ST PAUL, Minn. — Families struggling to find daycare for their children may soon find some relief, with the announcement of $6 million in grants designed to help organizations across the state expand and increase childcare capacity.
The grants, announced Wednesday by Gov. Tim Walz, are being made through the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and will go to 21 community organizations that provide child care to Minnesotans. DEED says the money will be used to invest in new or expanding child daycare businesses, improve facilities, attract, train and retain workers, and other strategies to reduce the childcare shortage.
It is anticipated that the investment will increase childcare program capacity by 2,241 slots.
“Childcare businesses and professionals are essential to our economy – they’re the workforce behind the workforce,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan following the announcement. “I’m proud of the historic investments we made in child care last session and our continued efforts to build on these wins. We want to ensure families across the state have access to high quality, affordable child care and that child care businesses have the supports they need to succeed.”
The Walz administration notes that 15 of the 21 grants announced Wednesday will go to communities in greater Minnesota where the need for additional childcare is greatest. Here is a list of where the money is going:
- Alexandria Community Learning Center, Alexandria, $250,000
- Austin Community Charitable Fund, Austin, $250,000
- Centro Tyrone Guzman, Minneapolis, $245,000
- City of Alexandria, $280,000
- City of Luverne, $250,000
- Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County, $250,000
- Comunidades Latinas Unidades En Servicio (CLUES), St. Paul, $250,000
- Cook County Public Health and Human Services, Grand Marais, $250,000
- Glacier Hills Elementary School, Starbuck, $240,000
- Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield, $500,000
- Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Center, $500,000
- Lutheran Social Services, St. Paul, $100,000
- Northland Foundation, Duluth (serving the Northeast Minnesota region), $400,000
- Northwest Minnesota Foundation, (serving the Northwest Minnesota region), $400,000
- Parkers Prairie ISD 547, $100,000
- Parents in Community Action, Minneapolis (runs Head Start programs in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Richfield, Bloomington and Golden Valley) , $500,000
- Pine County, $500,000
- Prairie Five Community Action Council, Montevideo (serves Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac Qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine counties) $380,000
- Prairie Pines Childcare Center, Fosston, $75,000
- St. David Center, Minneapolis, $270,000
- Warroad Community Childcare Center, Warroad, $250,000
A second round of grants, estimated at $6.2 million, will be announced later in 2024.
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