Columbus Technical College has been awarded one of 13 new Expanding Parents’ Access to Nontraditional Delivery (EXPAND) Grants from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL).

DECAL created the EXPAND Grants to serve an identified need shared by many families, employers, and communities for child care services outside of the traditional hours of Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Child care providers received EXPAND Grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 each. Each EXPAND grantee from the non-profit, and government sectors will receive between $100,000 and $750,000. Columbus Technical College is slated to receive an award in the amount of $726K to further programming in support of families and children.

“The EXPAND Grants reflect DECAL’s targeted focus on creating supports for families with young children, the child care industry, and other businesses that contribute to their well-being and overall growth,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs. “In order for Georgia to have a strong workforce and economy, working families must have access to quality child care during both traditional and nontraditional hours and these grant awards will help achieve that goal.” 

“Columbus Tech is excited about the opportunities the EXPAND grant funding will provide to address the need for short-term quality early childhood care training, address student barriers to access the training, and create a workforce pipeline that will support the provision of expanded childcare options during non-traditional delivery hours,” said Martha Ann Todd, Columbus Tech President.  President Todd emphasized that the grant-funded training will address a critical need for expanding child care workforce in the area.

In partnership with the Enrichment Services Program, the grant project, GROW Childcare (Greater Resources Outside the Workday for Childcare), will provide one-semester technical training culminating in the Early Childhood Care and Education Basics Technical College Certificate and including practical experiences in the Early Head Start classrooms located on the CTC campus.  In addition to daytime sessions, classes will be scheduled during evenings and on weekends to enable working students to participate in the program more easily, and childcare will be provided by ESP during the evening and weekend class times.  Supports will be provided to help students navigate barriers to participation. 

There are two types of EXPAND Grants: one for licensed child care providers to expand their operating hours and a second for government entities and nonprofit organizations to form collaboratives to address the child care access challenges in their communities. The Grants, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), can be used for a variety of initiatives. The grants for child care providers could cover staff pay and benefits, child transportation costs, or necessary health and safety improvements to support extended hours of operation. Grants to nonprofits and government agencies could help underwrite partnerships between local businesses and child care providers to serve parents working nontraditional hours.

“Congratulations to the 13 recipients of the new EXPAND grants,” said DECAL Deputy Commissioner for Quality Innovations and Partnerships Bentley Ponder. “We look forward to assisting the grantees in administering the funds to develop impactful programs and supports to serve the pressing needs we learned about through extensive engagement with families, providers and other stakeholders.”

The EXPAND Grants are just one component of more than the $2 billion in supports DECAL has developed using federal financial relief funds to help the child care industry, families with young children, and communities surmount the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency has allocated more than $100 million in one-time bonuses for early care and education teachers. It has distributed over $1 billion in STABLE 4wards to child care providers and Awarding Child Care Education Scholarship Supplements (ACCESS) payments to support families with CAPS scholarships in paying for child care. DECAL has also made available tens of millions in Quality Rated Restoration Grants to help stabilize providers delivering high-quality care. Additionally, the agency has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for projects to transform and increase access to early education services in local communities. DECAL also recently launched the Thriving Child Care Business Academy of free training and resources for child care owners to help them strengthen their businesses.