Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Capital Fund Frequently Asked Question

Eligibility Criteria Questions and Answers

Yes! Family Child Care providers (FCCs) can access these funds for repairs and small-scale renovations that will improve health and safety and/or program quality. Funds can also be used to reconfigure existing space. 

Due to the public source of funds, FCCs will not be able to use grant funds for expansions or additions to residences.

Access FCC-specific resources and grant information here by clicking the button below.

Here is a list of some sources of information that will help determine communities of high need:

Other sources of information to learn more about the needs in your market area:

  • - Call other providers – How many other providers are in your market area and who do they serve? Ask if they are fully enrolled; do they have a waiting list and if so, how many kids are on it and in what age groups.
  • - Survey parents – What are their current child care arrangements, what do they like or dislike. Can your program meet needs that are not currently being met?

It would not impact your eligibility as long as you can demonstrate you are serving or can demonstrate you are committed to serving children with public subsidy (for example: you were not a CCAP provider, but you currently have a pending application and are being responsive to DHS to move that process forward).

Public Subsidy is defined in this Program's Rules and Regulations as "the Rhode Island CCAP program, the Federal Head Start program, or any other materially similar child care subsidy program offered by a Federal, State, municipal, or quasi-public entity."

 

What it may factor into, is the scoring of your proposal. Those serving higher needs communities/populations will score higher there because it is a priority for funding (priorities are given preference but if you don't meet a priority, it does not mean you are not eligible to apply). 

 The rules and regulations that govern this program speak to this in the eligibility criteria, an eligible organization is "a provider of Early Childhood Care and Education, or an entity seeking licensure to provide Early Childhood Care and Education, that is, at the time of initial program application, providing, or has demonstrated a commitment to provide, Early Childhood Care and Education for low-income families with a public subsidy..." 

The regulations go on to define public subsidy as "the Rhode Island CCAP program, the Federal Head Start program, or any other materially similar child care subsidy program offered by a Federal, State, municipal, or quasi-public entity."

Click here to visit RI DHS's Child Care Provider page with information on the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

There is no minimum, but as you apply please make sure you share all appropriate information on this population as it is taken into consideration in the scoring process.

Yes! And you can visit their website to see a database of MBE/WBE certified business entities to help you in meeting that priority item here: ODEO Website Database

We cannot fund home expansions with this grant but you can certainly apply for a health and safety, quality improvement, or space reconfiguration grant. We encourage home based providers to look toward this option and be creative with how you want to address some of your needs!

 

Sometimes, by addressing something that is more tailored to this Program (which will increase your chances of being funded), you can offset a necessary safety improvement cost (for example) to free up some of your own cash for something else you may want to achieve outside of this grant Program. 

 

Also, think about if there is a way, with your existing facilities, you may be able to reconfigure the space to increase capacity. Reach out to us if that may be a possibility for you because that may be something we could explore!

The eligibility requirements outlined in the Rules and Regulations that govern this Program state that to be an eligible organization you MUST be able to demonstrate that you are serving or committed to serving (in the case of a new center development or a pending CCAP application) care and education for families with a public subsidy

 

The rules go on to define "Public Subsidy" here: "Public subsidy means the Rhode Island CCAP program, the Federal Head Start program, or any other materially similar child care subsidy program offered by a Federal, State, municipal, or quasi-public entity."

In this grant Program, "Early care and education" is defined as children from birth through age six (6). 

Your program is still eligible if you serve school age children (as defined in the DHS child care licensing regulations) as well, but you must also be providing early care and education as defined in the rules and regulations and projects proposed should benefit the that birth through age six (6) group.

If the improvement or renovation you are proposing also happens to benefit your older School Age children, all the better!

There really isn’t an ideal percentage as it varies based on location given some areas just have a higher percent of low-income families etc. We are really looking at whether your program, regardless of location, is doing what they can to meet the needs of low-income families within the service area.

 

That said, the level to which you are serving low-income families may strengthen your application based on the preference criteria/program priorities.

