The York County Economic Alliance (YCEA) and ECHO (Every Child Has Opportunities) announce two new grant opportunities for early childhood education providers. Both grants open today, May 1, and will close May 23 at 5pm. Awardees will be notified in July.
This comes in direct response to the crisis in early childhood education we face as a community, a Commonwealth, and a Nation. In 2020, pre-pandemic, York County had 221 early childhood education providers. In three years, that number dropped to 170. Those that survived the pandemic are operating on average at 85% of typical enrollment due to teacher and workforce shortages. Early childhood education program waitlists average 50-75 children, and many have stopped adding to their lists.
