Child Care and Early Learning

Several grant opportunities are currently available through DCYF to support child care providers and the child care workforce:

Families residing in Washington State may be eligible for child care subsidy to help pay for child care. Child care subsidies help pay for child care while the parent, or parents in a two-parent household, participate in an approved activity.

Trauma-Informed Care

DCYF held two Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) provider design sessions in June, co-facilitated with Imagine Learning. The groups met for four hours to decide how best to provide trauma-informed support to early childhood professionals.

DCYF allocated $4.6 million to 36 of 61 ECEAP and Early ECEAP Contractors for the 2021-22 school year through the Complex Needs Fund. This resulted in an additional 78 contractor sites receiving support through this funding.

The Department of Commerce’s Early Learning Facilities (ELF) Grant Program, first created in 2017 under Substitute House Bill 1777, is designed to assist

Are you a student parent studying in a vocational program, in high school, or taking courses from a community, technical, or tribal college? If so, you may qualify for help paying for child care through the Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) subsidy program!

To stabilize, support and grow a diverse early learning workforce in a way that expands access to high-quality care, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has offered multiple grant opportunities to child care providers since October 2021.

DCYF has partnered with Washington Health Benefit Exchange and Yakima Neighborhood Health Services to inform child care workers about the Health Care Premium Assistance for Employees of Child Care Facilities.

Home visiting programs offer a range of services for expectant parents and families with newborns and young children. These services nurture the attachment between parent and child and enrich parents' capacity to support their children's physical, social, and emotional development.

As directed by the Fair Start for Kids Act (FSKA), the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is launching a comprehensive effort to grow trauma-informed and healing-centered supports for early childhood professionals.