Equipping child care providers with the necessary resources to sustain and strengthen operations through and beyond the pandemic and recovery remains a top priority in our recovery and restoration investments. In addition to these efforts, we are committed to adding new, high-quality infant and toddler slots across the city and investing in the early childhood education workforce. ​

Key Strategies​

We are employing the following strategies to stabilize and strengthen early childhood education:​

• Stabilize the sector: Offer broad financial relief* for the child care sector through grant programs like the DC Child Care Stabilization Grant and Back-to-Work Child Care Grant to preserve the supply of care and support access as families return to in-person work.​ (Note that this is a core part of our early childhood strategy but is classified as "Passthrough Funds.")​
• Increase subsidy payments: Increase subsidy payments to child development facilities to help cover heightened operating costs due to the pandemic while ensuring sufficient funds to serve eligible families.
• Expand the supply of child care seats in shortage areas: Support investments in new or existing child development facilities to increase the number of high-quality infant and toddler slots in high-demand areas of the city through the Access to Quality Child Care Grant program. ​
• Invest in the workforce: Invest in and retain talent in the early childhood education workforce by expanding scholarship funding for early childhood educators to earn a degree in early childhood education and implementing retention incentives for workers through the DC Leading Educators toward Advanced Degrees (DC LEAD) grant.​

*Note that this infographic includes local funds that have been used for recovery, as well as funds that OSSE distributes directly to child development facilities based on federal requirements (identified in this web portal as “Passthrough” funds). Therefore, the universe of funds described in this infographic is different than what is showcased on the State-Led Investments page.