Indiana's new Build, Learn, Grow scholarship fund helps families connect to the care and education children need. And for qualified families, the program can cover up to 80% of care costs for children up to age 12. 

For families to qualify for Build, Learn, Grow scholarships, one adult in the household must work in an essential business such as health care, human services, education, retail, restaurant and food service, essential infrastructure, media, manufacturing and logistics, religious and charitable organizations, and many others. A full, detailed list can be found here.

And note that staff at child care centers are included in this list of eligible essential businesses!

Learn more about Build, Learn, Grow here, including program and family eligibility information: https://brighterfuturesindiana.org/scholarships

This page contains resources for programs to promote the Build, Learn, Grow scholarship fund to families. Simply copy and paste the email templates, text messages, and social media posts, and download the images for your use. https://brighterfuturesindiana.org/build-learn-grow/family-toolkit

Please join Early Learning Indiana for a live webinar to learn more about these new income thresholds and hear answers to the frequently asked questions we’re receiving from providers about claiming family scholarships and receiving payment. 

Date: Wednesday, June 2

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81013008788

Strong partnerships between community organizations and schools are at the core of successful out-of-school time programs. As schools begin planning new ways to support students, utilizing relief funding, OST programs are an opportune partner to keep students on track academically while engaging in a safe and supportive learning environment.

Click below to watch this panel discussion from the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Afterschool Network to learn more about how Indiana schools and OST programs are collaborating to enhance student success. 

IAN’s quality tools were created to support you in the design, implementation, and evaluation of high quality out-of-school time programs. With unprecedented changes to organizations, programs, staff, children, and families, we want to make sure our tools are appropriate and effective for your needs.

This spring, we are asking organizations to complete a short survey about our quality tools:

And we are seeking feedback from ALL levels of an organization - from program staff to site coordinators to administrators. This will guide IAN in the development of content, platform updates, and new features.

The survey should take approximately 5 -10 minutes to complete. And, if you complete the survey by 5:00 PM EST on June 4, 2021 you will be entered to win a $100 gift card!

Join IYI's virtual 2021 College and Career Conference to ensure Indiana is a place where every child has the access and opportunity to thrive. Together, we will learn from national experts who will guide conversations on topics most important to you, enhancing your experience with actionable takeaways. IYI has scholarships for all Indiana youth-serving professionals that cover the full registration cost. Simply register to claim your scholarship.

For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed both the critical importance of childcare and the glaring inequities in the child care system related to access, supply, affordability, and quality. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided close to $40 billion for child care programs split between a stabilization grant program ($24 billion) and a one-time $15 billion increase for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which could expand opportunities for access to high-quality care; improve affordability for families; increase supports and training for caregivers and providers; and more adequately meet program operational needs, among others.

Join the Afterschool Alliance to discuss the importance of directing some of these essential new child care funds to school-age care, including afterschool and summer programs, and outline information for providers on how the funds might support their work and ability to serve youth and families equitably.

This event will be led by Meredith Noble to inspire and elevate grant writing practices for small and large organizations who utilize grants to support their efforts.

Learn how to filter 100+ grant opportunities down to the top pursuits using an online database and grant prospecting decision-making funnel. Increase your win rate which means more grant funding for your organization so you can amplify your community impact. Apply the grant prospecting decision-making funnel to systematically find the right grants that yield the highest likelihood of success and ROI.

All attendees will be provided a Certificate of Attendance as well as resources provided by the presenter. If you have questions, you can connect with Kevin Enders at kenders@iyi.org.

Indiana Local Educational Agencies (LEAs or School Districts) must allocate at least 20% set aside to fund programming that addresses learning loss through implementation of evidence based interventions, such as after school programming or other enriching educational out of school time programming. Programming should address students’ academic health as well as their social emotional wellbeing.

Providers should use this opportunity to reach out to principals, superintendents, and school boards to encourage investments in summer learning and afterschool programs to provide students and families with the support and engaging learning opportunities they need. In doing so, think about how your particular program can meet these needs. For instance, how can you develop this statement by including your program's expertise? "My program can meet the needs of the students and families in our school district because we do X,Y, and Z." When reaching out to your LEA(s) about partnership, it will be important for you to bring data on how your program is improving attendance, discipline, academics, etc.

For resources on this outreach, click here.

The 21st Century Community Learning Center Program is a federally-funded program (Title IV, part B) awarded to local education agencies, as well as public and private organizations, to provide youth a safe environment during non-school hours. This program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment and life skills opportunities during non-school hours for youth, particularly youth who attend high-proverty and low-performing schools. The program helps youth meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects; offers youth a broad array of enrichment activities that help their social, emotional, and behavioral development; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating youth.