Childcare

For most churches, there are three ways your congregation could get involved:

1. Consider offering or expanding onsite childcare: Providing onsite childcare would ensure your church continues to serve the surrounding community. Childcare can be delivered onsite through existing church staff, or the church can contract with a local childcare provider to offer onsite childcare independent of the church’s operations. Also, if your church currently provides onsite care, consider expanding the number of children served or the number of hours your site is operational.
2. Consider donating to a church facility renovation fund: Opening a new facility will have a number of one-time costs (e.g., facility improvements, purchasing a bus, recruiting and developing a staff team). To help reduce those initial financial burdens, Greenville First Steps is partnering with a coalition of local funders to offer grants and 0% interest loans to churches for these start-up funds. Consider donating to this fund. Your tax-deductible donation would be a huge benefit to these start-up programs.
3. Lend your expertise to new church sites: If your church currently offers childcare, consider lending your expertise to churches - become a mentor to new church leaders, childcare leaders, and service providers as they work to navigate the program. Email to let us know you are interested in serving as a mentor for other churches exploring this process, and we will help connect you.

Starting to think about getting into the childcare business can be overwhelming.  We suggest that you start with understanding the DSS application process to register your program.  In this section, you will find links to the DSS application and other required forms.  It is also important to know about local zoning laws that may impact where you can locate a childcare business.  DSS has an inspection process in place to confirm that your program, location, and procedures meet their requirements. 

There is a great need for quality childcare in Greenville.  Churches already have one component that is needed to provide this: space!  Having shared spaces that are used between the school/church ensures that each program/ministry has quality equipment, maintains cleanliness, and serves a greater purpose of community engagement.  Many of the families of the students who join our school end up visiting and joining our church as well.  The school is a great promotion for our church!

Quote from Cara Puntch – Westminster Presbyterian Church

Greenville First Steps can assist you in walking through the process. Greenville First Steps also has a group of existing childcare providers who are willing to work alongside you and your church as you begin the discernment process. Greenville First Steps can provide these supports at no cost, and often can connect you with funders who can assist with some of the start-up expenses. Contact us and we will set up a preliminary discussion.

DSS (the South Carolina Department of Social Services) serves as the lead entity in licensing and monitoring childcare programs. They have an orientation session for those considering opening a childcare program.  Start by attending one of those orientation sessions: https://www.scchildcare.org/providers/new-applicant-orientation/

Palmetto Shared Services Alliance (PSSA) is a state-wide agency that supports childcare providers by helping them save time and money through shared buying power, downloadable resources, and back-office supports.  One way they do that is by offering training in-person, virtually, and through self-paced online courses. Start by exploring their resources: www.palmettoservices.org.

SC Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) is a state-wide agency that supports childcare businesses.  One way they assist is by helping families connect with childcare programs in their area.  They also offer quality coaches that can help you improve the quality of your center and learn to follow sound business practices to keep your business growing. Start by requesting technical assistance from the CCR&R Quality Coaches: https://sc-ccrr.org/program-services

Think through a few questions:

• Is this site’s service area focused on serving current members of your congregation?
• Is this site a way to provide outreach to working-class families who may need financial assistance?
• Is this site a way to recruit younger families to participate in church programming? 

If you intend to offer financial assistance, consider reviewing these funding opportunities:

ABC Quality: The statewide childcare scholarship fund is administered by SC DSS. Your site’s participation in the SC voluntary quality rating and improvement system could make it possible to offer significant childcare scholarship dollars to families in your center. ABC Quality.

First Steps 4K: South Carolina has a robust scholarship program for working families, delivered through church, nonprofit, school-based, and for-profit childcare organizations offering 4K services. Visit PalmettoPrek.org to learn more.

Head Start/Early Head Start: Federally funded childcare targeted at low-wealth families is delivered through a local Head Start provider. In Greenville County, that provider is SHARE. SHARE may be willing to offer an onsite childcare setting in your church. Learn More.

There are many models of delivery for church-based childcare - some operate as a part of the mission of the church, and the operating costs are underwritten by the church’s budget and others serve as a revenue generator for the church, allowing unused spaces within the building to generate income to cover church’s operational costs. 

Budgets— Here are some budget templates to get you started. Remember, these are just templates and your budget will look different.

Childcare Aware Budget Worksheet

Opportunities Exchange Financial Management Toolkits

SCORE (Small Business Support) Startup Roadmap

Leases—You may be considering leasing your facility to a childcare agency to run the program or you may be considering leasing a facility to house your program. Either way, you will want to make sure you have the appropriate lease documents and permissions before moving forward. Sample lease coming soon.

Most churches see the connection between onsite childcare and the church’s mission of faith development. Historically, the South Carolina legislature has provided safeguards to ensure that churches offering onsite childcare can continue to offer faith-based programming (e.g., chapel services, using faith-focused lesson plans) within childcare settings. While all childcare sites must meet certain child safety guidelines (ratios, background checks, facility inspections), flexibility around programming is available for church sites. There may be limited restrictions in programming for children funded with DSS scholarships, please refer to DSS regulations for updated guidance.

As your church begins the process of exploring this opportunity, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Greenville First Steps. Email us at [email protected] and we can help your team map out your next steps or connect you with our local and statewide partners.

Resources mentioned at the January 23, 2024 faith-based childcare breakfast:

• PowerPoint Presentation
• The Need – video produced by SEARCHlight
• Palmetto Shared Services Alliance – FREE resources for any childcare center in Greenville County and access to online and in person childcare trainings
• SC Child Care Resource and Referral - Offers ECE programs professional development opportunities like training, technical assistance (TA), and coaching to help them provide an ever-increasing quality of care and education to South Carolina’s children.