The State of Hawaii Department of Human Services has received funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 to provide assistance to licensed child care providers experiencing financial hardship and child care market instability due to COVID-19. Funds are intended to improve child care provider staff retention and recruitment efforts, and cover the financial obligations of continuing operations, preventing permanent closures, and/or enabling programs to reopen safely and with financial resources to Hawaii’s families.

Applications for a supplemental round of funding will be accepted beginning in January 2024 for the purpose of improving child care provider staff retention and recruitment efforts and providing a stable source of funding for operating costs for providers.

For answers to frequently asked questions, please reference the FAQ resource - here

To be eligible for this program, you must:

• Be a licensed, registered, or qualified exempt Child Care Provider as of December 31, 2022. Qualified exempt provider refers to child care that is operated as an A+ after school program authorized by the department of education and may be exempt from licensure by the department.
• Have a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). This can be an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or a Social Security Number (SSN) if you are a sole proprietor.
• Be currently open and available to provide services, or be temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons related to the COVID-19 health emergency, but with plans to reopen within 60 days from receiving grant funds (or as otherwise approved by DHS in writing). This will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Applicants will be required to provide the following documentation with their application:

Completed W-9 Form (blank copy here)

• The W-9 form should include the name associated with the Federal Taxpayer Identification Number of the Provider for which the application is being submitted. This means that if you are a sole proprietor and you file business taxes using your Social Security Number, your name should be on the W-9 form. If you use an Employer Identification Number to file your business taxes, the legal name of the business should be on the W-9 form.
• The W-9 form must be signed (ink and digital signatures are both accepted).

Proof of Identity

• Scanned copy of the front of the applicant’s valid Hawaii driver’s license or alternate government ID.
• The name on this ID should match the name of the person submitting the application.

Grant funds may only be used for the categories listed below, for expenses incurred between October 1, 2023 and August 15, 2024. Any remaining unspent funds must be returned to the State of Hawaii Department of Human Services by August 31, 2024. Records and documentation will be required in order to prove the use of funds. Fund usage can be broken into two components: Operating Expenses and Staff Retention Expenses.

Operating Expenses

Award funds may be used to cover the following operating expenses:

1. Rent, Mortgage, or Lease Payments*
2. Facility Fees, Maintenance & Minor Improvements
3. Personnel and Professional Development Costs
4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
5. Equipment and supplies related to COVID-19
6. Goods and Services necessary to maintain or resume child care services
7. Mental Health and Wellness
8. Tuition Relief
9. Tax and Business Services

*Because only a percentage of these expenses are used to run a business in your home, Family Child Care providers may only use a percentage of grant funds received for their mortgage, rent, utilities, etc. Providers may use a time/space percentage calculator to determine the number of hours and space the home is used for business activities.

Staff Retention Expenses

Providers can also receive an additional award component for all caregiving staff who are employed at the time of this application. This funding can be used for:

Retention bonus

Fringe benefit offsets (including insurance, retirement, etc.)

*Some portion of the Staff Retention Expenses award must be paid to each employee within 30 days upon receipt of the award payment to the child care facility. The remaining amount must be received by employees prior to the facility applying to receive the second half of the award.

If an employee resigns or is terminated before the child care facility receives the Staff Retention Expenses award, or if an employee leaves before receiving the entire Staff Retention Expenses award payment, the provider must return the remaining portion of these funds back to DHS within 30 days of the employee leaving.

Click Apply Now on this page to start a new application. If you are responsible for more than one Provider, you will be able to submit an application for each Provider using the same login account. If your Provider includes more than one Site and/or Service, you will need to provide the relevant information for each Site/Service in order to successfully complete and submit your application. Partially completed applications will not be processed. THE SUPPLEMENTAL CHILD CARE GRANT APPLICATION IS OPEN THROUGH 11:59 P.M. FEBRUARY 9, 2024. ANY APPLICATION RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Once you have clicked Save on Section 1 of the application, you can re-access your application at any time from the Manage Existing Applications page. You can also see the status of your application at any time from that page. Please see below for more details on the different application statuses.

After you submit your application, you will receive an email confirmation. Application review and processing may take several weeks. If we need any further information from you or need you to fix or update your application, we will send you a follow-up email with directions for logging back into the portal and viewing our specific follow-up request.

You will receive an email if your application is approved, which will detail award amounts by Site/Service, along with instructions for providing evidence later on about how you spent the funds.

Application Status	Description
Draft	Application has been started but not submitted.
Submitted	Application and supporting documents are ready for processing.
Under Review	Application and supporting documents are processing.
Follow-Up	Additional information is requested and must be provided by the applicant in order to continue processing.
Awaiting Decision	Application has completed processing and is waiting for a final decision on approval or denial.
Denied	Application has been denied.
Pending Signature	Application has been approved for payment but pending the applicant’s signature for the acceptance letter shared via email.
Approved	Application has been approved for payment and applicant has signed the acceptance letter.
Processing Payment	Payment is being processed.
Paid	Payment has been distributed and accepted.
Cancelled	Application has been cancelled by the applicant.

Operating Expenses Award

If you are a licensed, regulated, or qualified exempt Child Care Provider, you may be eligible to receive a per-child amount based on service type and licensed capacity.

The formulas for the awards are as follows:

Provider Type		Operating Expenses Award (Amount per Child)
IT	Infant / Toddler Centers	$2,120.00
GCC	Group Child Care / Preschool	$1,350.00
FCC	Family Child Care	$1,830.00
GCH	Group Care Home	$1,830.00
BAS	Before / After School Programs	$320.00
A+	A+ Programs	$320.00

Staff Retention Expenses Award

Providers can also receive additional funds for staff retention efforts. The formulas for the awards are as follows:

Tier 1 - $3,500.00 per employee	Tier 2 - $2,000.00 per employee
Director	Aide
Teacher	Substitute
Assistant Teacher	Director (BAS service)
Lead Caregiver (Infant/Toddler Center)	Program Leader (BAS service)
Caregiver (Infant/Toddler Center)	Assistant Program Leader (BAS service)
	Family Child Care Provider

*Employees approved through a DHS waiver to be a teacher or teaching assistant will qualify for the Tier 1 award.

Any unclaimed or unexpended funds at the end of the program will be re-distributed to eligible providers.

Upon application approval, funding awards will be processed and distributed by the Public Consulting Group (PCG) directly to the payment information provided via direct deposit. Awards will be disbursed in two separate payments, as outlined in the table below. All funds should be spent by August 15, 2024.

First Payment	Total Base Award 1st Half of Employee Retention Award	April 2024
Second Payment	2nd Half of Employee Retention Award	June 2024

Reporting Requirements

Additional Disclosures