Available Educator Funding
- Posted on:
A webinar was hosted by ELC Big Bend on November 20, 2023, during which an overview was provided for each type of funding. Slides from the presentation can be viewed below, in addition to the Q and A that was held immediately following.
Funding is available to provide financial support for all child care providers to assist with recruiting and retaining early learning educators (ELEs). ELEs include Infant, Toddler, Pre-K, and VPK teachers, before and after-school teachers, assistants, and substitutes, and directors.
No applications will be accepted without a Provider Representative’s signature and/or Verification of Employment
Early Learning Educators meeting the requirements below are eligible to apply for Professional Development stipends from the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region.
The requirements are:
- You must be employed with an ELC Big Bend contracted School Readiness and/or VPK child care provider
- You must show completion of Distance Learning Professional Development Course(s)
- You must provide an official transcript showing Early Childhood Educational courses being in progress or completed, starting as early as July 01, 2023.
Funding Information
- Application Review January – May 2024
- Approved applicants will receive payments via direct deposit. Applicants must provide a blank check or letter from their bank with routing and account information.
- Incomplete applications will be returned to applicant for corrections.
- Applications are reviewed in the order received.
Recruitment Bonus $1000
- Must be hired on/after July 01, 2023, and have worked over 120 hours with the current employer. Employment will be verified with childcare provider.
Health & Safety Bonus $1400
- Must be hired on/after July 01, 2023, and have completed up to 30 hours of Childcare Training Part I with the Health and Safety course being completed after July 01, 2023. DCF transcript required. Employment will be verified.
CPR Training
- Must be completed on/after July 01, 2023. Proof of completion and receipts of purchase required.
Background Screening
- Must be hired/on after July 01, 2023. Proof of purchase and cleared background required.
CLASS Bonus Infant/Toddler $1200
- Staff hired on/after July 01, 2023, must complete up to 24 hours of Professional Development through Teachstone. Sign up for classes here (Include link) Certificates of completion must be included in the application.
Upskill Director Bonus $1500
- Staff hired on/after July 01, 2023, must complete up to 24 hours of Professional Development through Teachstone. Sign up for classes here (Include link) Certificates of completion must be included in the application.
CLASS Bonus PreK $1200
- Staff hired on/after July 01, 2023, must complete up to 24 hours of Professional Development through Teachstone. Sign up for classes here (Include link) Certificates of completion must be included in the application.
One of the key components to creating and maintaining a quality child care program is providing early childhood teachers with the support, education, and resources needed to be successful in the classroom. As such, ELC Big Bend intends to implement stipends for ELEs to attend early learning conferences and/or receive professional training.
Conference Stipends
- Conference and Training attendees will receive stipends of up to $1,000 to allow for conference registration and allowable travel expenses. Funds will be paid to the provider for attending staff participants.
- The approval and reimbursement of travel expenses are limited to those deemed reasonable and necessary by a prudent person to complete the travel and associated performance of any public purpose authorized by law to be performed by the Department of Education.
Timeline
§ Applications will be open through May 31, 2024. Applications will be processed in the order received until ELC reaches the funding goal of 50 providers.
- Conference must have been on or after July 1, 2023, and must be before May 31, 2024 .
- Certification of completion or conference attendance certificates plus agenda and receipts must be uploaded by June 7, 2024 .
- Must be staffed under a contracted provider to participate in funding.
*Early Learning Educators (ELE) traveling for the ELC Big Bend Coalition will follow the policy and procedures set forth herein for authorizing and obtaining reimbursement for official travel. Travel shall only be performed and reimbursed in accordance with section 112.061, Florida Statutes (F.S.); chapter 69I-42, Florida Administrative Code (FAC); and the DOE procedures.
Child Care and Family Home Care Providers can apply for a grant of up to $19,800 to maintain and improve teacher-child interactions to support CLASS implementation.
