[ST. PAUL, MN]— Today, Governor Tim Walz announced that Minnesota received a $26.7 million federal grant to support critical early childhood services. Based on feedback from over 130 community listening sessions, the funding will be used to improve how state systems serve families with young children. It will invest in a whole-family approach to how the state delivers services, connecting young families to local resources in education, health, human services, housing, and transportation, among others. The grant is a partnership between three state agencies and the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet.

“Minnesotans agree that they want our state to be the best place for children to grow up, no matter who they are or where they’re from,” said Governor Tim Walz. “This federal support will help achieve that goal by putting children at the center of government and helping connect families with the support they need to thrive.”

“There is no more important investment than in our children. This grant is an opportunity to shift the burden of navigating state systems from children to our systems, so it’s as easy as possible for families with kids to find the support they need in their communities,” said Lt. Governor Flanagan.

The federal funding from the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five will create Help Me Connect, a series of regional hubs and an online system that will link families to a multitude of community services. The Minnesota Departments of Education, Health, and Human Services continue to conduct extensive stakeholder and community feedback while implementing improvements to government systems. The grant will be awarded to Minnesota over the next three years.

“I am excited to improve the way families find and connect to services in our communities,” said Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker. “Our students will be more successful when our partnerships begin with their families early. When we partner together, beginning with early learning, to help students succeed and thrive, we will expand opportunities, close gaps and end disparities throughout Minnesota’s public education system.”

“We are pleased with the opportunity through this grant to invest in communities across Minnesota facing the greatest inequities in outcomes for young children,” said Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “This funding will help us align and coordinate early childhood services so that communities can better access what they need to support their families and enable children to achieve their highest potential.”

“This grant gives us an opportunity to respond in a new way to what we’ve heard from communities around Minnesota,” said Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “We look forward to creating a more streamlined and coordinated way for families to access and navigate services across the various agencies.”

“The PDG grant provides an important opportunity to lift up family voice and respond to what parents and communities are saying are their priorities for early childhood,” said Erin Bailey, Executive Director of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet. “We look forward to working with the three agencies to drive the work through the broader cross-agency network of the Children’s Cabinet.”