Staff Reports

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Build, Learn, Grow initiative has made 50,000 scholarships available to help get Hoosier children from families working in essential industries — regardless of income — enrolled in early care and education, summer learning or out-of-school care.

Scholarships run through October and will cover up to 80% of the early care and education program’s tuition for each child age 12 and younger.

Information is available at buildlearngrow.org.

For families to qualify for scholarships, an adult in the household must work in an essential business (examples include health care, human services, retail, restaurant and food service, essential infrastructure, media, manufacturing and logistics, religious and charitable organizations and many others).

Families will qualify for scholarship to cover 80% of their cost with incomes of up to 250% of the federal poverty level. Families with incomes between 251% and 400% of the federal poverty level will qualify for 60% of costs covered, and those with incomes at 401% of the federal poverty level and above will qualify for 20% of costs covered.

Families should complete the scholarship fund application found online at brighterfuturesindiana.org/scholarships/families and submit it to their early care and education provider.

Families not currently connected to an early care and education program will be able to find a list of participating programs on the Build, Learn, Grow website on the eligibility page. All providers that currently accept federal child care assistance are encouraged to enroll.

The scholarships are funded by more than $101 million provided to Indiana by the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

To administer the Build, Learn, Grow scholarship program, the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning has partnered with Early Learning Indiana and Indiana Afterschool Network, the state organizations supporting early care and education and out-of-school-time programs.

Early care and education and out-of-school-time programs interested in receiving children with Build, Learn, Grow scholarships can learn more at buildlearngrow.org.