FSSA announces recipients of early education capacity-building grants

INDIANAPOLIS (June 4, 2018) —Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) today awarded early education capacity-building grants to 17 applicants representing 54 pre-kindergarten programs in 16 Indiana counties. The grants total more than $1.5 million and were awarded to early learning providers and county coalitions to serve more children and increase the quality of early education opportunities provided in Indiana. All applicants were required to secure matching funds—between 5 and 50 percent of total budget—from local businesses or other stakeholders who will benefit from the community improvement associated with these capacity-building grants.

The funding for these grants was appropriated in 2017 via House Enrolled Act 1004, which Governor Eric J. Holcomb signed into law as part of his 2017 Next Level Agenda. The following applicants were awarded funds:

OECOSL Early Education Capacity Building Grant Awards

 Applicant  County  Funding Award
 Carrie Gosch Early Learning Center  Lake  $37,500.00
 Community Foundation of Wabash County  Wabash  $103,403.96
 CRADLES of Clay County  Clay  $1,600.00
 Early Learning Alliance of Huntington County  Huntington  $127,343.00
 Early Learning Clinton County Coalition  Clinton  $315,105.66
 Fuzzy Bear Ministry Preschool and Daycare  Montgomery  $44,677.00
 Henry County Early Learning Coalition  Henry  $155,200.00
 Johnson County Learning Center  Johnson  $114,344.00
 Kids Care Academy  Clark  $9,000.00
 Lewis Cass Schools  Cass  $53,586.00
 Maconaquah School Corporation  Miami  $22,998.30
 Madison Consolidated Early Development Center  Jefferson  $46,620.00
 Marion County Early Childhood Education Coalition  Marion  $275,063.84
Monroe County Community School Corporation  Monroe $46,500.00
MSD of Lawrence Township  Marion  $80,739.00
Northern Rush County Schools  Rush  $71,642.50
United Way of DeKalb County – Early Childhood Coalition  DeKalb  $38,935.00
  TOTAL $1.54M

Capacity-building grants may be used for the following purposes:

  • Training and professional development of teaching staff;
  • Classroom materials that demonstrate increased outcomes for children or increased instructional practices for educators;
  • Evidence-based curriculum or instructional materials including professional development for teaching staff to utilize the curriculum;
  • Family engagement activities or materials and/or marketing and communication materials; and
  • Other relevant needs to help expand capacity and/or improve quality programming to help programs reach Paths to QUALITY™ level 3 or 4, which is the requirement for a provider to be eligible to be an On My Way Pre-K provider.

Grant awards are for one year with the option to request a no-cost extension if additional capacity-building activities remain that have not been completed after one year. Nonprofit applicants interested in receiving funding for items not allowable had the opportunity to apply for a limited pool of separate grant funding from Early Learning Indiana (ELI).

On My Way Pre-K is Indiana’s first state-funded prekindergarten grant program, which was established as a five-county pilot by the Indiana General Assembly in 2014. Currently, 20 Indiana counties including Allen, Bartholomew, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Harrison, Howard, Jackson, Kosciusko, Lake, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh and Vigo, along with eight grandfathered agreement sites are eligible to accept On My Way Pre-K grants for low-income Hoosier children.

The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning is a division of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). Follow us on Twitter @FSSAIndiana. 

Early Learning Indiana provides excellent care and education at its ten Day Early Learning centers; provides referrals to parents and training and other resources to child care providers and schools throughout Indiana; and is a leader, advocate and partner in advancing policies that transform Indiana’s early learning landscape for the better. Find Early Learning Indiana at www.earlylearningindiana.org, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DayEarlyLearning and on Twitter @EarlyLearningIN.

About Brian Scott

I play on the radio from 7 am -1 pm weekdays on 98.9 WYRZ and WYRZ.org. Follow me on twitter @WYRZBrianScott or e-mail me at brian@wyrz.org.

Check Also

Indiana Launches $29M Legend Fund to Support Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses Access Capital

INDIANAPOLIS (March 5, 2024) – The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) today announced the launch of …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *