Neighborhood Villages Commends MA Senate for Investment in Early Education in FY25 Budget
The Senate Ways and Means Committee’s FY25 Budget Earmarks $1.58 Billion For Early Education and Care, Including $475 Million for Child Care Operations Grants
BOSTON, MA (May 8, 2024) - Today, Neighborhood Villages — a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates for solutions to the greatest challenges faced by the early education sector — applauded the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee’s $1.5 billion investment in early education and care in its FY25 budget proposal. The proposed budget includes $475 million for direct-to-provider operations grants — which have proved to be a key funding lever for improving child care quality, accessibility and affordability — and a provision that would make them permanent.
Lauren Kennedy, co-president of Neighborhood Villages, issued the following statement:
“We are grateful to the Senate for prioritizing early education and care – funding it at an increase over last year – in its proposed budget and to see movement toward child care reform in Massachusetts.
“We are excited to see continued level funding for direct-to-provider grants and a proposal to make these critical grants permanent. Our recent research shows that these grants have proved to be an incredibly stable revenue source for providers and are an essential part of child care financing.
“It’s also encouraging to see the inclusion of important policy provisions from the EARLY ED Act. These provisions are critical steps forward towards transforming Massachusetts’ child care sector into a system that works for families, educators, and providers. We are hopeful that the commitment demonstrated by Governor Healey, the House, and the Senate will allow us to all work together to finally provide all families the child care options they need and all children access to the early education opportunities they deserve.”
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Last week, Neighborhood Villages released a new report that sheds light on the main ways that Massachusetts funds its early childhood education system and describes the reasons why direct-to-provider operations grants should play a greater role in how public dollars are invested in the sector.
The Senate’s proposed budget also includes:
$774M for financial assistance to families currently eligible families;
$80M to increase eligibility for state financial assistance for families making up to 85% SMI and to continue prioritization for child care teachers;
$65 million to increase the reimbursement rates to providers accepting children with state financial assistance;
$5M for childhood mental health consultation services for early education and care providers; and
$10M for higher education opportunities for early childhood educators.
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About Neighborhood Villages
Neighborhood Villages, founded in 2017 by Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Muncey, is a Boston-based systems-change non-profit that advocates for early education and care policy reform and implements scalable solutions that address the biggest challenges facing providers and the families who rely on them. For more information, visit https://www.neighborhoodvillages.org/our-work.
