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Arizona: Governor Katie Hobbs Announces New Funding and Tools to Expand Child Care Access, Increase Affordability

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Include increased access to affordable out-of-school time care, an enhanced search tool for families to find child care, financial support for child care microbusinesses

Part of Bright Futures AZ initiative to make child care more affordable and accessible

Phoenix, AZ - Today, Governor Katie Hobbs announced $3 million in grant awards for out-of-school time providers and launched a new Child Care Provider Search Tool to help families find high-quality care for their children. She also announced that four nonprofit community lending organizations will receive more than $700,000 in funding to help child care microbusinesses grow the number of children they serve. These efforts are part of the Governor's Bright Futures AZ initiative to make child care more affordable and accessible for Arizona families.

"Child care is a lifeline for Arizona families," said Governor Katie Hobbs. "I'm proud that my administration is taking crucial steps to ensure Arizona families have access to affordable high-quality options. We are providing tools for families to find child care more easily, creating new opportunities for out-of-school programming, and supporting small businesses that offer child care."

The $3 million awarded through the Bright Futures AZ Out-of-School Time Grant Program, which is being administered by the Department of Economic Security (DES), will enable 59 providers across the state to serve more than 2,500 children ages 5 to 12. These funds will cut the cost of child care by two-thirds, helping working families who are juggling the cost of food, gas, and housing. Thirty percent of the funding will support families in rural communities. The funds are being distributed in partnership with the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence.

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The new Child Care Provider Search Tool allows families to search for child care based on their specific needs and to see a provider's availability or openings. They can search by ages accepted, hours of operation, quality rating, languages spoken, types of financial assistance accepted, and more.

"The importance of high-quality child care cannot be overstated, and these two new developments in Governor Hobbs' Bright Futures AZ initiative ensure that child care remains accessible and affordable to working families," said DES Director Michael Wisehart. "Not only will children be better able to access child care and early childhood education opportunities, but parents will also have peace of mind, knowing their children are cared for while they are at work or pursuing education."

"Nearly 3 in 4 Arizona children miss out on out-of-school time opportunities because of the lack of availability," said Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence Director Courtney Sullivan. "Through this Bright Futures AZ investment, we are changing that number. AZCASE is proud to work alongside Governor Hobbs and DES to deliver high-quality care to working families and give more children the opportunity to thrive."

"Innovations like the enhanced provider search tool will make a huge impact to families looking to find high-quality early childhood education and care," said Diane Fellows, CEO of Child and Family Resources, Inc. "Arizona Child Care Resource & Referral has supported families, child care providers and community members for decades, and we are confident that this investment will only serve to strengthen a family's journey to find the best care for their child's unique needs."

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The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) selected four nonprofit community lending organizations for the Bright Futures AZ Child Care Microbusiness Investment Grants: Community Investment Corporation, Border Financial Resources, Hustle PHX, and MicroCare Community Development Solutions. These organizations will receive more than $700,000 in funding to provide child care microbusiness with training, coaching, technical assistance, and access to capital readiness and financing. The goal of the program is to create more child care slots for Arizona families by facilitating access to capital and wraparound support for child care providers to help grow their businesses. Child care microbusinesses can go here for more information on finding a nonprofit lending organization.

"Arizona's Microbusiness Loan Program has been tremendously successful in providing capital to help grow Arizona's smallest businesses, fostering economic growth and job creation in locations across the entire state," said OEO Director Mary Foote. "Tying the Microbusiness Loan Program to the Governor's priority focus area of creating more accessible and affordable child care opportunities will further serve Arizona's working families seeking safe and secure child care providers for their children."

The Governor's Arizona Promise Budget, which included the largest investment of general funds for child care assistance since the Great Recession, created access to child care assistance for 1,500 children, which the Governor proposed to preserve in her Executive Budget released in January.

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