$4,000 funding for in-home child care available for Montana families

KALISPELL — Federal grant money is available to help families who have children at home this school year to avoid coronavirus exposure.

The Nurturing Center is helping to provide families around Northwest Montana with money for childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Polson resident Anna Barrows' daughter Kaidence is legally blind and is on the autism spectrum and because of her health concerns, Kaidence is homeschooling to avoid coronavirus exposure.

But Anna told MTN News that when the money to support Kaidence started running she applied for a $4,000 in-home grant from the CARES Act.

"So, that's for those kiddos who can't go to school, can't go to daycare, can't be in that kind of group setting," said Nurturing Center spokeswoman Rachel Just. "Especially with families with special circumstances. Say, you have someone in your house who's immune-compromised."

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Just says the funding is available for kids up to the age of 18 and with the money, Anna was able to give Kaidence the support she needed.

"We got her a laptop because the school was issuing out iPads and her augmentative device -- that talks to her because she's nonverbal -- is on an iPad, Anna explained. "But she couldn't use her app that talks for her if she was on the iPad."

Just says it's not limited to families with kids who have special needs.

"One family wrote in an application. They're healthcare workers, the parents are. And they preferred to keep their kiddo home, so they didn't bring COVID potentially from their child's school into their hospital."

Barrows said the $4,000 took a huge weight off her shoulders, "like I didn't have to worry so much. It's in the bank, it's there when we need it."

Just encourages anyone who thinks they need this funding to apply and not to worry about whether they think your circumstances are special enough."

Your Rebound Rundown:

• $4,000 is available for families with children in special circumstances who can't go to school or child care ages 0-18.
• Special circumstances could be that your child is immune-compromised or that your work schedule does not allow you to stay home with your child.
• The deadline to apply is Dec. 31, but the Nurturing Center encourages people to apply as soon as possible.