The project is providing $37.4 million in Child Care Retention Bonuses for full- and part-time educators at child care centers and licensed family providers, as well as $0.6 million in Child Care Family Provider Support and technical assistance is available to help launch approximately 200 new family child care providers.

The funds are providing monthly retention payments of up to $694.50 to eligible direct care and support care staff who earn less than $75,000 per year on both a retrospective and prospective basis. Additionally, it is providing sign-on bonuses of up to $750 for newly hired employees who earn less than $75,000 per year after they have completed 90 days of work. This hiring bonus is in addition to any prospective premium payments.

The Rhode Island Foundation provided general operating grants to nonprofit organizations that are working to address food insecurity, housing instability and homelessness prevention, and behavioral health needs.

The project is aimed at rapidly reopen referrals by providing stabilization grants for Early Intervention providers to cover operating costs. It also provided pay-for-performance bonus payments for meeting targets, such as recovering referrals at their 2019 levels, increasing the percentage of children referred who complete the eligibility process and engage in services, and reducing disproportionality for families with Medicaid coverage and families of color.

The funding is being distributed to nonprofits whose primary mission is providing services to adult and youth survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Rhode Island Reconnect provides free support to individuals in their pursuit of educational and workforce training advancement. Students receive the cultural, social, and economic capital to succeed Navigators encourage student success by addressing barriers to completion, providing personalized academic coaching, and mentoring.

Pediatric Provider Relief and Recovery Final Report

The project provided stabilization grants to pediatric primary care providers to incentivize them to improve access to care and make necessary investments to rebound from delays in care caused by the pandemic. Additionally, the initiative provided performance bonus grants to pediatric or family practice primary care providers who adapted new training and workflow designs intended to screen children for healthy physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development. Additional funds provided technical assistance for screening expansion to assist performance bonus grant recipients.

The project is incentivizing pediatric primary care providers to improve access to care, immunizations, and screenings, and to invest in the staffing and infrastructure necessary to rebound from pandemic-related delays in care.

This project is providing direct grants to Rhode Island's publicly funded network of 19 adult education providers to create regional hubs, purchase devices and software, support the integration of digital literacy, and expand services.

Fresh Start provides working adults with tuition, fees, and books allowance support for up to one year at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). Specifically, the program is supporting individuals who previously attended CCRI but have not earned a degree. 

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is using the funds to provide food to its agencies to assist those in need. 

The funds are supporting the TEACH Early Childhood RI program that helps child care businesses implement best practices, reduce staff turnover, onboard staff, and continue to provide high-quality early child care and education.

The project is aimed at increasing the Rhode Island Association for Education of Young Children’s capacity to focus on improving the environmental rating scale scores for child care providers.

The Rhode Island Department of Human Services is creating a workforce registry to better serve child care providers by targeting interventions to the workforce’s needs. Having an accurate list of past and present educators will allow the State to survey educators on the working conditions in child care facilities and tailor policies to address these conditions and reduce staff turnover.