Mental Health America of Boone County will use a $100,000 grant to address gaps in to high-quality early learning programs.

Indiana's largest early learning nonprofit announced more than a million dollars in grant awards Tuesday, aimed at closing care gaps across the state.

According to Early Learning Indiana, more than $1 billion in federal COVID-19 relief is coming to Indiana specifically for child care an amount providers likely won't see again.

The Closing the Gap report from Early Learning Indiana looks at several factors to calculate communities' early learning resources, including how many seats are available, quality of programs, affordability and how many options families have.

Indiana's largest early learning nonprofit is awarding a handful of groups $100,000 in grant funding, aimed at streamlining business services for child care providers to save them time and money.

Federal COVID-19 relief funding is providing K-12 schools with an influx of critically-needed cash, but millions of dollars are also providing support for early childhood education. Part of the funding will go toward a child care scholarship program for essential workers in the state.

An early learning nonprofit has awarded more than $13.1 million in grant money to child care and early learning providers around Indiana, to help them navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lilly Endowment is providing a $15.7 million grant to Indiana's largest early childhood education nonprofit to reinforce child care opportunities, especially for vulnerable children, amid the coronavirus outbreak.

WFYI's Eric Weddle spoke with Early Learning Indiana CEO Maureen Weber about caring for children under the age of 5 during the pandemic.

The state's largest early learning nonprofit says 2019 was a year of progress and should set up 2020 to be "transformative" for early learning providers and families looking for improved access.