Child Care Business Start-Up Grant Program

One-hour informational webinars will be held in February to enable applicants to prepare their applications in advance of the submission period.  Sign up for the webinar that best meets your schedule using the links below. The content will be the same for all sessions. You only need to attend one session, though you are welcome to attend as many as you would like. 

Recorded Information Sessions

Child Care Business Grants Overview (ENGLISH)

Child Care Business Grants Overview (Spanish)

Grant Prep Class: Financial Templates

If you have attended a Grant Information Session this year, or applied for the May 2023 round of WBDC child care grants, you are welcome to attend the session.

This session will help you prepare some of the key documents needed for your grant application — your historical & current financial statements, as well as your financial projections.  This session will walk you through gathering your financials and filling out the WBDC financial templates (or your own!).

1. Be one of the following:
   (1) Close to becoming licensed by OEC as a family home, group home, or center with location approved by CT Department of Public Health
   (2) Operating as an CT Office of Early Childhood (OEC) licensed family home, group, or center with enrolled children for less than one year (operating since January 2023)
2. Be pursuing a license or recently licensed as a provider with OEC for the first time
3. Have your initial OEC site inspection scheduled or completed
4. Be in good standing with the CT Department of Revenue Services (DRS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or on a payment plan for back-owed taxes
5. Have a financial need for support with start-up costs

Those that meet the above criteria are encouraged to apply.

Additionally, the following businesses are NOT eligible:

1. Prior recipients of a WBDC Start-up Grant.

2. Municipally run child care programs, license-exempt programs, licensed youth camps, are not eligible for WBDC grants due to limited funding and alternate opportunities.

3. If your business is outside the child care industry and based in Connecticut, WBDC has other grant programs. We encourage you to schedule an appointment with a WBDC Business Advisor or participate in one of our classes to learn more.

If there are more qualified applications than we can fund this round, priority will be given to the following programs:

• Sites already approved by OEC, including those newly operating
• Serve or will serve infants and toddlers
• Accept or plan to accept Care4Kids
• Are or plan to be a for-profit business

Before you begin your application, you will be required to create a profile in WBDC’s eCenter portal to provide general information about you and your business.

If you are an existing WBDC client that has used eCenter before to register for classes, you will need to review and update your eCenter Profile by logging into eCenter, and clicking “My Information” on the left.

If you are an existing WBDC client that has not used eCenter before, click the link below to get to our eCenter. Then click “Forgot Password” in the top right corner. Enter your email and follow the on-screen prompts to access to your profile.  Once logged in, click “My Information” on the left to complete or update your information.

Click here to complete your eCenter profile

Here are the components of the application:

Profile, Contact, and Eligibility

Section A: Background about Your Business
Section B: Use of Grant Funds
Section C: Narrative of Your Business
Section D: Supporting Documents for Uploading
Section E: Compliance and Consent

What we’re looking for in an application:

• Thoughtful, complete, and well-developed picture of your business and how it will succeed
• Clear use of funds, with a strong link to getting your business going
• Financial Projections reflect seasonality of business, and numbers make sense
• Display the business’ potential for success​
• Slot creation and strong enrollment potential
• Job creation potential, with the business being able to create jobs​
• Return on investment, that the funds will unlock growth​
• Grant will have a meaningful impact on the business and help the business grow

WBDC Business Advisors are available to help answer your questions after you have attended a live or on-demand information session. Appointments available in English or Spanish during standard business hours and evenings. If you need an appointment in a different language, accommodations may be possible.

Request an appointment at:
https://ctwbdc.wufoo.com/forms/z6mvzcg167rfc6/

*Please note* If you review your application with a business advisor, it does not mean you will receive a grant, as an external review committee is making the decisions on which applicants receive grants.

Download the Proposed Use of Funds’ Tracker below and fill in to indicate your proposed use of funds with the contractor/vendor, and cost of each item.  This will serve as a cover sheet for your back-up use of funds documentation.

Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

For Family Homes only – Download the Time & Space Calculator worksheet below and fill in the last tab to determine your space percentage.  This is needed for your grant application, and be a guide for how much of your facilities expenses are for your child care program.

Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

We have optional templates for you to use for your historical and projected financial documents.

If you are a family home (DCFH), a Balance Sheet is not required. If you utilize QuickBooks or another digital system, you should use financial statements from there, instead of the WBDC templates.

Historical Financials Template (English/Spanish):
Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

Financial Projections Template (English/Spanish) – complete for 1 year only:
Access Here in Google Sheets / Download to Microsoft Excel Here

Please request your letter from the CT Dept. of Revenue Services (DRS) myconneCT online center: 𝗺𝘆𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗖𝗧 (ct.gov)  

Here is a tutorial to on how to request the status letter for a business: Requesting a Status Letter (of Good Standing) 

Here is a tutorial on how to request the status letter for an individual (Sole Proprietor): Request Status Letter-Individuals (ct.gov)

Click here to see an example of what your status letter should like. Please note that if it does not look like this – it is the wrong document.