Safe Nights Child Care Access Fund

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Executive Summary

Safe Nights Child Care Access Fund is a nonprofit in Kentucky that helps working parents with low incomes find and pay for licensed child care in the evenings, overnight and early mornings. Our families are nursing assistants, factory and warehouse workers, security officers, food service workers and drivers who work second and third shifts. When their jobs start after the child care centers close, they often depend on a relative, a neighbor or a hurried arrangement that can fall apart in a day.

We do three things. We pay licensed child care providers directly for the evening and overnight care of children from qualifying families, never giving cash to the family. We provide a family navigator who helps parents find a provider, complete paperwork and use other child care help they may qualify for. We also give small grants to licensed providers who want to offer extended hours but need safe sleep equipment to do it safely.

With this grant we will support about 60 children from about 45 families in Year 1, work with at least 4 licensed providers and award about 6 equipment mini-grants. We do not provide child care ourselves, and we only work with providers that hold a current state license. We make no promises about any family's situation. We promise to make the process clear and to pay providers on time.

Our Year 1 budget is about $236,000, growing to about $338,000 by Year 5 as more families and providers join. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 2 full-time staff and 1 part-time navigator in Year 1, and 4 staff by Year 3.

We are asking the Bluegrass Family Foundation for $80,000 for our Program Coordinator and for child care tuition assistance paid to licensed providers, for July 2027 through June 2028. Employers, hospitals, businesses and neighbors also give, so this grant is one part of a shared funding plan.

I am Marcus Webb, the Executive Director. The numbers in this proposal are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end, not promises.

Company Description

Safe Nights Child Care Access Fund is a nonprofit organization in Kentucky. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. A parent's work schedule should never decide whether a child is safe. We help working families with low incomes use licensed child care when they work at night.

What we do.
- Pay licensed providers directly for evening, overnight and early morning care for children from qualifying families, under a written agreement with each provider.
- Match families with licensed providers whose hours fit the parent's shifts.
- Provide a family navigator who helps with applications, explains other child care help a family may qualify for and follows up with parents and providers.
- Award small equipment grants to licensed providers so they can safely offer extended hours. These cover items such as cribs, cots, sleep monitors and door alarms, and they are paid to vendors or to the provider against receipts.
- Share what we learn with employers, hospitals and community partners.

What we do not do. We do not provide child care. We do not license, inspect or supervise providers, and we only work with providers that hold a current license from the state. We do not give cash to families. We do not decide whether a provider is safe, and we encourage every parent to visit the provider and ask questions.

How we got here. A group of nurses, factory supervisors, parents and a retired child care director began meeting to talk about shift-working parents who could not find night care. We kept a simple list of the families who contacted us and what they needed. This proposal asks for support to move from that informal effort into a program with a coordinator, a part-time navigator and a steady fund for tuition assistance.

Nonprofit status. Our 501(c)(3) determination letter and board list are in the attachments. If your own organization is new, the funding section includes a note about using a fiscal sponsor.

Problem & Opportunity

A large share of the jobs a community depends on happen outside the hours when child care is open. Hospitals, nursing homes, factories, warehouses, hotels, restaurants and security companies all need staff in the evening, at night and early in the morning. Many of those workers are parents, and many earn hourly wages.

Most child care centers and home providers close in the early evening. Only a few licensed providers offer evening or overnight care, and those that do often have few openings. Where they exist, the cost can be more than a parent earning an hourly wage can pay.

What families tell us.
- A nursing assistant works 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. three nights a week. A neighbor watches her children, and the arrangement ends whenever the neighbor is sick.
- A father on the warehouse night shift leaves his daughter with a cousin who also works days. He is afraid to ask for more.
- A single mother turned down a better-paying night job because she could not find care and stayed in a lower-paying day job.
- A security officer finds out on Friday that his Saturday night shift has been added and has no one to call.

The effects reach beyond one family. Children may sleep in unfamiliar places or arrive at school tired. Parents miss shifts, lose pay or leave jobs. Employers lose reliable workers. Providers who could offer extended hours may not have the equipment or the stable payments to do it safely.

