RECAP of the February EEC Board Meeting: Governor’s Budget and the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative
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) budget updates for FY25; (2) information and discussion about the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI); and (3) an update on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State Plan Notification. Here’s what you need to know…
If You Are a Provider:
The timeline for re-procurement of the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) program contracted slots has been pushed back to accommodate complications. EEC aims to post the RFP in mid-March and expects to make award notifications by July 1st, with new contracts starting in September of 2024.
Governor Healey has proposed significant investments in early childhood education and care for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Many of these fall under the banner of her administration’s “Gateway to Pre-K Initiative” and include:
$75 million to serve more families eligible for proposed expanded access for CCFA (raising eligibility from 50% to 85% of state median income);
$475 million to continue the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) program at its current level of funding;
$38.7 million for expansion of the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI). CPPI funding will allow expanded funding for existing programs to further enhance their services and will enable new communities to start their own programs. Priority will be given to Gateway cities (, but other communities may apply.
The Governor’s budget also directs additional funds as follows:
$20 million to increase Child Care Financial Assistance rates, which will allow EEC to annualize the $65 million rate increases implemented this year (which went into effect on February 1st and are retroactive to July 1, 2023);
$30 million for Literacy Launch, a partnership between the Executive Office of Education (EOE); the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and EEC to expand promising early literacy programs; and
$5 million for mental health systems and wraparound student supports.
None of these proposals are guaranteed, as the budget process needs to proceed through the Legislature; the next step in the process is for the House Ways and Means committee to release its budget in mid-April.
If You are a Child Care Advocate:
The Commonwealth announced an expanded commitment to building the state workforce through apprenticeship programs, including for early childhood education. This month, the state announced 25 new apprenticeship programs and a $5M investment in them; five of the programs and $1M are dedicated to early education and care.
This month, EEC Commissioner Amy Kershaw testified before Massachusetts’ Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets, which was hearing testimony on the Governor’s future tech legislation, an IT bond bill to support IT infrastructure for government agencies. Included in the legislation is a proposal to fund new IT systems for EEC at $12M; the funds would specifically be focused on meeting the need for a new digital system for the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) program, to modernize the system and improve the experience for stakeholders.
The Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) program has reached a caseload of 58,000, which is the number that was planned for and for which appropriations allow; EEC will work to maintain those numbers. (The Governor’s FY25 budget proposal includes $75M for new access, which is intended to enable EEC to increase its caseload to 62,000 next year.)
The history of the CPPI program dates back to 2015, when the first iteration of the program was funded through a federal Preschool Expansion Grant and its goal was to work through the mixed-delivery system to expand preschool in target communities. Federal funding ended in 2019, so funding for the program transitioned to a state budget line item in a smaller amount. The current program relies on braiding funding from the multiple sources and the grant structure is as follows:
EEC funds Pre-K to 12 public school districts; then
Local leadership determines grant priorities and funding allocation; then
Districts subgrant funds and monitor progress, overseen by a coordinator role.
EEC is required to update its Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) state plan and submit it to the federal Office of Child Care by July 1, 2024. CCDF provides grants under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to be used by states for financial assistance for eligible low-income families and to improve quality for all children; about 50% of EEC’s budget in FY23 was tied to CCDF or TANF child care funds and Massachusetts’ CCDF plan defines how it will administer CCDF in accordance with requirements. The EEC Board will vote to approve the plan in June of 2024.
