$10 Million In COVID Relief Aid To Support NJ Childcare Providers

PARAMUS, NJ — Additional funding is on the way for New Jersey's childcare providers. Gov. Phil Murphy was in Paramus on Tuesday to sign new legislation which directs $10 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to the state's industry.

"The importance of affordable and accessible childcare cannot be overlooked," said Murphy.

"I don't think there's anyone who would argue that these services — and the men and women who stood tall to provide them — have been anything but essential."

Dawn Cleveland, the owner of Hackensack's Little Learners Child Development Center, was invited by Murphy to speak.

"We are the beginning stepping stones for achieving educational growth with young children," she said. "Childcare is essential not only to our economy and to our families, but most of all to our children."

The job has become harder since the coronavirus pandemic. Enrollment shrunk, expenses became hard to pay, and Cleveland was forced to cut staff. These funds are intended to offer a lifeline to businesses like hers.

Also in attendance were Congressman Josh Gottheimer, NJ Senator Joseph Lagana, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco and Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera.

"During the height of the pandemic, more than half of child care providers had to close their doors, hurting our families and our economy," said Gottheimer. "But now, thanks to the bipartisan CARES Act, federal resources are being delivered to support our families and child care providers, and to help them recover."

The Murphy Administration has spent nearly $200 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds on child care capacity since last fall, according to a news release.

To date, over 3,000 child care providers have received grants to meet new COVID-19 health and safety precautions and stabilize their operations, and a similar amount received enhanced subsidy payments between September and February, Murphy's office said.

This new relief aid will be administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which so far has provided more than $250 million in aid to 55,000 New Jersey businesses. EDA will open an application pre-registration process for the grant money later this month.

The signing was held at the Paramus Public Library. Watch the full event here:

Johnson & Johnson

Murphy also addressed the state's pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The FDA reported that, as of Monday, more than 6.8 million doses of New Brunswick-based company's vaccine have been administered in the U.S. The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the vaccine.

"The adverse reactions being investigated appear to be extremely rare," said Murphy.

Roughly 235,000 doses have been administered in the state, with none of those patients reporting any similar effects.

"No one who has received this vaccine should panic or worry," Murphy said, calling the pause a "precautionary and smart step."

"Even with this pause, our overall goal of vaccination 4.7 million adult New Jerseyans remains not only in place, but entirely achievable," he added.

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