Leased facilities are eligible only if there is a lease term of no less than 20 years, or the lease includes options to renew that add up to at least 20 years. (For example, you could have a 5 year lease term with the option to extend it for 3 more five year terms.) 

A property owner's assurance and consent form will need to be signed and provided as part of the application process if you are in a leased space scenario. You can find a copy of that form by clicking here.  We need to have evidence that the owner of the property is on board with the proposed renovation and that they are willing to dedicate that space to child care services for at least 20 years in order to utilize public funding for this purpose.

This is a requirement that is typical of public bond funded programs. The Office of Regulatory Form required this in their review and approval process of the rules and regulations that govern the program. It was the only way that this program could include leased facilities as eligible.

Letter of Intent Questions and Answers

Reminder that a complete Letter of Intent (LOI) sent to the RIECCE-CapitalFund@lisc.org email address is the first step in submitting your proposal for consideration. LOIs should be a maximum of three pages and provide a brief outline of the information requested here: Letter of intent (English) / Letter of intent (Spanish)

There is a letter of intent (LOI) required as part of the application where you can lay out an abbreviated version of your business plan. Your business plan is part of the application questions if you are applying for expansion funds - so it will be good to have that ready!

 

Here is the LOI template.

Here is a copy of the expansion specific application questions FOR REFERENCE ONLY. 

There is a dedicated email address for LOI submissions. You will send your LOIs via email to this email address: RIECCE-CapitalFund@lisc.org.

 

The grant instructions also includes the instruction for sending the LOI: Instructions and overview (English) / Instructions and overview (Spanish)

 

If you need to send us a hard copy instead, we will accept that. It will take additional time for us to receive it, though. We recommend you let us know if you are sending via regular mail so we know to be on the lookout!

You should have an estimate for the project you are proposing from a qualified professional. At this stage, unless required by your organizations policies, we recommend getting one estimate per project proposed to support the grant amount you are requesting.

 

Again, unless otherwise required by your organization, we do not require a full procurement process, three quotes, etc. during the application stage. That is something that will be required should you be approved to receive grant funding later in this process.

Project Questions and Answers

This funding source does NOT require prevailing wage, which is sometimes required, especially for government funded projects through Davis Bacon at the Federal level or RI General Law on the State side. We have confirmed that it is not required for this particular Program. 

 

Please just note that if you are receiving other sources of funding to help pay for a component of your grant-funded project, make sure that source is not requiring prevailing wage for the whole project, which is sometimes the case.

It depends! Documented health and safety issues that can be solved through a facility repair or renovation will always be prioritized. If you have received a Certified Playground Safety Inspection (CPSI) from a qualified inspector, showing your playground equipment is meeting compliance but surfacing underneath is not, that would be a health and safety concern to be addressed.

If equipment is not meeting safety standards, installation of surfacing would not be a priority. Addressing the equipment by removal or repair (in consultation with a qualified professional) would be needed.

We know inclusion of a variety of surfaces can not only improve health and safety, but it can improve the quality of a program, getting children out more, providing a variety of sensory experiences, allowing infants and young toddlers the ability to play safely in the outdoor space, allowing for a variety of surfaces to play on (asphalt for tricycles, grass for loose parts or quiet spot to read, sand for mud kitchens, etc.). That is an eligible use of funds, especially if it is addressing an item on a BrightStars quality improvement plan (QIP) and may be funded; but, again, it would not be prioritized above a documented health and safety issue so it does depend on the types of applications that are received. 

Application Process and Decision-Making Process Questions and Answers

A portion of the $15 million funding source to operate this program goes to technical assistance support. You can contact us at 401-331-0131 or RIECCE-CapitalFund@lisc.org. We will likely request you fill out a brief Technical Assistance request form where you can outline the kind of help you need and it gives us the information/data we need to report on this Program.

