) We will walk you through gathering your financials and filling out the WBDC financial templates for your Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Projections.

Watch Recording (English) | Estados Financieros y Proyecciones (Spanish) Application Walk-Through & Use of Funds (Recording) Get tips on how to use the portal effectively, from uploading documents, saving your progress, to printing your app. Learn how to complete the WBDC use of funds template and upload your supporting documents.

(English) – Watch Recording (Spanish) Watch Recording Calculate Your Time Space Percentage This session will help you calculate your time-space percentage is an essential part of managing your family childcare home. Join Tanya Kelley as she reviews why this percentage is important and how to calculate it.

English – Watching Recording (1) Close to becoming licensed by OEC as a full-time* family home, group home, or center with location approved by CT Department of Public Health (2) Operating as an CT Office of Early Childhood (OEC) licensed family home, group, or center full time*, with enrolled children for less than one year Be pursuing a license or recently licensed as a provider with OEC for the first time Have your initial OEC site inspection scheduled or completed Be in good standing with the CT Department of Revenue Services (DRS), or on a payment plan for back-owed taxes Have a financial need for support with start-up costs * If the project will enable your program to operate as a full-time, full-year program, your application will be considered eligible.

*For purposes of the WBDC’s Child Care Business Opportunity Fund grants, the definitions of full-time and part-time are as follows: Full-time for centers (DCCC), group homes (DCGH) programs means that 75% or more of the classrooms in your program operate 30 hours or more per week for at least 10 months per year . Full-time for family child care homes means that your program operates 30 hours or more per week.

Part-time for centers (DCCC), group homes (DCGH) programs means that less than 75% of the classrooms in your program operate 30 hours or more per week. Part-time for family child care homes means that your program is open less than 30 hours per week. Additionally, the following businesses are NOT eligible: 1.

Prior recipients of a WBDC Start-up Grant. This restriction does not apply to recipients of the OEC-WBDC Program Operations Grant. 2.

If you already operate a licensed child care business, and are starting another one, you may be eligible for our Expansion Grant instead. 3. Municipally run child care programs, license-exempt programs, licensed youth camps, are not eligible for WBDC grants due to limited funding and alternate opportunities.

5. 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.

6. OEC-LISC Grantees (2024 – current) If there are more qualified applications than we can fund this round, priority will be given to the following programs: Sites already approved by OEC, including those newly operating Located in an ECE underserved community, including those in a town with high SVI (=/> .

6) and/or CAATI score =/> 5 (see list of towns here ) Serve or will serve infants and toddlers Accept or plan to accept Care4Kids Are or soon plan to be state and/or federally funded (i.e., Care4Kids, Early Start CT, School Readiness, Child Day Care Contract, State Head Start, Federal Head Start, and DCF) Are or plan to be a for-profit business Active WBDC advising client, receiving technical assistance beyond grants Applicants that have become licensed within the past few months may receive their grant awards (if selected) in two parts – often 50% up front and 50% after certain business milestones are achieved.

This is to help set you up for success in managing your new business and managing grant funds. WBDC Advisors are available to help you achieve the business milestones and guide your start-up business practices. Not the right grant for you?

See our other Child Care Business Grant programs. Before you begin your application, you will be required to create a profile in WBDC’s eCenter portal 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. Click here to complete your eCenter profile Application Walk-Through & Use of Funds Join us as we do a live demo of the grant application portal. Get tips on how to use the portal effectively, from uploading documents, saving your progress, to printing your app.

Learn how to complete the WBDC use of funds template and upload your supporting documents.

(English) – Watch Recording (Spanish) Registrate aquí Here are the components of the application: Profile, Contact, and Eligibility Section A: Background about Your Business Section B: Use of Grant Funds Section C: Narrative of Your Business Section D: Supporting Documents for Uploading Section E: Compliance and Consent What we’re looking for in an application: Thoughtful, complete, and well-developed picture of your business and how it will succeed Clear use of funds, with a strong link to getting your business going Financial Projections reflect seasonality of business, and numbers make sense Display the business’ potential for success ​ Slot creation and strong enrollment potential Job creation potential, with the business being able to create jobs ​ Return on investment, that the funds will unlock growth ​ Grant will have a meaningful impact on the business and help the business grow Use the resources around you.

WBDC is here to help you throughout the application process – review this grant webpage in detail, attend the grant prep sessions, and meet with us if you need help. Ask those that know your business, like resource partners (e.g. SFCCN, AQIS, Ed Consultant) and your advisory circle (e.g., loved ones, assistant director), to be a sounding board for your grant project idea and to read your application narrative to provide feedback.

Get started as soon as possible. Waiting till the last weeks the application is open to get started may not give you enough time to receive assistance and put your best foot forward with your application. 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, evenings, and Saturday mornings if needed. If you need an appointment in a different language, accommodations may be possible. *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.

In addition to our regular advising hours, we are holding bonus office hours for eligible providers actively working on their applications. You will receive an invite. Save the date!

**Invitations will be sent to those actively working on their application. (English & Spanish)** Proposed Use of Funds Tracker 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.

Use of Funds Tracker (English/Spanish): Click here to copy the se of funds tracker in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here We have optional templates for you to use for your historical and projected financial documents. If you are a family home (DCFH), a Balance Sheet is not required. If you utilize QuickBooks or another digital system, you should use financial statements from there, instead of the WBDC templates.

Historical Financials Template (English/Spanish): Copy Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here Financial Projections Template (English/Spanish) – complete for 1 year only: FAMILY HOME – Copy Google Sheets CENTER – Copy Google Sheets FAMILY HOME – Download to Microsoft Excel CENTER – Download to Microsoft Excel Projecciones HOGAR FAMILIAR Proyecciones GRUPOS Y CENTROS Projecciones HOGAR FAMILIAR How to Obtain a Status Letter Start early on this!

You may have to receive a pin by mail to activate your myconneCT account before getting your letter. This letter will show if your state taxes are paid or not. Please request your letter from the CT DRS myconneCT online center at no cost: 𝗺𝘆𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗖𝗧 (ct.

gov) Here is a tutorial to on how to request the status letter: Requesting a Status Letter (of Good Standing) (ct. gov) . If you are a sole proprietor and file your personal taxes jointly, the letter may be in your spouse’s name.

If you did not operate your business in the last tax year, this Status Letter could be for your personal taxes. 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.

This letter of good standing is not the same as a Certificate of Legal Existence. These grants are made possible through the generous financial support of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).