RECAP of the April 9, 2025, EEC Board Meeting: Updates on the KPI Dashboards, PDG, EEC Capital Investment Programs, and C3
At Neighborhood Villages, we prioritize keeping up with the policy landscape in the early education and care field, both across the country and in Massachusetts. That includes tuning-in to the monthly meetings of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care (“EEC Board”), to stay apprised of updates and to identify opportunities for how we can work with government and other stakeholders to improve our early education and care system.
The primary topics of this month’s Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Board meeting were updates on: (1) the Key Performance Indicator Dashboards, (2) Preschool Development Grants Birth to Five, (3) EEC Capital Investment Programs, and (4) Commonwealth Cares for Children program.
For additional detail on any of the meeting topics, view the slides here or watch the recording on YouTube.
Here’s what you need to know…
If You Are a Provider:
EEC presented on the status of their Capital Investment Programs. Currently, most of the grants are in the application review phase, and they are close to awarding grants for the Family Child Care (FCC) Capital Grants. The EEC Capital Investment Programs are 4 capital grant opportunities totaling $18.4 million for licensed early education and care providers.
For the FCC Capital Grants, EEC will have a second round of funding; if an FCC did not apply or was not chosen for a grant award this round, they can apply for the second round.
EEC presented on the Early Childhood Emergency Fund, which supports programs that are forced to close or alter operations due to emergencies, such as a flood or fire. The Fund’s purpose is to minimize care disruptions and ensure children have access to safe, nurturing environments. It is funded by the Child Care Quality Fund through the purchase of “Invest in Children” Charitable License Plates through the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The fund is anticipated to generate $100,000 annually. In FY25, 6 providers received funding from this program, totaling $44,221.
EEC provided an update on the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) program. EEC expressed that, as they look to next year, the department wants to sustain the gains the program has made, while also seeking to learn from the day-to-day experiences of providers engaging with the new formula. EEC does not intend to make substantial changes to the program, as the new formula has only been in effect since November 2024. EEC is continuing to gather feedback and learn about the impact of the formula in practice and ways to improve it.
In the coming year, additional statutory requirements will come into effect, including those that encourage providers to meet salary benchmarks and demonstrate willingness to accept a child receiving Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA), if they have space and a family chooses the program. EEC is currently working on a salary scale. They have a draft that is commensurate with public school teacher salaries. There will be more information provided on it in the future.
EEC has received feedback on various issues regarding the C3 program and is seeking feedback from providers. They have added a feedback form to their website for providers.
EEC shared its timeline for receiving and implementing changes for C3. From May to June, they are going to continue to gather feedback and review the formula and other potential changes. They will bring any proposed changes to the Board for feedback. From July to August, EEC will communicate the changes to the sector and conduct a public comment period. In September to November, EEC plans to finalize the proposed changes for Board consideration and a vote, with a goal of launching any changes in November.
If You are an Early Childhood Educator:
EEC Board Chair Paul Belsito announced that the Early Childhood Educator Scholarship Program application will be open in May. The program is a partnership between EEC and the Department of Higher Education to provide financial assistance towards a college degree for prospective and currently employed educators who work in any program that is licensed or funded by EEC.
Chair Belsito announced that a series of trainings and professional development opportunities for early childhood educators on trauma informed and responsive trainings are available on EEC Strong Start’s portal. The EEC Behavioral Health Team also has scheduled drop-in hours where educators can drop in to learn more about behavioral mental health resources and professional development opportunities.
If You are a Parent/Guardian or Child Care Advocate:
1. EEC presented a high-level status update of the Preschool Development Grants (PDG) Birth to Five, a federally funded $36 million grant to support early education and care system building efforts and projects from January 2023 through December 2025. EEC reported that PDG has been “jumpstarting a lot of the work around EEC and a lot of the priorities that have been core to this Department’s work.” EEC has been able to partner with many different agencies to identify preschool literacy screening, develop a PreK to K Transition Toolkit, conduct a Health and Safety Needs Assessment across child care programs, provide apprenticeship support, and launch the Strategies for Trauma Responsive Early Educator Initiative. See an image detailing their progress below.
2. Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler announced that Allison Pinot, a consultant from Boston Consulting Group, will be working closely with Dana Sullivan, Chief of Strategy and Operations, from the Executive Office of Administration and Finance to drive the continuing work of the Early Education and Child Care Inter-Agency Task Force.
3. Secretary Tutwiler gave a brief update about the FY2026 state budget. He stated that EEC has highlighted the Governor’s budget proposal for FY2026 (H.1) and Supplemental Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (H.55) at two Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearings. He also shared that, in the supplemental budget, the Governor proposed $50 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) and $100 million for various initiatives in the early education and care sector. However, the House Committee on Ways and Means’ proposed supplemental budget (H.4005) did not advance the CPPI funding and reduced funding for the sector.
4. Board Member Dr. Kimberly Lucas discussed the Early Childhood Policy Research Summit hosted recently by Dr. Lucas, Dr. Kyle DeMeo Cook, and Dr. Wendy Wagner Robeson at Wellesley College. Representatives from Strategies for Children, the E2C Data Hub, and EEC presented and 111 people from across all sectors joined, including those from early education, government agencies, nonprofits, and higher education. Also, Neighborhood Villages presented a poster on our Cost of Care report.
5. EEC presented on updates to the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboards. EEC recapped the goals the department set in October, provided an update on the new information it has since added to the dashboard, and discussed how it is using the data in their work. The new information to the dashboards includes:
Proportion of EEC licensed/funded programs participating in CCFA;
Number of licensed Residential and Placement (R&P) programs
Capacity of licensed Residential programs;
Added region filters to all visuals, including educator wages;
Added open/close trend line to Program Openings and Closings visual; and
The ability to download some data from the Education 2 Career Data Hub.
6. EEC provided an update on the development of the Family Advisory Council, which is part of PDG. From May to September, they will develop an equitable application process, and they plan to launch the council in October. The council is meant to be a link between families, educators, and other stakeholders to help build a more inclusive, responsive, and effective early education system. It will have diverse family representatives from across the state, including parents, caregivers, and guardians of children currently enrolled in early education, residential, and out-of-school time programs.
7. MEF Associates and the Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research Team presented on the Early Childhood Needs Assessment they conducted, which is also part of PDG. They conducted a federally required Needs Assessment that was composed of a survey of 1,446 caregivers, 17 focus groups of 105 caregivers, and an Advisory group of caregivers and providers. Highlighted key takeaways include the following:
Caregivers were frustrated by the difficult search process and expressed a need for up-to-date, consolidated search options;
Caregivers felt like they had to “take what they could get” as long as it was available, safe, and semi-affordable;
While some people navigate their child care journeys with relative ease, the typical story is more complicated—characterized by a general lack of access to affordable options, piecing together arrangements, and career sacrifices; and
While caregivers expressed frustration with the search and decision-making process, they were largely positive about their child care.
8. MEF Associates and the Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research Team also presented the results of their evaluation of the Early Education and Care Staff Pilot Program. The pilot program provided priority access to CCFA for income-eligible staff working in licensed and funded early education and care programs. The evaluation included 406 surveys and 11 interviews of caregivers. They found that caregivers working in child care settings benefited from priority access to CCFA. They also found that access to CCFA supports the well-being and stability of the workforce.
More detailed information is available in the Board meeting slides and in easy-to-read briefs on the department’s website here. This information will be used in the next iteration of EEC’s strategic plan.
The next EEC Board meeting will take place in the Boston Office on May 14, 2025.