Millions In Funding Is Coming To Expand Child Care In New Jersey

WEST ORANGE, NJ — It pays off to invest in kids. That was the message from Gov. Phil Murphy and other New Jersey officials as they gathered in West Orange to announce a new statewide wave of funding for “affordable child care” on Wednesday.

According to Murphy’s office, an additional $17 million in federal American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Fund money is headed to the state’s Child Care Facilities Improvement Program. With these new resources, New Jersey is dedicating more than $140 million that will beef up its child care infrastructure – representing one of the largest such investments of any state in the nation.

The money will give a boost to child care centers like The Kids Palace II in West Orange, which has been approved for a grant award of $189,300 to install sprinkler and alarm systems among other improvements, allowing the center to expand its state license to accept infants.

Jorroys Reyes-Moton, director and owner of the Kids Palace II, said the grant money will be put to use creating a dedicated infant-toddler space.

“We are deeply grateful for this opportunity to expand our services and positively impact more families in our community,” Reyes-Moton said.

Kids Palace II isn’t the only facility that will be able to expand thanks to the program, which is administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). The agency said the funding will likely mean approval for all eligible child care centers that applied to the first phase of the program – helping existing facilities to “unlock” an unused capacity to accept infants and toddlers.

The end result? More places for New Jersey parents to get affordable child care, advocates say.

So far, the NJEDA has approved $85 million in funding to more than 400 child care centers through the program, which awards grants up to $200,000. Collectively, these facilities enroll over 34,000 children and employ more than 8,500 staff. Nearly a third of all awards are to centers located in designated “Opportunity Zones.”

Another 200 centers are expected to be added to the list due to the additional funding, Murphy’s office said.

Wednesday’s announcement is also good news for New Jersey businesses that are in need of more labor, the governor said.

“Increased access to high-quality child care allows more parents to return to the workforce, bolstering New Jersey’s economic growth and competitiveness,” Murphy said.

According to figures presented by the governor, New Jersey families that pay for child care are spending nearly a fifth of their incomes for it – and tens of thousands more families can’t even afford it to begin with.

Watch video footage from Wednesday’s news conference in West Orange below, or view it online here.

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