Today, Governor Roy Cooper toured the Wildflower Cottage for Children in Durham County to highlight the North Carolina Child Care Stabilization Grants that child care centers across the state have received to support and retain the early educator workforce.
“Child care and early learning programs lay the foundation for future success,” Governor Cooper said. “This funding is raising preschool teacher pay so we can keep them in the profession, which helps children learn and parents stay in the workforce.”
Since the launch of the program in October 2021, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has distributed more than $743 million to over 4,300 child care centers and family child care homes in 99 counties.
A historic $1.9 billion in one-time federal dollars has been invested in North Carolina’s child care system, helping to keep child care programs across the state open and teachers working. 98% of total eligible child care programs have received grants.
This year, Governor Cooper toured child care centers across the state to highlight how this funding is helping these centers succeed as the state emerges stronger from the pandemic. Learn more about how the NC Child Care Stabilization Grants are supporting and expanding early childhood educator salaries and health care benefits, providing new equipment and funding renovations for child care centers in North Carolina:
WFMY: Gov. Roy Cooper keeps funding for childcare going
Blair Barnes - November 3, 2022
Governor Roy Cooper took a field trip to High Point [...].
He stopped by the Kid Appeal Learning Center to hang with the children and talk about North Carolina’s childcare stabilization grants.
[...]
The owners said they knew without the money, it would be a struggle to survive.
The center was able to use the funds to drop enrollment fees, give teachers raises, and buy new playground equipment. Gov. Cooper said the grants will continue through the end of 2023.
Read the full text HERE.
Fayetteville Observer: Gov. Cooper visits Fayetteville State after $655 million distributed to NC child care centers
Ariana-Jasmine Castrellon - October 20, 2022
Gov. Roy Cooper toured Fayetteville State University’s Early Childhood Learning Center on [...] to highlight that the state distributed $655 million in grants to more than 4,200 child care centers statewide in the past year.
“Today we are here celebrating the Child Care Stabilization Grants that were made possible by the American Rescue Plan, post-pandemic,” Cooper said.
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Lead teacher Michelle Moore, who’s worked at the center for 18 years, said the grants have allowed the facility to purchase new toys, puzzles, games and supplies for her toddler classroom.
Moore said she’s been asking for a new cabinet in her classroom for three years, which wasn’t possible until now.
The center would not have been able to replace any of the old and worn items without the grant, she said.
FSU will also be adding a new addition to the campus thanks to the grant money, Chancellor Darrell Allison said.
“We are going to be able to build a new College of Education on the grounds of Fayetteville State University,” Allison said. “Sixty-three million dollars is what was allocated — we are talking about 100,000 plus square (feet)."
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In Cumberland County alone $32.4 million was distributed, impacting 20,580 children and 1,684 jobs, data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shows.
Read the full story HERE.
WCNC: Gov. Cooper in Charlotte Thursday to talk about NC childcare grants
Meilin Tompkins, Chloe Leshner - April 7, 2022
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was in Charlotte [...] to visit Nana's Place Learning Center, a childcare center on Back Creek Road and talk about the state's childcare grants.
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The owner of Nana’s Place Learning Center says the grant helped them to reopen after the pandemic and staffing shortages forced them to close. They’ve used some of the money to give bonuses to their workers.
“Staff is very important and very critical for making this operate,” Karen Jones, the owner of Nana’s Place, said.
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Gov. Cooper toured Nana’s Place on Thursday. It’s one of the 4,000 recipients of a stabilization grant so far.
Jones said they used the grants not only for bonuses but to increase health insurance offerings and add a 401k option.
“We have been super excited to just be able to provide those smiles on the staffs faces to provide those bonuses, they were super excited just being out of work it was a struggle for everybody,” she said.
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Read the full story HERE.
Spectrum: Child care funding key to helping economy through pandemic, NC Gov. Cooper says
Michael White - October 28, 2021
Making quality child care more accessible for families is key to keeping parents working and driving the economy during the pandemic, Gov. Roy Cooper said [...] during a visit to a Forsyth County child care center.
Cooper was at the Church Childcare Center in Walkertown to highlight funding for child care and early learning available through grants launched earlier this month to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.
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The owner of Church Childcare Center, Theressa Stephens, says the grant funding will enable the organization to offer its employees raises and maintain safety procedures.
“While this has been a challenging and stressful time for our team, we are so thankful to have the support of our community, parents and staff,” said Stephens, noting that Church Childcare Center has maintained operations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Most working parents rely on quality childcare, and our goal is to provide this plus more.”
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“High-quality early childhood education is critical to building a stronger, more equitable state and helping more parents return to the workforce to grow our economy,” he said.
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The grants are available to private, licensed early care and learning programs, including for-profit and not-for-profit programs, family child care homes and faith-based centers. Grant funds may go toward a variety of needs, including personnel costs, rent or personal protective equipment.
Read the full story HERE.
NC Health News: An $805 million investment in NC child care amid COVID
Anne Blythe - October 8, 2021
The signs on the side of the Community School for People Under Six, a child care and early learning center in Carrboro, were decorated on [...] with large, brightly colored letters.
“WELCOME,” the top banner stated. “Welcome Governor Roy Cooper” was spelled out across another one.
With sounds of children playing outdoors in the background, Cooper and U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat whose congressional district includes Carrboro and all of Orange County, made an announcement outside the 51-year-old school that will be welcomed by many in the child care industry.
Such centers and other early education programs across the state will have access in November to $805 million in federal aid that will be distributed through the North Carolina Child Care Stabilization Grants program.
“This is really exciting for us because it will help shore up our child care centers and help provide them with the assistance they need to retain and attract quality teachers,” Cooper said.
[…]
Read the full text HERE.
