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Child Care Stabilization Grant

The Child Care Stabilization Grant (CCSG) Program sustains Arizona’s child care network by giving a consistent, reliable funding source directly to child care providers to cover increased cost and challenges due to COVID-19 through June 2023.

The CCSG Workforce Amount began with the July 2022 grant payment for providers who certify they will use the amount for personnel costs including payroll/wage supplements, bonuses, and employee benefits. The CCSG application is now closed. All CCSG providers approved for the award between July 2021 and September 30, 2022 received their final payment in June 2023, and have until September 30, 2023 to fully spend the CCSG funds.

These funds are made available to Arizona through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) relief funding appropriated through The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

NOTICE: All CCSG Providers must now use the NEW monthly report launched beginning with the grant award for September 2022.

Eligibility for CCSG?

Providers must have been licensed or certified by March 11, 2021: 

  • DES Non-Certified Relative Providers
  • DES Family Child Care Providers (including in-home providers)
  • DHS Licensed Centers
  • DHS Certified Group Homes
  • Tribal Child Care Providers
  • Military Child Care Providers

Providers licensed after March 11, 2021 must contract with DES in order to qualify for grant funding.In addition, all providers must also:

  • Be open and currently serving children at time of application (this does not include temporary closures of 14 days or less).
  • Be in good standing with DES and their regulatory authority such as DHS, the Tribal or Military regulation authority.
  • Per Federal requirements outlined in The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2), certify that they will meet the following requirements throughout the period of their grants:
    • The provider will, when open and providing services, implement health and safety policies in line with guidance and orders from corresponding state, territorial, tribal, and local authorities and, to the greatest extent possible, implement policies in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
    • The provider must pay each employee (including lead teachers, aides, and staff that are employed by the child care provider to work in transportation, food preparation, and any other staff that the provider employs), at least the same amount in weekly wages and maintain the same benefits (such as health insurance and retirement, if applicable) for the duration of the grant. Child care providers may not involuntarily furlough employees from the date of application submission through the duration of the grant.
    • The provider will provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for the families enrolled in the provider’s program, to the extent possible, and prioritize such relief for families struggling to make either type of payment. If a provider is unable to provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for all families enrolled in the program, they should prioritize doing so for families most in need of relief and target families earning below 85 percent of the State Median Income.
  • Providers must submit a monthly report on how all grant funds have been spent. Each month’s report is due by the last day of the month for the previous month. For more information, visit the CCSG FAQ section.

Providers are strongly encouraged to update their operational status with their Licensing authority. This will be necessary to access the various supports offered through the Department.
 

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Resources

CCSG Monthly Report Portal

Effective August 2022, all CCSG Monthly Reporting of expenditures will be based on the seven categories listed below:

  • Personnel Costs (Allowable Workforce Amount Category)
  • Rent/Mortgage/Utilities
  • Facilities Maintenance or Improvements
  • Goods and Services
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Equipment and Supplies for Public Health Emergency
  • Mental Health Supports

Please review the CCSG Reporting Guide and CCSG Reporting FAQ (updated May 2023) for more details.

For each month you receive the CCSG award, a monthly report is due by the last day of the month following your previous month’s expenditures. For example: The August 2022 CCSG report must be submitted by September 30, 2022. 

***If you do not submit your monthly report by the deadline, you will not receive the following month’s grant payment*** For example: If you do not submit the August 2022 report by September 30, 2022, your October 2022 grant payment will be placed on hold and you will not receive that payment until you are compliant with reporting. Continued non-compliance puts you at risk of losing your CCSG award.

In each monthly submission, you will complete two sections:

  • Section 1 Previous Month Reporting: Open/close status, planned closures, staffing, enrollment, and waitlist by age.
  • Section 2 Total Grant Expenditures: Total grant funds spent since the beginning of the grant. This includes total spending of all grant funds received since the first month awarded, not just grant funds spent or received the previous month. Each monthly report must include the cumulative amount of grant funds spent since first receiving the CCSG award. This amount must total the Provider’s CCSG spending since the first payment received (i.e., dating back to August 2021 or when the provider first received the grant).

NOTICE: All CCSG providers must now use the NEW monthly report launched beginning with the grant award for September 2022.

For questions not answered within this page, please contact the Child Care Grants team.

CCSG Monthly Report Portal

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