RECAP of the October 2024 EEC Board Meeting: Bolstering Career Pathways and a Data-Driven EEC

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) a vote regarding FY25 funding for Career Pathways, (2) an introduction to EEC’s first Research Agenda and Key Performance Indicators, and (3) updates on the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) caseload and contracted provider procurement. Here’s what you need to know…

If You Are a Provider:

1. Applications for capital grants for center-based programs are open. While the deadline for the application for Family Child Care (FCC) capital grants has passed, there are three grant opportunities remaining for center-based programs: large grants for non-profit early education and out-of-school time programs; small grants for non-profit early education and out-of-school time programs; and small grants for for-profit programs that serve over 50% of children receiving Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA). More information can be found here, including Zoom links for public information sessions beginning on October 22nd. 

2. EEC provided more details on the recent procurement of new contracts with providers serving low-income and special populations through the Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) program through contracted slots. (See last month’s Board Recap for more information on this program.) The new contracts represent a $402 million procurement (awarding of contracts) serving approximately 20,000 children through both licensed centers and FCCs that are part of FCC systems. In its process of awarding contracts, EEC prioritized family experience with ECE programs, for example by making it part of contracts that programs have “clearly defined customer service and communication expectations to ensure all families have a respectful and consistent experience.”  EEC will provide additional technical assistance to support these increased requirements. Through this procurement, EEC implemented an administrative payment of 5% to centers receiving contracts and separated the cost of transportation from the per child rate providers receive. Ultimately, 110 organizations submitted successful bids and were awarded seats to serve one or more of four populations: 1) income-eligible families, 2) families involved with the Department of Children and Families, 3) families experiencing homelessness, and 4) young parents. Seventy percent of organizations awarded contracts serve two or more of the eligible populations. Notably, due to state budget limitations for FY25, not all seats requested by providers in their bids were awarded. For income-eligible seats, while nearly 15,000 seats were requested, about 12,500 were awarded.   

If You Are an Educator:

1. The application deadline for EEC’s Early Childhood Educators Scholarship for pursuing higher education degrees has been extended to November 1, 2024. The scholarship, administered through a partnership with the Department of Higher Education (DHE), currently has 554 qualified recipients – up from 419 last year. While there are no more live information sessions scheduled, interested educators may view a recording of a recent session here.

2. The EEC Board voted to submit a proposal to the Board of Higher Education to address a shortfall in Career Pathways funding by shifting funds allocated in the FY25 state budget from the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Scholarship Program to the Career Pathways program. EEC proposed that the $7.5 million in funding for the scholarship program be divided as follows: $5 million towards the existing Career Pathways program and $2.5 million towards the existing ECE Scholarship Program. This proposal would result in Career Pathways being funded at the same level as FY24 ($10 million) and reduce funding for the ECE Scholarship program (from $5 million in FY24 to $2.5 million for FY25). In addition to the division of funds, the proposal includes small adjustments to each program. For Career Pathways: The funding would focus on increasing access to educators’ first course before enrolling in a certificate or degree program and within their first 6-months of work experience. For the ECE Scholarship: Eligibility for the scholarship would occur prior to the 6-month work experience requirement and the program would add priority for educators working in socially or economically disadvantaged communities. The Board and Commissioner of Higher Education approved EEC’s action.

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

1. Governor Healey’s capital investment plan includes $12M over three years for a new Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) IT system. The first $3M will be dedicated to a family portal and case management system and the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) has been posted to solicit interest from possible vendors to build the system. Shortly, another RFQ will be posted to build an educator portal.

2. EEC introduced its new Research Agenda and Key Performance Indicators, two elements of its commitment to data-driven decision making. The Research Agenda – a first for EEC – sets a learning agenda for the agency. It includes questions associated with each of its strategic objectives which, if answered, would allow EEC to better understand the impact of its investments and services. The Research Agenda is complemented by a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are, essentially, data points that serve as a measurement to assess progress against goals. KPIs will be tracked on publicly available data dashboards, which EEC intends to post on its website in late October. The dashboard will be iterated as metrics are refined, added, and user experience is monitored. The displayed table shows the Research Agenda priorities, key questions, and KPIs.

3. Michelle Haimowitz, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, gave public comment regarding the recent federal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule and its potential impact on Head Start. Ms. Haimowitz noted that 30% of Head Start children in MA also receive CCFA to supplement and provide full-day, full-year care. The federal rule allows exemption of all Head Start families from all co-pays and allows Head Start eligibility to verify CCDF eligibility. These changes would require policy changes from EEC. 

4. EEC provided an update regarding the Child Care Financial Assistance caseload, which included more than 65,400 children as of the end of September 2024, up from just over 58,600 at the same time the previous year. By age group, that caseload includes about 3,200 infants, 10,700 toddlers, 20,000 preschoolers, and 31,500 school age children. More than two-thirds of children are in families that receive CCFA in the form of vouchers, with the remaining third receiving contracted slots. In the last year, the waitlist for CCFA has grown from around 21,000 to more than 28,000. Nearly ten percent of the waitlist (in August of 2024) comprised school-age children living in the Northeast region of the state. Despite a recent legislative change expanding eligibility for CCFA to families up to 85% of state median income (SMI) –effective in January 2025 – EEC will be unable to provide funding to newly income-eligible families if funding remains at current levels. 

5. EEC’s next Board Meeting, on November 13th, will take place in downtown Boston and will include updates on the cost-of-care work, including results from a research team at Brandeis, which has been studying the impact of last year’s changes to the CCFA reimbursement rate on providers. The meeting will also cover the Secretary’s recommendations to the Board regarding FY26 budget priorities and update on the Literacy Launch initiative. The meeting may be streamed online or attended in-person.