Rhode Island Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
Description:
In 2001, Rhode Island Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) launched a $6 million program called the Rhode Island Child Care Facilities Fund (RICCFF) to improve the supply and quality of child care facilities in Rhode Island.
The RICCFF provides the capital, technical expertise, and resources that child care programs need to develop and improve the quality of child care facilities and family child care homes in lower-income communities throughout the state. LISC launched the RICCFF because of its belief that improved access to quality child care programs can help low-income families enter and remain part of the state’s work force and can help low-income children enter school ready to learn.
Since 2001, RICCFF has assisted 38 child care centers and 264 family child care homes in lower-income communities in 11 cities and 27 towns to create and improve their physical environments, benefiting over 5,000 children.
Based on a careful analysis of best practices in the field of child care facilities development, the RICCFF provides three closely linked resources and services:
1. Flexible and Affordable Capital in the form of grants, recoverable grants, low-interest loans and equity investments through New Markets Tax Credits to fund the cost of investments in centers and home-based child care;
2. Capacity Building ,Training and Resource Materials for child care providers, non-profit agencies, architects and other key stakeholders to increase awareness of the impact of facilities and the classroom and center environment on child care quality and accessibility and to provide concrete strategies for making improvements to the physical environment; and
3. Technical Assistance to help providers plan and implement facilities improvement or expansion projects.