RECAP of the April EEC Board Meeting: Executive Order 625 and Workforce Development

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: (1) an overview of the Executive Order that established an interagency task force on early education and care and (2) updates regarding EEC’s strategic initiatives on workforce development. Here’s what you need to know…

If You Are a Provider:

1. EEC Commissioner, Amy Kershaw, announced that re-procurement of the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) program’s contracted slots has begun. CCFA may take the form of a voucher, which can be used at any provider that participates in the CCFA program, or a contracted slot, which is essentially a space that the provider has agreed with EEC to hold for CCFA. EEC posted the RFP on COMMBUYS and expects to make award notifications by July 1st, with new contracts starting in September of 2024.

2. EEC has been working to define a career pathway and credentialing system for ECE educators. Credentials are formal qualifications – such as a Child Development Associate (CDA) – signaling attainment of requirements necessary to do the job and recognized as such by the State. EEC is currently socializing the revised pathway and credentials – including a regulatory revision to match the new credentials – and is conducting a staged launch of the new pathways and credentials. This is scheduled to occur through June of 2025 and includes:

• Defining professional learning and verification requirements for foundational levels of the credential;

• Building out accessible professional learning and higher education opportunities that support advancement on the credential;

• Developing a comprehensive map of professional pathways including higher levels of expertise; and

• Building a registry to support documentation and verification of qualifications. 

If You are a Parent/Guardian or Child Care Advocate:

1. Undersecretary of Education Mark Reilly, provided an overview of the new Executive Task Force created by Governor Maura Healey’s Executive Order (EO) 625. The EO compelled the Governor’s Cabinet to collaborate as part of a Task Force to improve child care access and affordability in Massachusetts. The Task Force is co-chaired by the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Secretary of Economic Development. The Task Force ​ will engage with leaders from a variety of sectors to develop recommendations, and may coordinate cross-secretariat pilot programs. Its priorities include:

• Surveying practices of other states;

• Assessing how better coordination among state agencies could support families in accessing child care;

• Identifying resources for building capacity and increasing affordability in the child care system; and

• Identifying strategies to recruit, train, upskill, and retain members of the child care workforce.

The Task Force will divide itself into work groups to tackle each priority and will report on its progress to the full Task Force. 

2. As part of its initiative to support pathways for entry into the ECE professions, EEC convened conversation among ECE leaders of center-based providers to get feedback on apprenticeship programs. The feedback they received has led to increased commitment to the apprenticeship model and a further financial commitment of nearly $1.5M from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD). 

3. In an effort to expand and accelerate access to supported workforce programs, including apprenticeship, EEC intends to use up to $10M from its federal Preschool Development Block Grant to: fund intermediary organizations to provide regional infrastructure for workforce training programs; to design and implement additional workforce training programs – e.g., apprenticeships – that are aligned to the new credential; and provide flexible funding for providers. EEC hopes to post the RFR for intermediary organizations this spring (2024).   

If You Are an Educator:

1. EEC announced that they have made updates to EEC’s Learning Management System (LMS), StrongStart, which is an online portal that allows EEC to deliver, track, and verify Professional Development. The LMS has two types of courses: self-paced eLearning asynchronous courses and EEC-funded, instructor-led courses. EEC is required to provide these courses and is transitioning from its current package, “EEC Essentials” to Essentials 2.0, whose changes include: separating out the package of courses for after- and out of school time educators from that for center and FCC educators; developing an annual refresher package (to replace required repeat); and building user engagement/interaction into the courses.  

2. EEC has proposed changes to the ECE scholarship, through which the Department of Higher Education provides funding to educators pursuing degrees. These proposals include:

• Expand eligibility to include staff working in EEC- licensed residential programs;

• Single employment verification;

• Awards will cover tuition, fees, and course materials; and

• Expansion of eligible majors to include educational pathways for out-of-school time educators and those in residential programs.

3. EEC is working with the Career Pathways grantees (15 community colleges and Urban College of Boston) and the Massachusetts Association for Community Colleges (MACC) to build opportunities for educators to receive credit for prior experiences or prior knowledge for a course within a certificate or degree at the colleges. This will require participation in an EEC approved workforce development program, work as an educator and development of a portfolio; or completion of a Chapter 74 vocational program in early education. In addition, the grantees and MACC are collaborating to build a foundational certificate for early childhood, the “Aligned Early Education Foundational Certificate.”  This certificate will provide an entry point for aspiring educators to both higher education opportunities and advancement to the first level of the credential. 

4. With respect to the new credential it is developing, EEC noted that current certifications they offer – which are optional – will connect to a future credential. Certifications earned prior to and during the credentialing implementation will be accounted for in the new credentialing structure.