Indianapolis, In. — Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) today awarded early education capacity-building grants to 17 applicants representing 54 pre-kindergarten programs in 16 Indiana counties. The grants total more than $1.5 million and were awarded to early learning providers and county coalitions to serve more children and increase the quality of early education opportunities provided in Indiana. All applicants were required to secure matching funds—between 5 and 50 percent of total budget—from local businesses or other stakeholders who will benefit from the community improvement associated with these capacity-building grants.
The funding for these grants was appropriated in 2017 via House Enrolled Act 1004, which Governor Eric J. Holcomb signed into law as part of his 2017 Next Level Agenda. The following applicants were awarded funds:
OECOSL Early Education Capacity Building Grant Awards
| Applicant | County | Funding Award |
| Carrie Gosch Early Learning Center | Lake | $37,500.00 |
| Community Foundation of Wabash County | Wabash | $103,403.96 |
| CRADLES of Clay County | Clay | $1,600.00 |
| Early Learning Alliance of Huntington County | Huntington | $127,343.00 |
| Early Learning Clinton County Coalition | Clinton | $315,105.66 |
| Fuzzy Bear Ministry Preschool and Daycare | Montgomery | $44,677.00 |
| Henry County Early Learning Coalition | Henry | $155,200.00 |
| Johnson County Learning Center | Johnson | $114,344.00 |
| Kids Care Academy | Clark | $9,000.00 |
| Lewis Cass Schools | Cass | $53,586.00 |
| Maconaquah School Corporation | Miami | $22,998.30 |
| Madison Consolidated Early Development Center | Jefferson | $46,620.00 |
| Marion County Early Childhood Education Coalition | Marion | $275,063.84 |
| Monroe County Community School Corporation | Monroe | $46,500.00 |
| MSD of Lawrence Township | Marion | $80,739.00 |
| Northern Rush County Schools | Rush | $71,642.50 |
| United Way of DeKalb County – Early Childhood Coalition | DeKalb | $38,935.00 |
| TOTAL | $1.54M |
Capacity-building grants may be used for the following purposes:
- Training and professional development of teaching staff;
- Classroom materials that demonstrate increased outcomes for children or increased instructional practices for educators;
- Evidence-based curriculum or instructional materials including professional development for teaching staff to utilize the curriculum;
- Family engagement activities or materials and/or marketing and communication materials; and
- Other relevant needs to help expand capacity and/or improve quality programming to help programs reach Paths to QUALITY™ level 3 or 4, which is the requirement for a provider to be eligible to be an On My Way Pre-K provider.
Grant awards are for one year with the option to request a no-cost extension if additional capacity-building activities remain that have not been completed after one year. Nonprofit applicants interested in receiving funding for items not allowable had the opportunity to apply for a limited pool of separate grant funding from Early Learning Indiana (ELI).
On My Way Pre-K is Indiana’s first state-funded prekindergarten grant program, which was established as a five-county pilot by the Indiana General Assembly in 2014. Currently, 20 Indiana counties including Allen, Bartholomew, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Harrison, Howard, Jackson, Kosciusko, Lake, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh and Vigo, along with eight grandfathered agreement sites are eligible to accept On My Way Pre-K grants for low-income Hoosier children.
The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning is a division of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). Follow us on Twitter @FSSAIndiana.
Early Learning Indiana provides excellent care and education at its ten Day Early Learning centers; provides referrals to parents and training and other resources to child care providers and schools throughout Indiana; and is a leader, advocate and partner in advancing policies that transform Indiana’s early learning landscape for the better. Find Early Learning Indiana at www.earlylearningindiana.org, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DayEarlyLearning and on Twitter @EarlyLearningIN.