 

If you are a home-based family child care provider, we have set up a special resource page specifically for your needs. It includes all of the information for this grant as well as a recorded training, information on technical assistance, and some FCC-specific resources. Click the button below to visit that page:

 

Grant timelines will be determined by the project schedule you submit with your proposal/application. With this program we have the advantage of having it until October 31, 2024 when ALL projects, reimbursements, reporting, etc. must be complete. Any extensions to the time period originally submitted will be made at the discretion of LISC.

 

If you are awarded a grant and find you are experiencing delays, you should let us know as soon as possible so we can provide you assistance and discuss the possibility for extension sooner than later!

Initial Letters of Intent (LOIs) will be reviewed with LISC and members of the DHS Child Care Team.

 

The committee reviewing full applications will be made up of members from the Department of Human Services, LISC, BrightStars/RIAEYC, and the Center for Early Learning Professionals.

No, that will not be possible with this Program.

 

We can only reimburse expenses that have been incurred after your application has been successfully approved and you receive and sign you formal grant agreement from LISC, which will include your grant term (the start and end date for grant-funded work to be complete in order to successfully have those approved expenses reimbursed). 

 

 

Yes, Letters of Intent and applications (with approved LOI) will be accepted on a rolling basis starting July 1 and will be awarded based on a first come first serve basis.

We are now in Wave 2 of funding decisions, so all letters of intent (the first step in this two-step application process) must be received by no later than Friday, March 24, 2023. Those LOIs that are approved by DHS and LISC will move to the online application which will be due by Friday, April 21, 2023. Decisions will be made in late April and early May and we anticipate at after these Wave 2 awards are made, this Program will be fully expended and there will not be a Wave 3.

Application Questions and Answers

No, after you hit submit, you are no longer able to access your electronic application.

 

You CAN follow up with additional information or a correction to what you submitted by emailing us or calling us: RIECCE-Capitalfund@lisc.org or 401-331-0131.

Yes! Just make sure you save the application using the option at the top of the screen (screen shot below with the option you will see circled in red) and do not submit it until you are complete.

 

Note: please make sure you save your log in information and the link that is sent to you. You will need all of this to get back into your application and unfortunately, we are unable to retrieve it if lost. You will need to start a new application in that case and we don't want that to happen to you (we've been there)!

 

 

 

Yes! Technical Assistance Services are a critical part of this program and LISC and/or LISC consultants can offer that type of support with the contractors and/or designers you hire for your grant-funded project. 

 

To request technical assistance, we ask that you please fill out the TA application on our website so we can track the applications that are coming in!

Yes, you can apply for both by submitting separate applications. You’ll see we have two separate applications depending on the use of funds.

For REFERENCE only, we have copies of each application in a printable/downloadable format here:

There are some different options here for those who would not have the cash flow to support this requirement of expenses being paid for by the grantee and then reimbursed. If you anticipate this will be a barrier for you, please reach out to us to discuss: 401-331-0131 or RIECCE-Capitalfund@lisc.org. We want your projects to work and we know reimbursement-based grants can place a burden on our child care community.

 

The LISC lending team is working to design a bridge loan opportunity and process for grantees of this program. The purpose of a bridge loan is to "bridge" the timing between expenses needing current payment and receipt of cash from your committed ECCE Capital Fund grant. 

 

For urgent health and safety, there may be an opportunity to set up an advance as long as certain milestones are met and controls are in place. We would work with you on a one-on-one basis to determine if you may be eligible for this and what those milestones would be for your particular project if approved for an advance of funding.

Unfortunately, no. Work and any cost as part of this grant program will have to take place/be paid for during the grant award term which will start when your application is approved for funding and you enter into a signed, formal grant agreement with LISC.

First, just to clarify, leverage (the requirement that the grantee bring additional resources in addition to this grant to fully fund the cost of the proposed project) is required for the expansion projects to expand or construct new for the development of new spaces. It is not a requirement for the small-scale renovations and improvements to existing space- the regulations indicate you "should" provide leverage. If you are in this category and can provide some level of other funding that will support project costs outside of this grant program, it will strengthen your proposal according to the priority criteria.

