Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday an initial distribution of $51 million of funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding to support child care providers around Pennsylvania.

Of that total, the five-county Times News coverage area distributions were as follows: Carbon, $88,200; Schuylkill, 307,400; Monroe, $560,600; Lehigh, $1,876,500; Northampton, $1,098,400.

Distributed in partnership with the General Assembly, this initial funding will reach nearly 7,000 child care centers.

The first-round funding awards range as follows: school age only, $2,700-$16,900, median $3,000, average $3,306; family child care homes, $1,700-$4,300, median $2,100, average, $2,235; group child care homes, $2,000-$7,700, median $2,800, average, $3,064; category 1 child care centers (licensed capacity 8-38), $2,300-$12,800, median $3,500, average, $4,020; category 2 child care centers (licensed capacity 39-61), $4,100-$20,800, median, $5,650, average, $6,594; category 3 child care centers (licensed capacity 62-92), $6,500-$36,700, median, $8,000, average, $9,767; category 4 child care centers (licensed capacity93-137), $9,700-$42,800, median $11,600, average $13,906; and category 5 child care centers (licensed capacity 138-596), $16,500-$51,600, median $18,500, average $20,693.

“Child care providers are the backbone of our economy in many ways,” Gov. Wolf said. “Without their work, children would miss out on an introduction to education that helps them throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and parents and guardians may have to stay home or not pursue education themselves. I cannot understate how valuable this work is to local communities and the commonwealth as a whole, and as Pennsylvania reopens, we need a robust and healthy child care system.”

Pennsylvania received $106 million in funding to support child care providers through the CARES Act that will be distributed to providers in two waves. The first wave of $51 million will be distributed to all eligible, licensed child care providers and is designed to help providers preparing to reopen as counties move to the yellow phase.

The remaining funding will be allocated following the completion of a study by the Department of Human Resources Office of Child Development and Early Learning and Penn State Harrisburg’s Institute of State and Regional Affairs assessing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pennsylvania’s child care providers.