Shawnee County health department seeks $1.7 million in state grants to fund child care licensing, emergency preparedness and prevention programs

Teresa Fischer, director of the Shawnee County Health Department, told commissioners on March 2 that the department is submitting an Aid to Local grant package to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment that the department estimates at "just over $1.7 million" for state fiscal year 2027, up from a request of "just over $1.5 million" the prior year and an award of "just over $1.3 million." Fischer said the grants cover programs that make up the majority of the health department’s external funding and apply to the July 1–June 30 grant year.

The package includes multiple program-specific requests and a mix of formula and competitive grants. Roger Barnhart, division manager for community health outreach and planning, highlighted child care licensing (CCL), reporting 261 licensed facilities in Shawnee County, down from 296 in 2024, and a licensed‑slot capacity he said is about 8,625. Barnhart said CCL funding is formula‑based using the population of children under 15 drawn from the 2020 U.S. Census, which he cited as roughly 34,150 children for the county, and…