Paying Yourself, Your Staff, and Your Bills: Helping Child Care Programs Understand and Navigate SBA Loan Options: A Webinar Recap

The first part of the webinar provided an in-depth look into both the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. You can see more detailed information, including how to pick the loan program that’s best for you and tips on how to apply, by accessing these handouts:

• PPP handout 
• EIDL handout 

Carl Hairston, EVP and Chief Lending Office for the Commercial Banking Group, offered a first-hand view of what the banks are experiencing as they work to provide PPP loans to small businesses. Some items he highlighted include:

• You may have to provide additional criteria beyond what’s asked for in the SBA loan form – it just depends on the bank.
• Your experiences will differ depending on the bank you use.
• Make sure to have all your documentation and that you fill out forms as precisely as possible. If the SBA finds errors or issues with your application, you’ll get booted out of its queue and sent to the back of the line.

He also clarified an important rule around the $10,000 you can get as an advance if you apply for an EIDL. The SBA advised that it’s up to $10,000, depending on the number of employees you have and other factors as determined by the SBA. When it comes to timing, Carl indicated there isn’t a definitive turnaround time for the loans.

Mary Graham, Executive Director at Children’s Village in Philadelphia, joined the webinar to talk about her experience applying for a PPP loan. She indicated the process was a difficult one for several reasons, including issues with banks’ online forms (no surprise given how quickly they were developed) and having to resubmit information several times to get it to go through. She provided important advice for businesses looking to apply:

• Document everything, and make sure it’s accurate.
• Make sure you have all the information with you as you sit down to fill out the forms.
• Plan to have your financials and other documentation for the period between April 2019 and March 2020 (versus the 2019 calendar year, which many may assume is what’s needed)

Nancy Griswold, NAEYC’s General Counsel, spoke to some of the main questions child care centers have asked around unemployment. One of the top questions relates to the difference between layoffs and furloughs. Nancy said that it depends on the state, but that typically in a furlough situation – which means employees work fewer hours or take unpaid time off – employees aren’t eligible for unemployment. However, the federal law allows states to interpret furloughs as temporary layoffs, so it’s important to check with your state’s stance. Nancy said many states are allowing employers to furlough employees, while still giving those employees the opportunity to file for unemployment. The benefit of this approach is that an employee can come back as well as continue to receive health benefits.

Nancy finished her section by highlighting to attendees that the coronavirus stimulus bill allows those on unemployment to collect an additional $600 per week. She said the idea is to get employees as close to 100 percent of their pre-unemployment paycheck as possible.

To close the webinar, NAEYC encouraged participants to reach out to their policymakers. The speedy introduction of the CARES Act has lent itself to gaps, errors and other issues, so it’s important child care centers make their voices heard to fix these issues as quickly as possible.

To watch the NAEYC’s webinar in its entirety, click here.

If you’re looking for additional coronavirus information, Procare has published a wealth of resources to help you during this stressful time:

• How Child Care Centers Can Protect Themselves Against Coronavirus Fraud 
• How to Apply for Financial Assistance Offered by the COVID-19 Stimulus Package 
• Coronavirus Resources for Child Care Centers and Parents 
• Parent Like a Provider: How to Work from Home with Kids During COVID-19