Eagle County provides rental assistance for early childhood providers

Eagle County issued the following press release Friday on rental assistance for early childhood providers:

Eagle County implemented a new program to provide licensed early childhood providers with financial assistance for rent, mortgage, and similar overhead costs in 2021. A total of $313,232.52 in assistance was delivered to 11 providers at 12 property locations, which are licensed to serve more than 500 children in Eagle County.

Safe, quality childcare is a community investment in our working families and our local economy; however, the financial challenges of operating high quality centers with trained staff are often overlooked. Eagle County providers face unique operational challenges with rent-related costs ranging from $583 to upwards of $8,000 monthly. 

“Our early childhood providers deliver a critical service to the families in our community and they bear a heavy load,” said Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney. “Providers need to focus on the children in their care, not whether they can keep the lights on each month. This program allows them to do just that, and is essential for parents to work and our economy to function. We’re grateful to Early Childhood Partners for highlighting this critical need for our providers.”

The new program offers providers across the Eagle River Valley and Roaring Fork Valley up to $3,000 per center for monthly support. Eagle County anticipates continuing this effort in 2022. 

“We’re constantly analyzing how we can better support our early childhood providers, and therefore better support families throughout Eagle County,” said Liz Costaldo, Director of Operations for Early Childhood Partners. “We found that for our providers paying rent, there was an inequity compared to those providers who don’t have rental costs due to other existing subsidies. Early childhood education is a crucial community service, and it makes sense for us to collaborate and partner with Eagle County to assist child care providers as much as possible.”

The program is part of Eagle County’s robust investment and dedication to early childhood education. Eagle County administers Early Childhood Provider Support Programs to incentivize and support dedicated child care providers. Financial programs were also  implemented to support child care centers, educators and, ultimately, families during the COVID-19 crisis.

For more information, contact Sam Markovitz, Early Childhood Coordinator at sam.markovitz@eaglecounty.us or at 970-401-0722.