HARRIS COUNTY, TX – February 22, 2022 – Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday awarded grantees a combined total of $7.9 million in American Rescue Plan funds provided by the Biden-Harris Administration to seed a targeted portfolio of early childhood programs, including resources for educators and new parents, and the expansion of home-based child care providers.
Commissioners approved the following contracts on a 3 to 2 vote:
— $4.6 million to Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) to implement Build the upWORDS Community-Based Universal and Targeted Intervention Model: The program will provide universal education, resources, and materials to parents of young children. Over three years, 20,000 children will be served and TCH will train 6,000 early childhood educators.
— $2.4 million to First3Years to implement Expand the Safe Babies Approach in Harris County: This initiative, which will be offered to 300 young children and their families over three years, is designed to to improve family reunification by strengthening the relationship between birth and foster parents.
— $906,173 to The Alliance for Home-Based Child Care Supports to expand home-based child care operations. This effort will create jobs, creating at least 23 licensed programs that will add child care capacity in low- to moderate-income communities.
— Funding for independent evaluators to assess the impacts of the program