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Improving Access to Child Care
Child care and early childhood education are foundations for early development, academic achievement, and a lifetime of benefits supporting our youngest learners into adulthood. Yet today, many families in Kansas struggle to access affordable, quality child care where they live and work. We are distributing federal, one-time pandemic relief funding to support grantees across the state as they build and expand physical spaces, and for start-up operations.
Because we know a single solution won’t fix what we have come to know as the ‘child care crisis’ we look to communities for innovative ideas and custom solutions. Capital funding is a significant step forward in this work and can be used as a catalyst for fundamentally changing the way Kansans meet their child care needs.
The Capital Projects Fund (CPF) awarded a total of $38 million in grants across two rounds of awards to expand on the state’s efforts to create new licensed child care slots. A federal Capital Projects Fund grant was awarded to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet by the U.S. Treasury in 2023 to help communities deliver vital services through construction of multi-purpose facilities. These facilities offer workforce and education supports, health monitoring, and child care services.
Learn more about these investments and the new child care slots being created.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is piloting a new Child Care Zones program in 2025-26 to support community and regional child care sectors. A Child Care Zone is a self-defined geographic area that determines its own priorities and package of support needed to address longstanding challenges and acute needs of both the child care workforce and families needing care.
Custom Solutions
Awarded Zones are receiving support for their package of custom solutions including such activities as:
- Wage adjustments and benefit packages
- Formation of substitute pools
- Professional development opportunities
- Administrative support including shared services like accounting or HR functions
- Provider recruitment and retention strategies
- Consultation and technical support
Eligible Entities
Zones are formed by communities in two or more counties and include such partners as:
- Licensed Child Care Facilities
- Family Resource Centers
- School Districts
- Community Foundations
- Community-based Organizations
- Local Employers
The Child Care Zones pilot program invests in communities to help local leaders and members of the child care sector address barriers, grow awareness of needs and challenges, recover from shortages and setbacks, and make sustainable system improvements. Child Care Zones are meant to support needs across the child care sector and are not intended for a single facility or organization.
Contact Information
Reach out to Child Care Zones Coordinator, Jennifer Burgardt at jennifer.burgardt@ks.gov, with questions or to connect with any of the awardees.
2025 Grantees
Coming Soon!
The Child Care Capacity Accelerator is designed to support collaborations of local early childhood providers, child care coalition members, employers, and economic development leaders as they create new child care slots in their communities. Awards were made through a mix of braided funds from both public and private sources, and included funds for construction, major renovation, and short-term operating expenses. Progress is underway, with several grantees completing projects in 2024.
Learn more about the Accelerator program, the awarded communities, and the role of Public-Private Partnerships.
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