2020 Highlights

The Technology for Families grant allowed early childhood home visiting programs to equip families with the technology devices and data plans needed to switch to virtual home-visits.

Kansas schools served millions of school lunches throughout shutdown thanks to the federal school lunch program. Teachers stayed connected to students using guidance adopted by the Kansas State Board of Education to “Navigate Change.” And Remote Learning Grants provided safe, supervised sites for students in remote or hybrid learning mode, allowing parents to continue working.

Child care workers were given essential worker status to enable them to access the state COVID testing program and be eligible for vaccines as part of the state’s Phase 2 COVID-19 vaccine protocol.

Emergency grants were made available to child care workers and other essential professions for unexpected out-of-pocket expenses caused by a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

The Hero Relief Program provided enhanced support for families receiving child care subsidy and for licensed providers operating through the pandemic.

We reopened the Our Tomorrows online story bank to gather stories of lived-experience from thousands of Kansans to aid decision-making in real time.

We used our biweekly webinars as online-listening sessions to gather the latest boots-on-the-ground input from parents and providers and to initiate steps in response.

April’s “Community Action Lab” mini-grants gave childcare providers quick access to funding for cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, and other materials necessary to safely implement public health guidelines.