$55.8M Early Learning Grants Create 2,056 Child Care Seats

$56M in Commerce, DCYF early learning grants to create more than 2K high-quality child care seats

April 16, 2026

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Awards will fund new facilities, renovation in 40 cities and 17 counties

OLYMPIA — Governor Bob Ferguson announced today that the state Department of Commerce, in partnership with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), awarded $55.8 million in grants to 74 early learning providers across Washington. The funds will create 2,056 new child care spaces and advance high-quality child care opportunities statewide. The awards are through Commerce’s Early Learning Facilities (ELF) program.

The complete list of awarded projects can be found here. Certified providers that are receiving the grant funds include local governments and school districts, at-home facilities and commercial properties, among others.

“As a parent, I know how critical high-quality child care and early learning opportunities are for working families in Washington,” Governor Ferguson said. “I insisted that the Millionaires’ Tax provide significant relief for working families, including additional support for early learning. Thanks to the generosity of the Ballmer Group, we’re on track to provide early learning to thousands more kids over the next decade. With these grants, we are working to build more capacity – literally – for our child care and early learning providers.”

“As a working mom myself, I know firsthand how much it means to know your kiddo is safe, happy, and learning while you’re at work,” said Commerce Interim Director Sarah Clifthorne. “These investments in early learning spaces breaks down one of the biggest hurdles faced by working families with young children and will help neighborhoods across Washington state thrive.”

“When children have access to high-quality early learning, they gain a strong foundation for lifelong learning and success," said DCYF Secretary Tana Senn. “By providing capital funding through ELF, we can increase access to programs in communities that have been historically underserved, helping ensure more families — regardless of their income or location — can benefit from child care and early learning.”

In all, Commerce received 325 applications requesting a total of $277 million, showing that the need is high. Awardees were chosen based on the number of early learning spaces for kids from low-income families, the project location relative to other early learning facilities, and projects located in rural locations and low-income neighborhoods, among other factors.

About the ELF program

Early Learning Facilities grants provide financial assistance to Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) contractors and Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) providers to plan, expand, remodel, purchase, or construct early learning facilities and classrooms. Projects funded by the ELF grant program increase or retain early learning capacity at in-home and child care center facilities with a focus on child care deserts and children from low-income households.

The Early Learning Facilities Program, which Commerce administers, has awarded more than $235 million to create nearly 15,000 child care slots statewide since 2017.

ELF investments are already making a difference in communities across Washington. For example, Learning to Grow — with three facilities in Grays Harbor County — has previously received three ELF grants. As a result, the provider has expanded its capacity by more than 300 percent.

“The Early Learning Facilities Program has been a life changing partner for our community,” said Learning to Grow Executive Director Stephanie Smith. “Our ELF grant awards created two beautiful early learning centers that expanded our services to include infants through school age and increased our capacity from 46 slots to more than 200! The ELF grant greatly impacted local employment recruitment and retention efforts, child care access for working families, employment of more than 40 staff, and most importantly, the quality of early learning and care for the generations to come.”

The full list of awarded projects and more information about the program are available online. The names and locations of in-home care providers not operating under a commercial license have been simplified to protect sensitive personal information.

PreK Promise account to accept grants for 10K new ECEAP spots

Governor Ferguson successfully proposed legislation creating a new state account that will dramatically increase access to high-quality preschool for low-income families.

Senate Bill 5872 was sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson (D-Auburn). Rep. Steve Bergquist (D-Renton) sponsored the companion bill. The bill established the PreK Promise Account in the custody of the state Treasurer for private funds to be used to support ECEAP. It allows the state to receive any gifts, grants or donations, solely for the ECEAP program.

Ferguson signed the legislation following an earlier announcement that the Ballmer Group is increasing access to ECEAP. The Ballmer Group committed to funding early learning for up to 10,000 more children over the next decade. That extremely generous investment could total more than $1 billion.

In addition to signing legislation creating the PreK Promise account, Ferguson signed the Millionaires’ Tax into law. Since announcing his support for the Millionaires’ Tax in December, Ferguson repeatedly emphasized that a significant percentage of the revenue must go back to Washington families and small business owners to make life more affordable. In its first full year of implementation, the Millionaires’ Tax will send more than 41.3 percent of revenue raised back to Washington families and small business owners. The next year, that increases to 47.3 percent. The new law puts money back in families’ pockets in multiple ways, including: investing more than $320 million of the revenue into affordable child care in the first full biennium, providing significant funding dedicated to support affordable child care, and dedicating funding for free breakfast and lunch for every K-12 student.

Media Contacts

Brionna Aho, Governor's Communications Director
Brionna.aho@gov.wa.gov
360-628-3843