What is missing. Parents need help paying for licensed night care. They also need help finding it and sorting through paperwork. Providers need steady payments and a few key supplies to open evening and overnight spaces. No one organization in our area connects these pieces.

We do not claim to solve the whole problem. We believe a small, carefully run fund can help a group of families and encourage more providers to offer safe night care.

Products & Services

Our program has three parts that work together.

Part 1: tuition assistance paid directly to licensed providers.
1. Application. A parent applies with help from our navigator. We ask for proof of work hours, such as a pay stub or an employer letter, and for household income. Families qualify under income guidelines our board sets and reviews each year. The parent shares a small weekly amount on a sliding scale, so every family has a stake.
2. Matching. The navigator helps the parent choose a licensed provider whose hours, location and ages served fit. Parents visit the provider before enrolling.
3. Payment. We pay the provider directly under our written agreement, on a monthly schedule, and never give cash to the family. We confirm that the provider's license is current before every payment.
4. Follow-up. The navigator checks in with the parent and the provider after the first week and monthly after that, and helps solve problems early.

Part 2: a family navigator. The navigator explains our program in plain words, helps families with applications, tells them about other child care assistance they may qualify for and connects them to other services such as food help and health coverage. The navigator helps parents prepare for changes in their shifts.

Part 3: safe sleep equipment for providers. Licensed providers who want to add evening or overnight hours can apply for a small grant of about $1,300 on average for cribs, cots, bedding, door alarms or monitors. We pay vendors or reimburse the provider against receipts. A provider must hold a current license and agree to our standards, which include safe sleep practices, background checks for all staff and a posted emergency plan.

What we promise. We will pay providers on time, check licenses, answer calls and report honestly on what happens.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that a family will qualify, that a spot will be open or that care will be available on every night a parent needs. We do not take the place of a parent's own judgment about a provider.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Working parents with low incomes who work evenings, nights or early mornings and have at least one child from birth to age 12 who needs care while they work. Eligibility is set by income guidelines our board approves and reviews each year, and by proof of work hours.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every family who needs night care, so we plan from what we can see. Hospital and factory supervisors who sit on our advisory group told us how many of their employees ask about night care. We have a waiting list of parents who contacted us before we had funding. For Year 1 we plan to support about 60 children from about 45 families. By Year 5 we plan to support about 150 children.

Who else benefits. Employers benefit when staff arrive on time and stay in their jobs. Licensed providers benefit from steady payments and equipment to open evening and overnight spaces. Children benefit from safe, consistent care.

Where families come from.
- Hospital and nursing home managers and human resources offices.
- Factory, warehouse and security company supervisors.
- Community centers, faith communities and school social workers.
- Public benefits offices and workforce centers.
- Other families who tell a friend or coworker.

What the numbers mean. Every number here stands for a family trying to hold a job and take care of a child. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can learn and improve.

Competitive Landscape

What families have today, and how we are different.

1. Public child care assistance. Many families can use a state child care assistance program if they qualify. Those programs can be very helpful. They do not always cover overnight hours, can have waiting lists and can be hard to navigate. Our navigator helps families apply for those programs when they may qualify, and our fund fills gaps while they wait. We do not replace them.

2. Employers. Some large employers offer child care help. Most small and mid-size employers cannot. We hope to partner with employers who want to support night-shift staff.

3. Licensed child care centers and home providers. They are the heart of this work. Few offer evening or overnight care. We pay for the hours that other help does not cover and help more providers offer them.

4. Family, friends and neighbors. They are the first and best source of help when they are available, and many of our families do not have them nearby or cannot count on them every night.

5. Other nonprofits. Some local organizations give emergency help with child care costs or run daytime programs. We talk with them regularly and send families to them when they are a better fit.

What makes us different.
- We focus on evening, overnight and early morning hours.
- We pay licensed providers directly and confirm licenses before payment.
- We help providers open safe night spaces with equipment grants.
- A navigator helps parents through paperwork and changes in their schedules.
- We report openly on what we learn.

We have spoken with other organizations to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How families and providers will find us.

