The deadlines are approaching for child care providers to submit applications for grants that provide funding for everything from recruitment and retention to professional development and early childhood education.
Holly Cessna, director of coach development at Trying Together, provided some details about the grants during a recent ELRC Region 5 director roundtable meeting.
Recruitment and Retention Grant
Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) announced in October that it would continue to implement the Child Care Staff Recruitment and Retention (CCSRR) program and would issue up to $30 million to qualified early childhood education providers to support staff retention and recruitment efforts.
Cessna told attendees of the ELRC Region 5 director roundtable that the grant application for the 2026-2027 fiscal year was due by Monday, November 30. She also noted that:
Those applying must be a licensed child care provider; relative providers are not eligible.
Provider’s programs must be open and currently serving children at the time of the application and payment.
Programs must hold a current Child Care Works-certified provider agreement with the ELRC.
Providers must have completed any previous reporting on grants that were previously received.
More information on eligibility, requirements, and how to apply can be found on The Pennsylvania Key.
CQI Grant and CCSRR Monitoring Sites
Cessna also mentioned during the roundtable that there are now monitoring sites for the previous fiscal year’s CCSRR grant. Providers who have received the grant must make sure that they have signed applications, made attestations, agreed that the grant can be monitored, and checked the eligibility terms were being followed.
The application for another OCDEL grant - the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI-4) Awards - for providers at STAR 2 or above is due by Friday, November 6. Providers must return a signed eligibility and acceptance letter by that day.