The City of Saint Paul is launching the Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program, a nationally-recognized pilot project that gives families information and scholarships to help them choose, pay for, and stay in high-quality child care and early education programs. Families will also receive home visits from parent mentors.

Information is available in Hmong, Somali and Spanish.

This online tool helps families select quality child care and early education programs in their area. The City of Saint Paul is piloting Parent Aware in partnership with the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network, Minnesota Department of Human Services, and the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF).

The City of Saint Paul will provide oversight and coordination of the Pre-K Exploratory Allowances Project in Saint Paul. This project provides publicly-funded allowances for parents to purchase early care and education services that will help their children prepare for school. This project is administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education and the MELF. Funding for this project is provided through the Department of Human Services. Administrative partners include Resources for Child Caring. 
                                                
                                                Allowances Brochure      
                                       Pre-K Allowances Application for families
                                                   Allowances FAQ for providers

Blast Off to Kindergarten provides resources to parents and communities to help children become ready for kindergarten. Information focuses on health, child development, language and reading, and overall kindergarten readiness. 

For more information, contact Lisa Cariveau, Early Education Project Coordinator, at (651) 266-8536