2022 Child Care Retention Payments

This funding opportunity is now closed and will be archived in January 2023. View award distribution announcement on DEEL's blog. 

DEEL and King County Best Starts for Kids are partnering to release $7.4 million in funding to support the child care workforce in Seattle and King County and their continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

DEEL is expanding child care stabilization efforts that began in 2020 with $2.4 million in additional funding from the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax, and combining efforts with King County, who has $5 million in funding from the Best Starts for Kids Levy for a one-time child care workforce compensation. Community partner Child Care Resources will distribute payments to the child care community on behalf of DEEL and King County, as well as provide in-language information sessions to assist providers in completing their applications.  

Who can apply and for how much money 

Eligibility for the 2022 Child Care Retention Payments is as follows:  

• All child care staff currently employed on site at a DCYF-licensed child care center, family child care program, or school-age program located within King County are eligible to receive a payment, regardless of full-time or part-time employment status. 
• Applications for funds must be submitted by the employer. In the case of family child care providers, this is the licensee. Businesses will be responsible for passing staff payments on to their eligible employees. 
• License-exempt providers and Family, Friends, and Neighbor caregivers are not eligible for this opportunity. 

Each child care worker will receive the same payment amount. The total amount awarded for each eligible child care worker will depend on the total number of eligible employees identified in applications.  

In addition to direct staff payments, DEEL is also releasing a flexible-spending business stabilization grant to licensed child care providers in Seattle. The amount of these grants will be based on the site’s licensed capacity. No additional application is required for these flexible spending grants, although providers with multiple licensed sites must submit an application for each site with a unique DCYF license identification number. 

Timeline

*Dates subject to change

How to Apply

Access one application for both funding opportunities (Retention Payments for King County providers and Stabilization Grants for Seattle providers) below:

Application links: 

English

አማርኛ (Amharic)

中文（简体）(Simplified Chinese)

Soomaali (Somali) 

Español (Spanish)

Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)

For support in completing applications, providers should contact their Early Achievers coach. If you do not know who your coach is, please contact Child Care Resources at 1 (800) 446-1114 or grants@childcare.org. 

Applications must be submitted by Monday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Important additional details regarding the Child Care Retention Payment and the Seattle Stabilization Grant are included in the FAQ document below. Please read this thoroughly before beginning the application process.

Frequently Asked Questions (English)

በተደጋጋሚ ከሚጠየቁት (Amharic)

常见问题解答 (Simplified Chinese)

Su'aalaha Inta Badan La Isweydiiyo (Somali)

Preguntas Frecuentes (Spanish)

Câu Hỏi Thường Gặp (Vietnamese)

Additional Assistance

If you need assistance filling out your application, contact your Early Achievers Coach. If you do not know who your Coach is or do not have an Early Achievers Coach, please call the Child Care Resources provider line at 1 (800) 446-1114 or email grants@childcare.org. 

Language assistance is also available by contacting Child Care Resources at 1 (800) 446-1114. 

የቋንቋ እርዳታ አለ።  1 (800) 446-1114  
提供语言协助。 1 (800) 446-1114 
Kaalmada luqadda waa laga heli karaa.  1 (800) 446-1114
Gargaarsi afaanii ni jira.  1 (800) 446-1114
Hay asistencia disponible en varios idiomas.  1 (800) 446-1114
ናይ ቋንቋ ሓገዝ ክርከብ ይኽእል እዩ።  1 (800) 446-1114
Có sẵn hỗ trợ bằng ngôn ngữ.  1 (800) 446-1114