 

To answer the question, there is no minimum % requirement; however, you will need to demonstrate the financial need for a grant.

 

So for example, if you are requesting funding for a large scale project to develop new spaces, we will be doing an analysis based on the cash flow projections you submit to roughly determine how much debt could be supported. Your leverage does not HAVE to be debt, but that is how we will determine grant size. 

We will size grants based on what will be needed to achieve AT LEAST a 1.2 debt service coverage ratio.

 

The debt service coverage ratio will be used in grant sizing for the large scale development of new or expansion of existing spaces.

 

The debt service coverage ratio shows how much cash the applicant projects to generate for every dollar of potential principal and interest owed if the applicant were taking on debt as a part of their leverage requirement (the leverage DOES NOT have to be in the form of debt, this is just the model we will use for our analysis).

For each unique site license number that you have you will need to submit an application for funding – we cannot accept one application submission for all sites. We will assess each project and site separately. 

Grant Funding/Budgeting Questions and Answers

There is no cap on the small grants but it should clearly be a facilities related health and safety improvement, a quality improvement, or related to a space reconfiguration. The grant request should be based on written estimates from contractors or designers.

 

If you need guidance on that process, please contact us. We also have a "Fast Fact" document on what a cost estimate is if you haven't engaged with that process before, giving a brief description and an example of what that may look like.

We would anticipate probably in the $20,000 - $80,000 range, but facilities projects vary so much that this is just a rough estimate.

 

As long as your project is meeting eligibility requirements and your request is based on cost estimate(s) from contractors or designers, we will accept a higher amount if it makes sense for the type of repair and/or renovation you are proposing. It all depends!

This program provides straight up grant funding. They will not need to be repaid (as long as the funds are not misused)! 

 

The only way funding would ever need to be repaid if there were some misuse of the funds or other noncompliance with rules, such as:

 

  • - The owner of the Eligible Facility purchased, renovated, or improved with Program funds does not meet the Program regulation that 1) the property remains under the ownership or lease of the grantee and 2) remains in use as an early learning facility operated by an Eligible Organization for not less than twenty (20) years from the date of contract execution (unless approved by the Department and agreed to by the grantee in writing).

 

  • - The grantee has not complied with the Rules and Regulations governing the Early Childhood Care and Education Capital Fund.

 

  • - The program is not in compliance with provisions contained within the grant agreement documents associated with an award of Program funds.

Yes, we can do this in steps! Typically we make reimbursements anytime an invoice is paid for grant-funded work complete (which can happen multiple times throughout the process). Once you are able to demonstrate you have paid an expense by providing a copy of the contractor's invoice and the proof it was paid such as a cancelled check, we will reimburse that expense. We recommend you work with the person you hire if you need them to invoice a couple of times prior to project completion to ensure you have the cash flow you need.

No, loans are not obligatory. We will size the grant based on the project’s ability to carry debt (i.e. service a loan), but you do not necessarily have to provide leverage in the form of a loan.

All expenses need to be incurred during the awarded grant term. Your grant term will be written into your formal grant agreement which will be put in place once your application has been approved, you have provided all necessary additional information (such as W9 and a direct deposit authorization and anything else missing). LISC will then send you your grant agreement, and you will be asked to review, complete it, sign it, and return it.

 

That formal document will include your grant start and end date (grant term) during which expenses can be incurred and paid for to be reimbursed.

Every state grant program is a reimbursable type of scenario regardless of sector. Not that this sector was targeted, it seems to be that is the way the state does things and is what we typically see in government grant funding. In recent years through the child care stabilization funds, these funds were special use federal and state dollars that allowed for advanced funds with a great deal of negotiation. Given that this funding is not based on COVID relief they will not have this same ability.

 

That's not to say we wouldn't work with you on finding solutions if this is demonstrable barrier.

As long as it meets the criteria necessary in that particular loan, it could be used as leverage!

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