Employer-Sponsored Child Care Grant Program

The Employer-Sponsored Child Care Grant Program, launched by Zero to Five Montana in partnership with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, provides a unique opportunity for employers to develop child care benefits for their workforce. With grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the program aims to enhance child care access, foster awareness of child care needs, and create sustainable solutions that involve cost-sharing among employees, employers, and the state.

Goals
The goal of the program is to implement a child care strategy reflective of the goals of the employer that is sustainable and creates cost sharing between the employee, employer, and the State of Montana.
This initiative aims to:
Build awareness of Montana’s growing child care needs and the critical role employers play in helping to address it.Educate employers and community organizations on employer-supported child care models, including those that apply to individual employers, groups of employers and/or nonprofit community-based organizations acting on behalf of a group of employers.Create and advance locally driven solutions that increase child care access and support working Montana families.
Funding
Grants will range from $10,000 to $100,000 depending on the size and scope of the employer’s project plan. Grant funding will total $2 million to be awarded in two cohorts. (Child Care Infrastructure and Innovation grant participants are not eligible.) Data collected from this pilot will help inform future public private partnerships.