Eligibility Requirements
- Providers must have an active SR and/or VPK contract and be classified as a child care provider. Provider must have a CLASS/Program Assessment score above 5.0 or higher on your most RECENT (22-23) assessment. CLASS score can be located in the QPS system
- Providers will receive the APPROVED proposed budget and will be responsible for paying vendors for services and staff bonuses. Funding is used for training costs. Providers can apply for a grant up to $19, 800.
- All provider staff must create an application for Improvement, to include, budget allocations/justifications, training participants, and a training plan. All provider staff must participate in a minimum of 24 hours of training time with a vendor offering Professional Development training for child care providers.
- All provider staff must participate in live coaching, live instruction/training, virtual instruction/training, individual and group instruction, and other competency-based skill development exercises.
Timeline
- Applications open February 1 – May 31, 2024
- All training activities must be completed by June 30, 2024
Mini Grants are available to contracted child care programs for the purchase of equipment, supplies, and classroom materials. Each provider would have the opportunity to select equipment and resources that fit the needs of their child care program.
Categories from which providers can choose from include:
- Purchase of business administration software to help providers run operations (ex: ProCare, Brightwheel, tadpoles)
- Application must include a quote from an approved vendor
- Educational Field Trip Experience (ex: Tallahassee Museum, Challenger Learning Center, Gulf Specimen Aquarium, etc )
- Application must include all costs in submission (transportation, ticket prices, etc.)
- Cannot include food costs
- Family Engagement Event
- Application must cite how event includes an educational element for caregiver-child interaction (ex: social-emotional, cognitive development, etc.)
- Cannot include food costs
- Equipment to upgrade or replace outdoor play equipment
- Safety equipment and materials to prepare for natural disasters
- Application must include a quote from a vendor that includes the total price (materials, labor, etc)
- Purchase of developmentally appropriate software to support early learning and family engagement (ex: MarcoPolo, Al’s Pals, etc.)
Please Note:
- Eligible purchases must be made on or after July 1, 2023 and before May 31, 2024
- Supported documentation (e.g., quotes, invoices, or receipts) must be in pdf format – no screenshots.
- Award Amount: Based on facility capacity, up to $10,000 max.
- Proof of Purchases must be uploaded by June 7, 2024
- Any unused funds will be required to be reimbursed to ELC Big Bend.
ELC Big Bend’s implementation strategy for increasing/building the supply of child care providers will be focused on the seven counties that ELC Big Bend serves – with a major focus on the rural counties of Gadsden and Jefferson -by offering mini-grants to new providers. For many new providers seeking to establish centers or family child care programs, accessing this support is essential to offset the financial burden of start-up and licensing costs.
- Applications must reflect the actual start-up cost for a new child care facility.
- Applications are based on the date that an ELC SR and/or VPK contract was signed
- Provider will need to show proof of start-up costs. This includes licensing costs after 90 days of operation, cleared background screening costs after 90 days of employment, business yard signs, cleaning supplies, and/or learning materials.
- Existing child care providers do not qualify for this grant.
Curriculum Reimbursement
- Curriculum purchased by the program between April 1, 2023 – December 8, 2023 may be reimbursed.
- All receipts for the curriculum materials and professional development purchased must be uploaded when completing your application.
- Taxes are not included in the reimbursement.
- You may also apply for a Curriculum Mini-Grant if you need additional curriculum materials to support your classrooms, or if the program did not receive professional development in its original purchase.
Curriculum Mini-Grant
- This grant is for programs that need to purchase curriculum for classrooms.
- If the curriculum comes with a subscription, programs can request up to two years of subscriptions with their purchase.
- When completing your application, provider must upload a quote for the curriculum materials and professional development costs.
- ELC is not responsible for paying taxes associated with your quote. Taxes will be a cost that the program must cover.
Timeline
- Application closes on 12/02/23
- Payments Released to Providers on 12/15/2023
- Receipts required by 12/22/23
