CHILD CARE FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM PHASE I
The application window for this program closed on October 20th, 2023 at 5pm.
Since opening applications for Phase 1 of the New Jersey Child Care Facilities Improvement Program in 2022, hundreds of child care centers throughout the state have submitted applications for funding. Collectively, these centers serve tens of thousands of the youngest New Jerseyans and employ thousands of staff in our vital early childhood workforce.
We are pleased to share that as of February 2025, NJEDA has made more than 560 grant award approvals! While approved projects move forward to construction, NJEDA staff are continuing to review the remaining applications.
What this means:
- We have NOT run out of funding. The program has enough funding for all eligible applications.
- Applications are being reviewed based on submission date and time. Application processing speed and approval may be impacted by how complete and thorough the application is at the time of submission (e.g., missing or incorrect documentation). As a result, it may take months for an application to move from initial submission to grant approval. We highly recommend that you address any identified issues quickly and thoroughly once identified. Please also find a complete list of documentation and requirements listed HERE.
- As your application moves into the first stages of the review process, you will receive an email from a Grant Project Specialist at the NJEDA. You may also get emails from ChildCareFacilitiesImprovementProgram@njeda.gov with other updates and information. We strongly recommend that you check your junk and spam filters to ensure that all emails from @njeda.gov are routed to your inbox.
This first-of-its-kind program has multiple stages of review and analysis, and more information can be found HERE. The NJEDA is working hard to quickly and efficiently process applications. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to establish a brand-new program that delivers on Governor Murphy’s commitment to strengthening the child-care sector and building a stronger, fairer New Jersey.
We will provide additional updates as the program continues to move forward. However, you can find answers to frequently asked questions or points of clarification that NJEDA has encountered since opening the Child Care Facilities Improvement Application in November 2022 HERE.
Should you have additional questions, you can also contact CustomerCare@njeda.com, call (844) 965-1125, or use the Customer Care chat feature found on the NJEDA website.
The Child Care Facilities Improvement Program provides grants to New Jersey child care providers for facilities improvements that will contribute to high quality early childhood learning environments.
AMOUNT
Grants to cover the full amount of project costs between $50,000 and $200,000
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Up to 20% of grant may be used for soft costs (e.g., architects, environmental assessment)
BENEFITS
Child care providers may propose interior and exterior facility improvements to enhance the quality of their facility and receive funding to cover the full project cost
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be registered with the NJ Department of Children and Families through their local Child Care Resource & Referral Agency
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Prior to approval, applicants must be registered to do business in NJ and must provide a Tax Clearance Certificate
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At time of application, applicants must enroll or have enrolled in the 12 months prior to application, at least one child receiving support through the DHS Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)
Offer full time care (a minimum of 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, 10 months/year
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*See below for more details on Eligibility Requirements.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Phase 1 of the Child Care Facilities Improvement Program will provide grants for total project costs between $50,000 and $200,000 to licensed child care providers to make improvements to their child care facility in order to:
- Provide funding to businesses—including many minority- and women-owned businesses and those in Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts—that otherwise may not have access to resources to fund facility improvements.
- Promote healthy childhood environments for children, families, and child care providers that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Support the capacity of child care providers to provide infant and toddler care in tandem with the expansion of Universal Pre-K to serve more 4-year-olds in the state.
- Engage providers to participate in New Jersey’s child care quality improvement rating system, Grow NJ Kids.
- Target resources to communities of greater need due to historic disinvestment, through set-aside for providers located in Opportunity Zones and include the requirement that providers serve low-income children receiving Child Care Assistance subsidies.