Fort Worth’s City Council has approved a land lease agreement for a Las Vegas Trail Child Development Campus that will be operated by Child Care Associates (CCA) in the high-need community.
CCA will build and operate the new facility that is slated to be adjacent to the existing LVTRise Community Center. The city is leasing the land to Child Care Associates for $1 for a 30-year term.
One of the largest child development nonprofits in North Texas, CCA has served more than half a million young children over the past 54 years. Through Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, PreK and Child Care Management Services, CCA delivers quality early education programs to children and families of disadvantaged means, offsets the high cost of child care for lower-income working families and increases the quality of child care delivered across Tarrant County.
“For a neighborhood to thrive, there absolutely must be accessible, high-quality options for early learning and care to ensure we can support our working families. This project is an incredible value add to the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood, building off of the success of the LVTRise Community Center project, and I’m confident that LVTRise and Child Care Associates are the ideal organizations to bring this vision to life for the residents of Las Vegas Trail,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker.
Land preparation and construction of the facility is estimated to start by fall of this year, and is projected to take 18 months to build and finish out the approximately 8,600 SF child development facility. The facility will have eight classrooms, and Child Care Associates estimates it will serve 100 children through Head Start and Early Head Start.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs are free, nationally funded programs designed to promote school readiness for children from low-income families. Early Head Start serves pregnant women and families with children under age 3. Head Start programs serve children between 3 and 5 years old. Home visiting services to support expectant mothers is an additional program option.
“CCA will be working hand in hand with existing quality child care providers in the area and those we will serve in this community to assure together we are offering the range of child care services needed to provide a whole working day of support for families,” said CCA President and CEO Kara Waddell.
In October of 2021, the city announced the initiation of a Feasibility Study with a goal to develop a comprehensive plan to guide its revitalization efforts of the Las Vegas Trail area. In December 2021, the city designated $3.5 million in grant funding to the Las Vegas Trail area, unrelated to the LVT Child Development Campus.
