How to Get Funds to Assist Child Care Facilities that Accept Children With Special Needs

By following several steps, you can get funds for your child care facility.

Child care facilities that accept children with special needs play a vital role in these students' lives as they help them socialize, learn and grow as people. However, because of the challenges presented by providing care for children with various disabilities, properly equipping and staffing a daycare center can be costly. Fortunately, many states are beginning to address this issue by providing special funding in the form of grants to child care facilities that accept special-needs children.

Instructions

1. Prepare a business plan. Whether or not you have an already-established business, you should create a plan of around 5 to 10 pages that explains the techniques and methods you will use to create and sustain your child care center catering to special-needs children. Factors you should discuss are your mission statement, staff, funding/financial factors and your history and expertise in the area of working with children, particularly special-needs children.

2. Explore opportunities in your area. Because most funding for special-needs child care centers are local, you should look at local foundations that focus on both special-needs children and daycare centers. Resources include the Foundation Center, which keeps national lists of foundations around the country, as well as local philanthropic organizations.

3. Contact your state government. Many states have begun to give grants and funding to daycare centers that provide aid for children with special needs (and particularly those children who are also underprivileged). The community/citizen services branch of your local government should be able to advise you on the programs in your area.

4. Request or download the application forms. Whether you have a particular application form to fill out, as you will most likely need to for government funding, or the foundation simply asks for a proposal, you should target your request to the particular agency or foundation, keeping in mind their own mission statement and goals.

5. Create a convincing argument. List the ways in which your facility aids or will aid children with special needs. Revise your original business plan, tailoring it to each individual agency or group. Be sure to demonstrate that a need exists in your area, as well as your organization's capacity to address this need. Remember to include any supplementary materials that the foundation requests, such as a copy of your 501(c)3 form if you are a nonprofit organization.

References

• Child Care: Grants and Funding for Child Care