What is Family Forward?

Family Forward is a grant-funded initiative administered jointly by the Greater Topeka Partnership and Child Care Aware® of Eastern Kansas to expand child care in Shawnee County.

ecosystem infographic showing how business, families and child care providers are inter-related in a healthy economy

Mission

Family Forward was established to address child care needs in Shawnee County by bringing businesses, child care providers, families and workforce together to solve this issue. Our funding comes from federal grants and the support of generous local donors.

 

How

Family Forward unites our community to address the child care shortage in the following:

  • The Champions for Child Care initiative encourages the business community to adopt family-friendly and family-forward policies as well as provide financial support for the Family Forward Fund.
  • We have established the Family Forward Fund in cooperation with Topeka Community Foundation to provide gap-filling financial help to working parents to cover child care costs.
  • We help child care providers start up and expand so that more quality child care is available.
  • Grant funding encourages more people to apply to work in the child care field with hiring incentives. (Limited time.)