Healey proposes new investments in early education and child care

Originally Appeared in WBUR
By Carrie Jung

January 16, 2024

Mass. Gov. Maura Healey is proposing to expand free or low-cost preschool in certain areas by 2026 and broaden income eligibility for families who receive a state child care subsidy.

Tuesday's announcement, which was made a day before the governor's scheduled  State of the Commonwealth address, is part of a new early education and child care agenda that the Healey administration hopes to fund in the next fiscal year budget.

WBUR is a nonprofit news organization. Our coverage relies on your financial support. If you value articles like the one you're reading right now, give today.

"Making child care more affordable and strengthening early education is a major priority in our agenda," Healey said at a press conference at the Mystic Valley YMCA in Malden where she announced the "Gateway to Pre-K" agenda. "We recognize that the cost of child care is high ... and we know that too many providers are barely hanging on."

The plan includes about $114 million in new funding.

A signature piece of the plan is expanding universal preschool in the state's 26 so-called Gateway cities, or midsized urban communities. Healey hopes to spend about $38.7 million on growing a program that currently exists in 12 Gateway cities. It works by extending low and no-cost preschool seats through community collaborations between public school districts and private child care centers, so that any family that wants a seat for their child can find one.

The governor also wants to dedicate another $75 million toward raising the minimum income floor for families to be eligible for a child care tuition subsidy. Currently, families who make 50% of the state's median income — or $49,467 for a family of two and $61,106 for a family of 3 — qualify for the program. Healey wants to increase that cut-off to families making 85% of the state's median, or $103,880 for a family of three.
Lauren Kennedy, co-president of Boston-based early education advocacy non-profit Neighborhood Villages, said in an interview that she particularly welcomes the income eligibility expansion.

"What the governor has proposed today really sets a high bar for where we know we can go in Massachusetts," she said.

The Healey plan also includes continued support for the Commonwealth Cares for Children grant program, a $475 million line item in the budget. The program was created during the pandemic to help providers cover increased operating costs, which included buying additional cleaning products and personal protective equipment. It was launched with federal funds, but has since become fully funded by the state.

Many providers say the funds help pay staff better wages without having to pass those costs onto parents and to make infrastructure improvements.

Amy O'Leary, the executive director of the nonprofit Strategies for Children, said all of these proposals are an important step toward making high-quality child care and early education in the state affordable and accessible to more people.

"To have this big, bold, all-of-government [plan] thinking about young children and families is what we've all been waiting for," she said in an interview.

O'Leary adds that she's thrilled to see state leaders not only maintain the increases in funding to support affordable early education and child care but also to continue efforts to innovate and improve.

"We're not done with early education and I think that's an important signal coming from the administration," she said.

The FY 2025 budget is a long way off from being finalized. Both chambers of the state legislature must propose their own versions before a final draft is hammered out. That process usually wraps up in the late summer.