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Local Government Child Care Planning Grant Program

The Local Government Childcare Planning Grant Program, “Planning Grant Program”, enacted by HB24-1237 provides grants to local governments to help them better understand child care needs and respond by adopting policy and regulatory strategies. Specifically, the program funds local governments to retain consultants or related professional services to assess child care needs (including equity considerations) or to make changes to its policies, programs, development review processes, land use codes and related rules and regulations to promote child care facility development. The intent of the program is to fund planning work to adopt a qualifying strategy listed in the menu of best practices or an innovative option not currently on the list as approved by program staff.

 

Best Practices to Support Child Care

  • Funding opens on August 18, 2025 with applications due September 24, 2025 by 5pm MST
  • Interested applicants must schedule a pre-application meeting with program staff to discuss their proposed project and funding eligibility before applying. This is an opportunity for applicants to explore ideas and receive helpful feedback and guidance before applying. Jurisdictions will be unable to access the application in the grants portal without this meeting.
  • Applications must be submitted through the DLG Grants Portal. An instructional video tutorial on using the Grants Portal is available on DOLA's YouTube. Please contact the Local Government Child Care Planning Grant Program Manager if you are experiencing issues accessing the application.
  • Notice of Awards will be announced in late October.
  • Application Questions
    • This template document is provided to applicants to help prepare draft content for the full application. Download this file and save it as a Word document.
    • The full application must be submitted using the DLG Grants Portal. Paper or email applications will not be considered.

  • Applicants may use Planning Grant funds to perform a child care needs assessment and/or action plan or a local land and facility inventory. This work can be helpful to inform the selection of best practices that will address the needs in a community.  
    However, applicants must include investigation and intent to implement one of the qualifying best practices as part of their project.
  • There is a 25% required local cash match.
    • An applicant experiencing financial hardship may request a reduced level of matching funds and must consult with grant program staff about a reduced match before submitting their application.
  • There is no suggested minimum or maximum award for this work, however, there are limited grant funds available.
    Projects must be completed by June 30, 2026, since these funds do not extend past that date.
  • Awards cannot cover food, beverages, pre-development costs for construction, reimbursement of development review or impact fees, or administrative expenses (e.g., existing staff, operating, or indirect costs).

  • Eligible entities include:
    • Municipalities
    • Counties
    • Tribal Governments
    • Early childhood development service districts (per Article 21 of Title 32)
  • Local governments must be in compliance with all laws and provisions governing their operations, including but not limited to budgets, elections, and audits, prior to receiving an award.

  • Approximately $75,000 is available for the Local Government Child Care Planning Grant
  • After the initial round of funding, DOLA will continue to take applications and make awards until the funding is depleted. If applicants are interested in applying after the initial round of funding is closed please contact the Local Government Child Care Planning Grant Program Manager.
  • Additional funding for this program is not guaranteed. 

This section will be updated once notice of awards have been received by applicants.

Initial Interest 

Before applying, interested parties must meet with program staff
to get feedback on the proposed project. Applicants can explore ideas and receive helpful feedback and guidance in the pre-application meeting.

Resources

Contact Information

Emily Francis, Land Use and Housing Program Unit Manager
emily.francis@state.co.us 

This form should be used to report problems or issues with this website. Questions pertaining to a program or service provided by DOLA should be addressed to contact information located on the specific program pages.

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