Reaching parents.
- Employers and workplaces. We will ask human resources offices, hospital and nursing home managers and shift supervisors to share our one-page flyer and to refer employees.
- Community partners. We will meet with public benefits offices, workforce centers, school social workers, community centers and faith communities.
- Printed and online materials. Simple flyers, a plain-language website and a phone line with a text option, available in English and Spanish.
- Word of mouth. Many parents will find us through a coworker or friend. We thank them and never pressure families to share.

Reaching providers.
- Directly contact licensed centers and home providers that already offer or are considering evening and overnight care.
- Share information through the state child care licensing office and local provider associations.
- Hold a short information session twice a year to explain the equipment grants and our provider agreement.

How we decide who receives help. Applications are reviewed in the order received, based on the board's income guidelines and proof of work hours, and we keep a waiting list when funds are used up. We never pressure families to enroll with a particular provider.

Keeping families and providers engaged.
- Monthly check-ins by the navigator.
- A simple online and text system for providers to confirm attendance.
- A short family feedback form twice a year.
- A yearly gathering to thank families, providers and partners.

What we watch. Applications received, children enrolled, providers participating and how many families stay in care for at least six months. We use that to decide where to spend outreach time.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the Program Coordinator and part-time navigator, buy equipment, finalize our provider agreement and family agreement with our attorney and recruit our first licensed providers.
- Month 3 (September): Open applications. Enroll the first families and begin payments to providers.
- Months 4 to 10: Enroll families, award equipment mini-grants, pay providers monthly and hold monthly check-ins with parents and providers.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey families, providers and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Our small office is shared space in a community building. Navigator meetings with parents can take place by phone, text or in a community room that fits their schedules.

Equipment. We buy about $3,600 of equipment once at the start: laptops and tablets for records, scheduling and intake. Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Coordinator, paid $40,000 a year, manages enrollment, payments and provider relationships. A part-time family navigator, paid $24,000 a year, works directly with parents. We add a second part-time navigator in Year 3.

Safety, privacy and checks.
- We only work with providers that hold a current state license, and we check the license before every payment.
- We ask providers to confirm that all staff have passed background checks required by the state.
- We keep family information in a secure system, share it only with permission and follow the privacy rules that apply.
- We encourage every parent to visit a provider before enrolling and to ask questions.
- If we receive a report of a safety concern, we ask the family and the provider for information, tell the parent about the licensing office and pause payments if needed.
- We never give cash to families. If a family needs help with another essential need, we connect them with partners.

Payments. We pay providers by check or bank transfer under our agreement. Tuition assistance is about $90,000 in Year 1, provider equipment mini-grants about $8,000, outreach and mileage about $5,000 and administration and insurance about $10,000.

Evaluation. We count children served, nights of care paid for, providers participating and equipment grants awarded. We ask parents whether care fit their schedule and whether they felt confident in their child's care. We share results with our board and funders twice a year.

Management & Organization

Marcus Webb, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I know this problem personally because I watched my own family piece together night care. I will learn the child care licensing rules in Kentucky and keep close contact with the licensing office.

Program Coordinator. The coordinator enrolls families, manages payments and provider agreements and supports the navigator. We will hire someone with experience in family services or child care administration and strong organizational skills. Paid $40,000 a year, this position is part of our grant request.

Family Navigator. A part-time staff member who works directly with parents and providers. We will hire someone who is patient, speaks the languages of the families we serve and understands public benefits. The navigator is paid $24,000 a year.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a nurse manager, a factory supervisor, a retired child care center director, a parent who works nights, a banker who serves as treasurer and an attorney. The board meets every other month, approves our budget, sets our family income guidelines and reviews our provider agreement. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory group. Representatives from a hospital, a manufacturer, a workforce center and a licensed child care provider advise us twice a year.

