Goleta Child Care Grant

The Goleta Child Care Grant, offered by the Santa Barbara Foundation, addresses the critical shortage of quality child care in Goleta, where demand greatly exceeds supply. This program aims to enhance the capacity of local child care providers and support workforce development to ensure safe and enriching environments for children. By prioritizing professional development and organizational improvement in child care services, the grant fosters economic mobility and healthy child development for families in the community.

Santa Barbara Foundation
The Santa Barbara Foundation (SBF) exists for one reason – to improve the lives of the residents and the vibrancy of the unique and diverse communities throughout Santa Barbara County.
Our work is only possible through our donors and partners, who support initiatives ranging from the essential necessities of everyday life to the innovative programs that will lead us collectively to a better future.
The Santa Barbara Foundation (SBF) believes every child deserves safe, quality child care and early education. Child care is critical to a child’s development, helping them build learning foundations and healthy relationships. In Goleta, the demand for child care services significantly outpaces supply, with many providers unable to meet the growing need.  This shortage impacts Goleta, where local parents and providers are experiencing rising costs and constraints on available care options. Families in Goleta may struggle to find affordable, high-quality child care, which directly affects their economic mobility and the healthy development of their children.
The Santa Barbara Foundation’s Goleta Child Care Grant Program aims to address these critical challenges by increasing the capacity of child care providers and supporting the workforce that serves the city’s youngest residents. This year’s funding will focus on building resiliency in Goleta’s child care sector to better meet the needs of local children and families.
Priorities
Priority will be given to organizations that:
Increase the number of qualified child care professionals and foster ongoing professional development.Develop or strengthen organizational models that improve recruitment and retention of the child care workforce.Advance child health, nutrition, and social-emotional development through inclusive, language-rich learning environments.Implement or plan to adopt best practices in family engagement.Participate in or plan to join the Santa Barbara County’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) and/or NAEYC Accreditation.Align with community-wide child development goals, including collaboration with organizations like CAPC and the Child Care Planning Council.

Eligibility

Organizations must be certified as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or use a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) tax status.The foundation accepts applications from public entities such as schools, universities, and libraries through an affiliate or supporting 501(c)(3) organization. An agency acting as the fiscal sponsor on behalf of a community collaborative may be eligible to submit proposals on behalf of its own agency needs as well as the needs of the collaborative.The child care provider receiving funding must be fully licensed by the State of California to provide childcare for the age groups it is serving and be in full compliance with the applicable codes governing childcare facilities.If the applicant is not a child care provider, the organization must be providing a direct service either on behalf of a child care provider to the children or families of the provider or be providing professional development or a training activity to staff of the provider. In addition, there must be an MOU, service contract, formal agreement, or staff enrollment process in place prior to applying.

Ineligibility

Child Care grants are not for:
Child care scholarships;General operating support;Services and programs that are not providing services for early care and education;Reimbursement for activities/purchases that occurred prior to the grant award date.