The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has partnered with the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) to provide shared services and administer Support and Enhancement Grants through ChildcareTennessee.com for child care agencies licensed by TDHS.
Shared services are essential to helping child care centers save money and reallocate those savings to better support the children they serve. By logging into the ChildcareTennessee.com website, child care directors can view multiple vendors offering discounts that provide cost savings in child care administration.
Examples of potential savings include 20% on child products and supplies, 10%-30% on food and food service supplies, and 12%-45% on office supplies.
In addition to shared services, there are myriad resources to assist child care directors with administrative tasks from HR resources to staying compliant federal and state regulations. These downloadable resources take some of the administrative load off of directors so they can focus on what matters most —Tennessee’s children.
TDHS Support and Enhancement Grants will allow any child care provider licensed with TDHS to apply for up to $4,000 to enhance equipment, programs, including supplies, and consultants and coaches.
Child care agencies in one of the 15 economically distressed counties identified in Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s Executive Order No. 1 may apply for up to $5,000. These counties include Bledsoe, Clay, Cocke, Fentress, Grundy, Hardeman, Hancock, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, McNairy, Morgan, Perry, Scott, and Van Buren.
Registering on the newly redesigned ChildcareTennessee.com website is free until September 1, 2020. Child care directors can register now and setup an account to start utilizing shared services. Licensed agencies will be notified when Support and Enhancement Grant applications open and can apply on ChildcareTennessee.com. For more information and to begin exploring shared services, visit ChildcareTennessee.com.
About ChildcareTennessee
ChildcareTennessee, an initiative led by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, focuses on collaborative opportunities in our child care center’s administrative, programmatic and operational services. ChildcareTennessee’s goal is to improve the quality, accessibility and sustainability of the services offered to the children and families we serve.
About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation exists to promote and facilitate giving in the 40 counties of Middle Tennessee and beyond. It does this by accepting gifts of any size from anyone at any time and by empowering individuals, families, companies, nonprofits, and communities to respond to needs and opportunities that matter. The Community Foundation works with people who have great hearts, whether or not they have great wealth, to craft solutions that reflect their intentions and goals. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.
About the Tennessee Department of Human Services
The Tennessee Department of Human Services is responsible for licensing and monitoring more than 2,300 child care agencies across the state. The primary purpose of licensing is to support child care agencies in providing environment that are safe, healthy, and educationally rich.