Why we can do this. We have kept records of the families who contacted us, built relationships with employers and providers and written a clear plan. We are starting small and expanding as we show that we can pay providers on time and serve families well.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Support about 60 children from about 45 families with tuition assistance.
- Work with at least 4 licensed providers.
- Award about 6 equipment mini-grants to licensed providers.
- Pay every provider within 15 days of receiving a correct invoice.
- Help at least 80 percent of enrolled families stay in care for at least six months.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 85 percent of parents who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Children served, nights of care paid for and providers participating, from our records.
- Equipment grants awarded and what they purchased.
- Parent feedback, from a short, confidential form twice a year.
- Provider feedback, collected twice a year.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 80 children and 6 providers.
- Year 3: About 100 children and 8 providers, and a second part-time navigator.
- Year 4: About 125 children and 10 providers.
- Year 5: About 150 children and 12 providers.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the coordinator and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our provider network or our payment schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 57 percent of our budget, down from about 65 percent in Year 1, as employers, health systems and individual donors give more. We will also keep track of public child care assistance rules and help families use them whenever they qualify.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $80,000 from the Bluegrass Family Foundation for a Program Coordinator and child care tuition assistance paid directly to licensed providers, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Coordinator salary, $40,000.
- Other: Child care tuition assistance paid directly to licensed providers, $40,000 (other funds add $50,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 52% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $236,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,300 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grants $154,000 (this request plus other grants we are applying for), employer and Health System Partners $50,000; individual and Business Donations $32,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $52,000; program Coordinator $40,000; family Navigator (part-time) $24,000; child Care Tuition Assistance (paid to licensed providers) about $90,000; provider Safe Sleep Equipment Mini-Grants about $8,000; outreach and Mileage about $5,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $1,600 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $10,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,600 for laptops and tablets for records, scheduling and intake; $2,400 for attorney review of the provider agreement, family agreement and privacy policy; $1,900 for bilingual flyers, banners and a simple website; $800 for opening stock of forms and family welcome packets; $1,800 for background checks for the first staff and volunteers and first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($10,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $2,440) and a cash cushion of about $57,250, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $70,500. We start with $15,000 from our founding board and $56,000 in startup support from a local family foundation and a hospital community benefit gift, $71,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $236,000 in Year 1 to about $338,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $154,000, $160,000, $172,000, $182,000 and $192,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: employer and Health System Partners from $50,000 to $90,000; individual and Business Donations from $32,000 to $56,000. Our surplus is planned at about $6,300 in Year 1, about $14,400 in Year 2, about $2,700 in Year 3, about $11,000 in Year 4 and about $16,900 in Year 5. We add a second part-time navigator in Year 3 as the number of families and providers grows.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $65,000, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $9,440 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per child. In Year 1, our total costs are about $3,800 per child served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more childs served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $2,100 per child.

After the grant. Employers, health systems and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Parents and providers share their stories, and employers can sponsor child care for a set number of children by name. We will keep track of public child care assistance rules and help families use them whenever they qualify. We have not counted on any change in those programs in this budget.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- A provider closes or loses its license. We check licenses before every payment, keep agreements with more than one provider and help families move to another licensed provider.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member.
- Demand grows faster than money. We use a waiting list and a monthly budget limit.
- Families do not stay in care. The navigator calls, texts and works with employers on schedules.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow employer and donor support each year.
- A safety concern at a provider. We ask for information, tell the parent about the licensing office and pause payments if needed.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of participants and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from employers, hospitals and licensed providers.
- Your provider agreement, family agreement and privacy policy.
- Your income guidelines, application form and sliding-scale chart.
- A list of the licensed providers you plan to work with and a copy of each license.
- Your safety plan and your process for responding to concerns.
- Quotes for equipment.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $154,000 in Year 1, growing to $192,000 in Year 5.
- Employer and Health System Partners: $50,000 in Year 1, growing to $90,000 in Year 5.
- Individual and Business Donations: $32,000 in Year 1, growing to $56,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $52,000; program Coordinator $40,000; family Navigator (part-time) $24,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: child Care Tuition Assistance (paid to licensed providers) $90,000; provider Safe Sleep Equipment Mini-Grants $8,000; outreach and Mileage $5,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 14% a year.
- Equipment: $3,600 at the start, then $1,000 to $1,200 a year.
- Startup costs: $10,500, paid once from $71,000 in startup money.
- Children supported: about 60 in Year 1 from about 45 families, growing to about 150 in Year 5.
- Licensed providers: at least 4 in Year 1, growing to 12 by Year 5. Equipment mini-grants average about $1,300.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs