October 2020 NCFN Update
RESEARCH & REPORTS
EIG Paper Explores Strategies to Support Child Development in Opportunity Zones
Last month the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) released a new paper, Advancing Education and Child Development in Opportunity Zones, that explores the conditions faced by children living in Opportunity Zones (OZs) and opportunities to channel the OZs tax benefit into private investment that supports child care facilities and businesses. In addition to highlighting investment-ready projects, the paper covers:
Grounding OZ strategies in education and child care
Convening stakeholders to advance OZ strategies and investment ideas
Leveraging vacant, underutilized, and surplus property
Wielding a suite of financing tools to support high-impact projects, businesses, and community organizations
EIG’s Rachel Reilly, one of the paper’s authors, will join NCFN on October 8 to discuss the implications of this research for CDFIs and other interested stakeholders.
LIIF Paper Features Strategies and Financing for Housing Development and Child Care Facilities
Last month the Low Income Investment Fund released a new paper, Housing Development and Child Care Facilities: Strategies and Financing, that details how to create public-private partnerships and secure resources to build child care facilities in affordable housing developments. This paper grew out of the devastation in Sonoma County in 2017 after wildfires decimated the supply of early care and education (ECE) slots in the area. First responders and essential workers depend on child care so they can provide emergency relief, and families struggling to find shelter and return to work need a safe space for their young children. As the paper notes, “Equitable recovery can’t happen without equitable access to child care. And equitable access isn’t possible without the construction of more quality ECE facilities.”
Bipartisan Policy Center Releases Data on State Usage of CARES Act Funds to Support Child Care
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently released data on state-by-state use of CARES Act funds to support child care through the fall. Congress enacted $3.5 billion in Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding in March as part of economic relief through the CARES Act. However, since most states have now depleted their supplemental CCDBG resources, BPC explored the sources that states are pulling from to continue supporting the child care industry. Notably, BPC finds that 21 states have dedicated additional non-CCDBG funds to support child care providers, and 14 of these states used dollars they received from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. States are offering grant programs to distribute the support and help providers make up for lost revenues.
MEMBER NEWS
IFF Blog Details CDFI Role in Connecting ECE Providers with PPP Loans
A new blog from NCFN Executive Committee Member IFF shares an example from 4C For Children, an early care and education (ECE) provider in southeastern Wisconsin that received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan with support from IFF.
Reinvestment Fund Supports 415 Child Care Providers in Philadelphia
An article in Chalkbeat Philadelphia describes the unsustainable challenges facing Philadelphia’s child care providers, and highlights NCFN Executive Committee Member Reinvestment Fund’s recent efforts to provide $5 million in grants to 415 child care providers in Philadelphia.
LIIF Shares Story Bank of Child Care Providers Impacted by COVID-19
NCFN Executive Committee Member Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is circulating a story bank of child care provider videos talking about the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses, families and the economy, and the need for significant funding.
POLICY UPDATE
Congress Averts Government Shutdown but Fails to Pass COVID Relief
Last week Congress passed and the president signed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through December 11, averting a government shutdown as fiscal year (FY) 2020 funding expired on September 30. In addition to funding the government, the deal also provides farm aid and $8 billion in nutrition assistance programs, including the extension of a program that provides low-income children with meals to include child care centers impacted by pandemic-related closures.
Despite hopes that Congress would include COVID relief in this must-pass spending legislation, lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement on the size or scope of a stimulus package. However, House Democrats did pass a revised $2.2 trillion COVID relief bill in a continued attempt to advance negotiations. This bill includes $57 billion for child care -- $7 billion through CCDBG and $50 billion for the Child Care Stabilization Fund program.
With the November elections looming closer, a health crisis among many top Republican lawmakers, and the battle over confirming a Supreme Court Justice, Congress is unlikely to pass any COVID relief legislation until well after the elections.
Congresswomen Clark and Axne Write About the Importance of Treating Child Care as Vital Infrastructure
Last month Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Cindy Axne (D-IA) wrote an opinion piece, American Needs to Start Treating Childcare as What It Is: Vital Infrastructure, that calls on the nation to recognize that “the dual crisis of pandemic and economic recession has threated a permanent and dramatic contraction” of the child care sector. The authors make the point that whereas child care is not as obvious as a bridge or tunnel, it is just as essential to our nation’s economic productivity, and without federal support there will be widespread consequences for children, the workforce, and our economy.
UPCOMING EVENTS
LIIF and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco host a webinar to discuss the partnerships and investments needed to foster family-centered approaches to employment and business development.
October 15: Investing in the Future of Child Care: Child Care as a Community Investment
LIIF and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco host a webinar to discuss how funding partners—including community development financial institutions (CDFIs), philanthropies, intermediaries, and banks—have roles to play in leveraging grants, investments, and loan products to boost the early care ecosystem. The webinar will explore strategies for deploying capital and technical assistance to child care providers.
LIIF and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco host a webinar to explore how communities can work with developers and other stakeholders on innovative efforts to include child care facilities as a component of various projects to promote livable neighborhoods.
November 9-12: 2020 OFN Conference
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other mission-driven finance stakeholders convene for a conference focused on Finance Justice.