South Putnam receives $100,000 grant for child care

South Putnam School Corp. was among the 64 entities to receive employer-sponsored child care grants from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning.

South Putnam will recent $100,000 from the Employer-Sponsored Child Care Fund, among other school corporations, businesses and community groups that received a total of $18.1 million in funding. The goal of the program is to expand employer-subsidized child care benefits to address growing local child care needs.

Through the effort, the state hopes to increase child care access and support for working Hoosier families.

The announcement represents the first round of funding in the program, which accounts for 72 percent of available funding from the $25 million fund. Round two awardees – which will be announced in early 2024 – will receive the remaining funds.

While an announcement has not been made as to how South Putnam will utilize the funding, Supt. Corey Smith sent out a notice about a month ago announcing that the corporation was developing a grant proposal to help meet the community’s needs regarding preschool educational and childcare options.

Residents were asked to take part in a survey regarding the likelihood that they would utilize preschool or child care services, the age ranges of children involved, the time such services would be needed and important factors involved in such considerations such as cost, quality of education and others.

Statewide, 33 of the employers plan to provide on-site child care to their employees, and 13 will offer child care tuition benefits to their workers. The remaining awardees plan to support child care for their employees in a variety of other ways, such as reserving seats at partner child care centers.

“We wanted those who know first-hand the critical needs of their employees, and those who are best positioned to partner in their communities, to create child care solutions for their workforce, and they delivered,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said. “This effort harnesses the combined efforts of businesses, community groups, and schools that want to support working Hoosiers’ careers and our youngest learners across the state.”

The program, a partnership with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, uses a portion of the state’s remaining federal relief funds from the COVID-19 pandemic and is part of the state’s broader efforts to strengthen the early care and education sector, providing support for today’s workforce and investing in tomorrow’s. The program is also supported by the Indiana Manufacturers Association.