Good afternoon,

Governor Beshear has announced an additional $50 million investment in state funds to support child care. The Division of Child Care (DCC) will use these funds to issue another stabilization payment in December 2023. These funds will be issued to regulated (licensed, certified, registered) child care providers who have been open and serving children for at least 6 months as of June 30, 2023.  As with all stabilization payments made with federal relief funds, the pay rate for the provider’s award will be based on the program capacity for certified and licensed child care programs. For registered providers, the payment will be based on the CCAP enrollment at the time of the award.   

DCC is also pleased to announce that the final American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Stabilization Payment to be issued in September 2023 will be higher than previous rounds. You may be questioning how that is possible. Kentucky received $470 million designated specifically for stabilization payments. The Cabinet dedicated 95% of this funding to eligible child care programs opened by the federal cutoff date of March 11, 2021, with the remaining 5% being dedicated to administrative expenses. The estimated administrative expenses were lower than anticipated, leaving approximately $20 million to be included with the last ARPA Stabilization Payment. Please make sure you complete your monthly data sheets and submit them by September 5, 2023 to ensure your program receives the appropriate payment.

DCC and its third-party vendor, PCG, will provide further information and technical assistance about the application process and disbursement of funds in the coming months.

Thank you for all you do to support Kentucky’s families and children!

Division of Child Care