Governor Tom Wolf last week announced his plan to distribute more than $117 million in CARES Act funding to child care providers across Pennsylvania – the third of three distributions to sustain an industry that builds healthy foundations for our children, facilitates employment and economic opportunity for working parents, and is the keystone for every other aspect of our economy.

“Pennsylvania has made significant investments to preserve our child care sector to keep providers open and available to working families, but we know that child care providers remain vulnerable to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Wolf. “A strong child care industry is a requirement for a healthy economy. We must remember this as we move forward and continue support for child care providers as they care for young Pennsylvanians and allow parents to work so our communities and economy can thrive.”

Earlier this summer, the Wolf administration distributed about $104 million in CARES Act funding to child care providers licensed by the Department of Human Services’ Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). The distribution method of this latest round of CARES funding is based on the findings of researchers at Penn State Harrisburg’s Institute of State and Regional Affairs, who studied the impact of COVID-19 on Pennsylvania’s child care industry. In total, $220 million has been allocated to support child care providers across Pennsylvania.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, 7,017 licensed child care providers were operating in Pennsylvania. As of late July, more than 200 of those providers have indicated an intention to permanently close their doors. The third round of CARES funding will be distributed to 6,893 providers.

Additionally, 23 awardees will receive $10 million in grant funding through the COVID-19 Vaccines, Treatments and Therapies (CV-VTT) program to support the rapid advancement of vaccines, treatments and therapies by qualified biotechnology entities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We know that the only way we can get back to our normal lives is by developing a robust testing and tracing infrastructure combined with effective, safe and affordable treatments and vaccines,” Wolf said. “The funding awarded today will jump start a number of promising projects that would help Pennsylvania overcome this devastating global pandemic, setting us on a path to recovery and protection both now and in the future.”

Of the 23 projects, $6.8 million was awarded to 12 vaccine projects, nearly $1.2 million was awarded to five therapy projects, nearly $1.6 million was awarded to five treatment projects, and $430,000 was awarded to a project that will support the build out of physical infrastructure, advancing the development of leading edge innovations in the fight against SARS-CoV-2.

As of Monday, the state has 130,211 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,673 deaths. Lehigh County has 5,196 confirmed and 343 deaths; Northampton County has 4,114 confirmed and 300 deaths; the city of Bethlehem has 1,236 confirmed and 82 deaths.