Childcare Microgrants Administrator RFP

The City of New York (City) is working toward free, high-quality care and education for every child under five, delivered in a range of culturally competent care settings with educators and caregivers who are trained, respected, and fairly compensated. Under this vision, the Mayors Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (MOCCECE) seeks to ensure its as easy as possible for both providers to open, operate, and keep their businesses running, and for families to access and afford the care they need.

Licensed Family Child Care (FCC) and Group Family Child Care (GFCC) providers are central to this vision. These providers are among the most trusted people in their neighborhoods, offering care in the many languages spoken across NYC and serving as lifelines for the families and communities they serve. Many operate small businesses with thin margins, rising costs, and limited access to flexible capital. When urgent business or operational needs go unmet, providers face difficult situations that threaten operations, licensing compliance, or program continuity, ultimately leading them to lose capacity or close.

In April, MOCCECE announced the creation of the Child Care Action Fund (CCAF). Housed at the Mayors Fund to Advance NYC (Mayors Fund), the CCAF enables philanthropies and private donors to support high-impact initiatives that advance the Citys universal childcare vision by moving fast, testing smart solutions, and filling critical gaps. CCAF priorities are:

1. Family outreach and engagement to ensure all families can access care.

2. Direct support for providers to stabilize existing small businesses and assist aspiring providers.
3. Workforce development and expansion of professional pathways that help caregivers build sustainable careers.
4. Physical capacity-building and effective use of existing space.
5. Research and innovation to better understand system needs, inform policy decisions, improve implementation, and measure impact for families and providers.

The Emergency Microgrant Program is one critical way to provide material support to FCCs and GFCCs. The program will provide targeted grants, practical support and resources, and technical assistance to FCC and GFCC providers facing urgent risks. Microgrants are intended to support provider stability and capacity building, particularly in response to one-time events; they are not intended as a wage supplement program or to fund ongoing operational expenses.

RFP Purpose:

The Mayor's Fund seeks proposals from qualified entities to serve as the administrator (Administrator) for the Emergency Microgrant Program for Licensed Family Child Care and Group Family Child Care Providers. MOCCECE will serve as the project manager and will work with the selected Administrator to finalize the program design before launch.

The selected Administrator will be expected to create a provider-centered model that can distribute emergency microgrants quickly, equitably, and with appropriate fiscal controls. The program is intended to stabilize child care supply by helping eligible providers respond to unexpected situations that threaten their ability to operate safely or continuously to provide services for NYC families. 

Link to submit application: https://wkf.ms/4h6SGkl
 

PIN: 202604