About Federal Funding for Child Health Care

There are many ways to get federal funding for child health care. Whether it is getting funding to put your child in child care or starting up your own child care business, there are many different options. All children deserve a chance to be taken care of and our government is there to help, you just have to ask.

The United States Government provides many resources for child care. Most of the money is given to the states in a large block grant. In order to acquire federal funding for child health care you should begin with your state agencies and not the federal government.

There are different guidelines for each state. To find out what these guidelines are, go to your states website. To get there is easy, start with www., states abbreviations, .com (ex: www.nc.gov). Then go to the states agency list and click on the health and human services tab, then the Division of Child Development tab. For North Carolina this brings you to the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education web page. Here you can search for anything from how to choose the right provider to applying for federal assistance.

Some reasons for needing child care assistance include:

• The parent is looking for work or attending a job training
• The child has developmental needs
• As support to Child Protective or Child Welfare Services
• A change in family size
• A decrease in income from employment, child support, or any other source
• The loss of employment, including leave of absence or temporary layoff
• Change of job or work shift or in the number of hours or days employed.

To apply for federal assistance you have to make sure you qualify. Some of the requirements you must meet to receive financial assistance are:

• Family Needs
• Family Income
• Family Size
• Other support given to a family

Depending upon the reason for care, some families may be able to receive financial assistance without considering how much they earn.

If you are looking to get federal funding for a child health care business such as Head Start, Family Child Care, or other small child care businesses here are a few ideas on how to get funding to start those.

• Grants.gov - On grants.gov you can find many grant opportunities. It takes over 4 weeks to register. These grants are typically for nonprofit and profit organizations, schools and universities and state centers. They are not usually for individuals (such as family child care).
• Rural Housing Services - This type of funding is used for Native Americans, Welfare-To-Work initiatives, enterprise and companion communities.
• Small Business Administration - You are always able to get a small business loan when trying to get funding but this should always be your last resort as there are many ways to get funding if needed.

I have done my own Family Child Care for over 3 years and it has been the best experience I have ever had in working with young children. It is a great way to make money while being able to stay at home with your own children.

I started my FCC through the Army. For my funding I went to the director and asked her how to get started. Through the Army, they actually pay for everything. You use your own home and if you have your own toys you are allowed to use them as well, as long as they are within the guidelines. They put you through training and help you with all the paperwork you need. They had stuff for me to use such as high chairs, tables and little kid chairs, computers, toys and books. They lent me sleeping mats and play yards for nap time for the kids along with the sheets for those. They had art tools and outside toys. Some stuff had to come out of pocket that I could get reimbursed for such as food and some crafts. Once your inspections and everything are done and you are open, the director will start sending people to your home.

The FCC I chose to do you were allowed up to 6 kids, two of those could be infants. Because I had three kids of my own while they were not in school I was only allowed 3 other children. We had a lesson plan to follow every week that I would make on my own and get approved through the director. I loved being able to teach little kids everything they needed to know while teaching my kids at the same time.

No matter what your need, child health care assistance is out there. Doing just a little bit of research could end up saving you a lot of money.