The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) has provided quality improvement grants to family child care providers in Kansas. A total of $485,000 in grant requests were funded to 352 licensed family child care providers across the state.

Family child care providers are licensed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to provide care for up to 10 children in their homes. These smaller providers have never been eligible for quality improvement funding previously; funding was limited to non-profit or public agencies. But because of the tremendous need for increased child care for low-income families after federal welfare reform, SRS has made quality improvement funding for family child care providers available this fiscal year and plans to continue the program next year.

"These family child care providers are an important part of the child care infrastructure in Kansas," said Connie Hubbell, commissioner of Income Maintenance and Employment Preparation Services, the division within SRS that administers child care. She pointed out that many families choose child care from family providers in Kansas, especially for infant care.

"If we are going to meet the growing need for child care for persons leaving public assistance and moving to work, we need to help these providers as much as possible," Hubbell said.

The Kansas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (KACCRRA), based in Salina, applied to administer the family child care provider quality improvement funding from SRS. Child Care Resource and Referral agencies within that organization also helped individual family child care providers across the state access the funding assistance. A listing of those organizations is attached.

The grant money will be used by the family child care providers for a variety of quality improvements. They include infant and toddler equipment, equipment and supplies for special needs children, training, home improvements as it pertains to licensing requirements, outdoor equipment such as swing sets and climbing structures, and toys. The maximum grant per individual was $1,500.

Leadell Ediger, director of KACCRRA, said making the quality improvement grants available to family child care providers filled a huge need.

"It provided the opportunity to improve safety, improve the environment, and improve the curriculum," she said.

Ediger also pointed out that the amount of training for family child care providers also increased with the grant opportunity. Because SRS provided these grant funds only to licensed child care providers, a number of providers became licensed in order to become eligible, she said. Licensed child care providers must receive 10 hours of training per year.

Ediger said anyone with questions about the grant program or to find out how to apply for a grant next year should contact the resource and referral agency in their area. Those agencies are listed on the following page.

Funding for the projects comes from the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant and the federal Child Care and Development Fund. Both funding streams are administered by SRS.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001