Don't forget to enroll in the 2025 FCC Business Series!
House Bill 2 (2025) allocated funds from Missouri’s Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) to be used towards innovation grants to increase access to high quality child care across Missouri during Fiscal Year 2026. These grants are available to child care providers in two forms:
Innovation Grant to Start-Up a New Child Care Program for prospective child care providers wanting to start a new licensed child care program. (Available Now!)
Innovation Grant to Expand a Child Care Program for currently licensed child care providers. (Coming Soon!)
Innovation Grant funds must be used to implement solutions to reduce the child care shortage in the state, including but not limited to the following:
Funding for child care business start-ups or expansion
Staff training and professional development
Minor modifications or improvements to the facility that are required for licensing
Incentives to retain employees
Assistance with licensing and other regulatory requirements
On an annual basis, USDA awards competitive Farm to School grants that support planning, developing, and implementing farm-to-school programs. USDA's Farm to School grants are an important way to help state, regional, and local organizations as they initiate, expand, and institutionalize farm-to-school efforts.
Women Owned Education & Childcare
WomensNet is inspired by female business owners who are driven to use their skills to nurture kids. They provide a good or service to benefit their community and pour their time and passions into a purpose-driven business model. We want to see more of these women doing what they love — and making money at the same time.
Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities
KCCTO offers scholarships to help early childhood providers continue to grow their careers and expertise.
All Scholarships will be closed as of June 30th at 11:59 PM. New opportunities will reopen approximately August 4th, 2025.
The Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund announces the release of the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) funding opportunity for federal fiscal year 2026 (Oct. 1, 2025 – Sept. 30, 2026).
CBCAP funds are intended to support primary and secondary prevention efforts. Primary prevention includes efforts targeted to the broader community to strengthen families and prevent the likelihood of abuse or neglect. Secondary prevention efforts are targeted to special populations, as a means of providing preventative family-strengthening support.
KCSourceLink was built to help you.
Starting or growing a business in Kansas City can be tough, but we got you. No matter if you’re starting a side hustle or scaling your established business, KCSourceLink knows which of Kansas City’s 230+ business resources will suit you best to help you start, scale and accelerate.
KidsGardening
KidsGardening offers a variety of grants to new and existing youth garden programs across the nation. Each funding opportunity has its own timeline, defining features, eligibility requirements, and reporting expectations.
ECE Resources / Art Supply Promotion
ECE Resources offers a treasure trove of sample forms, templates, sample policies, and great discounts on commonly used products and services to support child care providers operating more efficiently. You can register for a free account to get immediate access to all that is available.
Affordable Health Insurance is Just a Click Away!
Early care and education workers — this is your opportunity to access the affordable, comprehensive health coverage you deserve.
ChildCare Aware of Missouri
On this website...
parents can find affordable childcare
providers can find resources to improve your program and support your business.
ChildCare Aware of Kansas
On this website...
parents can find affordable childcare
providers can find resources to improve your program and support your business.
STEMIE is working to ensure that young children with disabilities are engaged in joyful and meaningful STEM learning experiences. Check out their resources on Learning Trajectories to up your STEM game at home and in child care spaces!
The mission of the Center for Inclusive Child Care is to be a centralized, comprehensive, and responsive resource network supporting quality care for children in community settings.
By participating in free professional development, teachers improve their practices and child outcomes each year with Salary supplements and on-site support.
Day Care Connection is an organization that administers the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program to family child care providers.
The Family Conservancy is a sponsoring agency for the Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
CACFP helps family child care homes provide nutritious foods that contribute to the wellness, healthy growth, and development of young children.
Kansas only
All Our Kin (AOK) offers financial resources, financial management and education training, and marketing and referral opportunities.
All services are bilingual in Spanish and English.
Ongoing series of conference-quality free webinars for early childhood educators. These engaging webinars are presented by many of the thought leaders and experts in the field of early care and education.
Explore free upcoming and on-demand webinars on best practices, strategies and tips, product training, and many more learning and development opportunities.
Training and events elevate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the early childhood workforce and meet ever-changing industry requirements with competency-based professional development and technical assistance.
MARC’s Early Learning department in partnership with The Family Conservancy provides free professional development training opportunities and resources to promote early childhood education.
ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) offers online professional development courses for teachers and child care providers that meet state training requirements and are awarded IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
Our Mission is to Empower Early Childhood Professionals with the Tools, Training, Resources, and Skills They Need to Prepare, Respond and Recover from Emergencies and Disasters.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research.