DECAL Announces Another 2Gen Innovation Grant Funding Cycle for Community-Based Organizations Across Georgia

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These grants will enable local organizations to pilot or expand programs that connect parents who are themselves students with high-quality early learning for their young children. 2Gen Innovation Grants are intended to help communities develop strategies for reaching out to student parents, who face substantial hurdles to achieving economic security.

This is the fifth year that DECAL has made these opportunities available to communities across Georgia. Funding for these grants is made possible by the $11.2 million Preschool Development Renewal Grant that Georgia received in January 2020 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

“The 2Gen grants afford our agency the opportunity to partner with local communities in creating initiatives to support young learners and their parents,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs. “The projects funded by these grants will build on our collective expertise and increase access to high-quality early care and education for families across our state. ”

DECAL awards 2Gen grants in two categories. Capacity-building grants of $10,000 are made to communities that are new to using a 2Gen approach to foster partnerships between adult-serving organizations and child-serving organizations, evaluate existing resources, conduct needs assessments, and incorporate parent perspectives into planning 2Gen policies.

Implementation grants of $25,000 each are awarded to communities with established partnerships already collaborating to advance 2Gen policies and programming. Recipients of implementation grants are expected to launch or expand programs that connect parents of children in subsidized early childhood learning to workforce training or postsecondary educational opportunities and connect parents already enrolled in workforce training or postsecondary education to high-quality early care and learning for their children.

“The power of the 2Gen approach lies in its focus on directly impacting the well-being of children and families,” said Bentley Ponder, DECAL’s Deputy Commissioner for Quality Innovations and Partnerships. “This funding opportunity will allow local communities to develop partnerships and programs to meet the educational, financial, and emotional needs of the families with whom they work and interact.”

The grant term for the upcoming funding cycle runs from July 1, 2022 through June 31, 2023. The grant application is posted on the DECAL website at decal.ga.gov/QualityInitiatives/Grants.aspx. DECAL will also post an informational webinar by noon, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Interested parties can find this webinar recording at the same link as above. Questions related to these applications should be directed to communityimpactgrants@decal.ga.gov, and application submissions should be sent to communityimpactgrants@decal.ga.gov with 2Gen Innovation Grant Application Submission in the subject line. Grant awards will be announced on or before May 6, 2022.

Contact:
Reg Griffin
DECAL Communications Director
404-656-0239
reg.griffin@decal.ga.gov

Bill Valladares
GaFCP Communications Director
404-739-0043
william@gafcp.org

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The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and their families. It administers the nationally recognized Georgia’s Pre-K Program; licenses child care centers and home-based child care; administers Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program and federal nutrition programs; and manages Quality Rated, Georgia’s community-powered child care rating system. The department also houses the Head Start State Collaboration Office, distributes federal funding to enhance the quality and availability of child care, and works collaboratively with Georgia child care resource and referral agencies and organizations throughout the state to enhance early care and education. For more information, go to decal.ga.gov.