Governor Signs Executive Order Establishing Prugråman i Pinilan i Famagu’on Guåhan
Hagåtña, Guam – Governor Lou Leon Guerrero signed Executive Order No. 2022-07 establishing Prugråman i Pinilan i Famagu’on Guåhan (Prugråman Pinilan) on March 18, 2022. The program provides funding to the island’s child care providers, expands and strengthens local child care resources, and supports families re-entering Guam’s workforce.
“Child care providers serve a critical role in stabilizing our workforce and, ultimately, our economy,” said Governor Leon Guerrero. “In recognition of the need to protect, improve, and sustain programs for our families, our administration invested $17.2 million in the foundation of local child care providers, who will serve as a critical component of our recovery. The creation of Prugråman Pinilan builds on our investment by expanding eligibility for assistance, tailoring requirements to meet Guam’s unique needs, and ensuring continuity of community support.”
“We recognize that on Guam child care doesn’t always occur in licensed child care settings, but oftentimes is provided by family. While we previously provided grant funding to stabilize licensed child care providers, Prugråman Pinilan is really intended to capture the deeply cultural ways in which child care is provided in Guam,” said Lt. Governor Josh Tenorio. “Prugråman Pinilan will allow even more families the access and choice to benefit from child care funding and direct critical resources to providers caring for vulnerable children, including foster children and children with disabilities.”
Prugråman Pinilan is administered by the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) and Guam Economic Development Authority (GEDA). GEDA will develop broad program eligibility criteria and distribute $81.5 million to grant recipients, including, but not limited to: before and after school care programs, relative care programs, extracurricular child care providers, employer child care assistance programs, and community care programs. DPHSS will consolidate childcare data, prepare financial reports, determine eligibility, and pay subsidies to approved child care providers. Prugråman Pinilan is a federally-funded, locally-implemented program supported by funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, and Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
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