Gov. Evers Delivers Radio Address Highlighting Over $8.7 Million in First Round of Child Care Bridge Payments to Over 3,000 Providers Statewide, Supporting Care of Over 126,000 Wisconsin Kids and Retaining Over 25,000 Child Care Staff

Audio File of Radio Address.

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered his weekly radio address highlighting the first round of direct payments awarded to providers through the Child Care Bridge Payments Program. Funds from this first month’s payment, totaling $8.7 million, were awarded to more than 3,100 providers across the state and will support the retention of 25,531 staff and the care of 126,181 kids.

The Child Care Bridge Payments Program, which will provide $110 million in monthly direct payments to Wisconsin child care providers through June 2026, was made possible through the more than $360 million investment that Gov. Evers fought for and secured in the 2025-27 bipartisan state budget to help stabilize Wisconsin’s child care industry and lower the cost of child care for working families. Due to the quick work of Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF), there will not be any gaps in direct funding for child care providers caused by the winding down of the Child Care Counts Program. Under the new Child Care Bridge Payments Program, the first round of direct payments is 87 percent of what providers were receiving under the last round of payments from the Child Care Counts Program.

The Child Care Bridge Payments Program is similar to the successful Child Care Counts Program, which was launched by Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration in 2020 and helped more than 5,700 child care providers keep their doors open, ensured the employment of more than 75,000 child care professionals, and allowed providers to continue care for more than 430,000 kids. The Child Care Bridge Payments Program will provide the financial stability providers need to stay open, recruit and retain qualified staff, and continue providing high-quality care for Wisconsin’s kids.

Gov. Evers declared 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin and has made investing in the state’s child care industry to help fill available child care slots, cut child care wait lists, and lower the cost of care for working families a top priority of his administration and of this budget. All in all, over $360 million was secured by Gov. Evers in the final 2025-27 Biennial Budget. In addition to the $110 million in direct payments to child care providers, the over $360 million in child care investments includes:

• $66 million to fund a new “Get Kids Ready” initiative, the first-ever entirely state funded child care program in Wisconsin state history, which will support child care providers serving four-year-olds to help prepare Wisconsin’s kids for kindergarten and get an earlier jump start on learning at a critical time in development;
  • The new first-of-its-kind program in Wisconsin is also designed to help ensure the state’s child care industry will receive sustainable, ongoing state investments into the future after Child Care Counts ends.
  • Kids in the program will be taught by child care providers using a curriculum that meets the Wisconsin model early learning standards.
• $2 million to Wonderschool designed to help child care providers across the state build capacity to be able to cut child care wait lists and ensure more kids and families have access to affordable child care;
  • The grant will expand access to high-quality child care in the state, including launching an online software platform that is linked to the department’s website to connect child care providers with child care workers.
• $2 million intended to help bolster Wisconsin’s Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, which help parents find child care locally and provide training and technical assistance opportunities to child care providers;
• Over $123 million to increase rates under the Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program to help lower out-of-pocket child care costs for working families across the state; and
  • The investment will raise rates for the Wisconsin Shares program to ensure Wisconsin meets its statutory obligation, designed to ensure families can access 75 percent of child care slots within a given geographical area and lower the cost of child care for parents.
• $28.5 million for a pilot program to help support expanding capacity across Wisconsin’s child care industry to ensure more families with infants and toddlers can access quality, affordable child care.
  • The proposal will increase payments to providers caring for infants and toddlers across the state through the Wisconsin Shares program.
  • Under the plan, providers would receive payments of $200 per month for every infant under 18 months and $100 per month for every toddler between 18 months and 30 months.
  • The investment will also help ensure more families and kids have access to affordable child care by helping providers accommodate more infants and toddlers under a new temporary pilot program aimed at aligning Wisconsin with peer states like Minnesota, enabling providers to care for seven toddlers between 18 and 30 months of age per staff member.

Additionally, new changes in the 2025-27 Biennial Budget will help expand access to child care for working families by allowing for ‘large family care centers’ that can serve up to 12 kids and standardize the minimum age for assistant child care teachers to 16 years of age while retaining all requirements for assistant teachers.

Hey there, folks! Governor Tony Evers here.

I’ve spent my entire career fighting for Wisconsin’s kids because I’ve always believed that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state.

And I’ve made investing in the state’s child care industry to help fill available child care slots, cut child care waitlists, and lower the cost of care for working families a top priority for my administration.

So, I was proud to declare 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin and to sign our bipartisan, pro-kid budget that invests more than $360 million in the state’s child care industry.

And when Republican lawmakers said this budget would not include any direct payments to child care providers to help stabilize the industry, I made it clear I would not sign a budget without it.

So, I’m proud that we secured $110 million of this investment for direct payments to child care providers.

And, this week, we’re excited the first round of that funding is going out the door to prevent any gaps in payments with the end of the successful Child Care Counts Program.

Thanks to the hard work of the folks at DCF, more than 3,000 providers across the state will be receiving $8.7 million to keep their doors open and lights on.

Folks, our workforce and economy can’t afford more parents leaving their jobs because they can’t afford child care.

In 2025 the Year of the Kid, ensuring we do what’s best for Wisconsin kids and the folks and families who raise them is as important as ever.

So, our work is not over. We’ve got a heck of a lot more to do if we want to see the long-term sustainability of our child care industry—and that work continues in earnest.

Thank you.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.