‘Scraping the bottom of the barrel’: Richmond Childcare Funding Runs Low
City officials discussed the need for more childcare funding during a meeting of the education committee on Thursday. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM)
Richmond’s emergency childcare program may not make it through March unless the city can get its hands on more funding. The program was started with almost $3 million of CARES Act funding, but the latest stimulus bill did not give localities more for childcare.
The first round of coronavirus relief funding came with an expiration date of Dec. 31, so in the case of Richmond, the city had until then to spend $40 million. Eva Colen, the city’s senior policy adviser, says the new stimulus bill extended that deadline.