Even in the best of times, owning a business can be stressful. You may be juggling financial concerns on top of your own family needs. The good news is that relief and recovery options are out there, and more are on the way. Explore your options below.

• Kansas Hero Relief Program: The Kansas Hero Relief Program grants provide support to licensed child care centers and family child care programs impacted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. 
• Small Business Administration (SBA) Relief Options:You may consider applying for more than one of these options in combination with other state options. However, employers cannot “double dip” and cover payroll with both PPP and EIDL for the same employees. Visit the SBA Coronavirus Relief Options webpage for an overview of available options. Please note the Payroll Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Load Advance are no longer accepting new applications. Quality, free counseling from local community partners may be available in your area to help you navigate your options. Additionally, some small businesses may be eligible for cancellation or postponement of debts during COVID-19. 
• Unemployment Benefits: If you have had to cut-back hours or furlough employees, and can no longer cover pay with SBA options, you may consider helping your staff apply for UI benefits from the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL). To learn more, click here.

• For Kansas-specific child care guidance, visit KDHE’s COVID-19 Child Care and Foster Care Toolkit.
• For additional guidance, visit the CDC’s Guidance for Child Care Programs.
• If you need help finding supplies, KDHE recommends starting by contacting your local licensing surveyor and resource and referral agency to see if they can assist you in connecting with local resources. Your local school district may also be able to connect you.
• If you need help paying for supplies, the Kansas Hero Relief Program Supply Grant offers grants for licensed child care providers to help offset the cost of purchasing supplies.

We are all having to adapt to these new circumstances, but we aren’t doing it alone. Stretching beyond our comfort zones can be hard, but these resources may help you feel more confident in these new circumstances.

• HealthyChildren.org: These resources cover everything from tips for making masks for children to developmentally-appropriate activities to keep the children in your care occupied and learning.
• Sesame Street in Communities: These bilingual resources can help address the developmental, physical, and emotional needs of the children in your care.
• How to Support Children (and Yourself) During COVID-19: This guided resource can help you support the emotional and physical wellbeing of the children in your care as well as your own wellbeing.
• The Power of Storytelling: This resource shares how you can help your children process all of the uncertainty and change happening around them through telling stories.
• Kansas Enrichment Network: This resource hub can help you find and plan engaging STEAM activities for the youth in your care as well as ideas for how to involve parents in their learning.
• Vroom: These resources include tips and fun activities that help boost brain-building in young children.