The Fair Start for Kids Act (FSKA) directs the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to distribute Early Childhood Equity Grant funds to eligible applicants.
Through the Child Care Stabilization Grant, DCYF has distributed over $327 million to 5,883 providers helping them stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic to care for children and ensure working families have access to high-quality child care.
Through the Child Care Stabilization Grant, DCYF has distributed over $327 million to 5,883 providers helping them stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic to care for children and ensure working families have access to high-quality child care.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) believes in that every family should have the opportunity to enroll their children, or children in their care, in high-quality child care and early learning programs that prepare them for kindergarten.
The Fair Start for Kids Act supports child care and early learning providers by supporting increased resources for professional development and support for adult educators who care for and teach young children in Washington State.
Everett College is one of 10 Early ECEAP (Early Childhood Education Assistance Program) sites in Washington. The college currently has 22 slots for infants and toddlers.
In early May, DCYF staff spoke with three Early ECEAP parents asking them what the program means to them.
Here is what they said:
Beginning July 1, 2022, child care licensors from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) will conduct all monitor visits unannounced and on-site. The visits will use a baseline checklist that focuses on the highest risk Washington Administrative Codes (WAC) and those that are necessary to meet federal requirements.
Home visiting programs are voluntary, family-focused services offered to expectant parents and families with new babies and young children to support the physical, social, and emotional development of a child. Through the Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA), Washington State funds 44 programs with the capacity to serve about 2,800 families statewide.
In accordance with the latest collective bargaining agreement with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925, licensed family home providers will receive a monthly cost of care rate enhancement of $2,000 for each service month they are eligible beginning July 2022 and ending June 2023.
The Washington State Legislature has increased licensed child care center subsidy base rates 16% beginning July 1, 2022.
DCYF will update authorizations automatically. July invoices will reflect these changes.
The new half-day and full-day rates beginning July 1, 2022, are: