Five months after federal stabilization grants expired, deeper cracks are beginning to appear in the early care and education sectors.
Without Historic levels of operating funds It was distributed monthly to child care programs across the U.S. through September 2023, but many providers experience Staff retirements and rising expenses are forcing many families to raise tuition rates and some classrooms to close, or worse, permanently.
But in Massachusetts, providers and programs are largely isolated from the so-called child care cliff. Some places are thriving.
Recognizing the potential for disaster if stabilization grants expire without adequate replacement, Massachusetts leaders are seeking early intervention even after American Rescue Plan funding is depleted. Decided to continue funding operating grants for care and education programs.
Through a state program called Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3); funded The 2024 award is $475 million, and the governor is recommending it be renewed at the same level in 2025, with nearly 93 percent of licensed providers in the state receiving monthly stipends. There is.
These funds go a long way in keeping programs open, staffed, and sustainable, and are shared by many Massachusetts providers with EdSurge.
Survey data from fall 2023 — when providers in other states began to feel their stabilization fund burdens were lifted. show It means Massachusetts’ early care and education sectors have rebounded. Licensed capacity in the state system now exceeds pre-pandemic levels, with a total of about 237,000 child care slots now available, compared to 229,000 pre-COVID-19. The number of licensed providers has also recovered.
“What we’re seeing is exactly what we wanted to see,” said Amy Kershaw, director of the Massachusetts Office of Early Education and Care (EEC), explaining the impact of the C3 grant. He mentioned many other changes. Leaders worked hard to support families and programs.
“More programs are going to be launched. We see that the program can expand its capacity. Staff pay is still too low, but we see it rising,” Kershaw added. . “And we see many of these investments being made without passing essential costs on to parents.”
At a time when the field is struggling and families, educators, and health care workers across the country are in turmoil, Massachusetts’ progress is remarkable. Perhaps this is also a signal to other states that if they faithfully fund early care and education, they might see improvements there.
Massachusetts is one of 11 states and Washington, D.C., to significantly increase investment in early care and education over the past two years, according to a report. report From Century Foundation. But Julie Cashen, a senior researcher at the organization and one of the report’s authors, said Massachusetts sets itself apart by providing direct funding to providers to support operations. , calling the Gulf state a “national leader and role model.” ”
“They’re taking the lessons from the stabilization grants from the American Rescue Plan and continuing to invest in ways that, based on the data I’ve seen, will help avoid the child care cliff and grow this sector. “We did,” Kashen added.
“Innovative” operating grants
Childcare workers working in home and center-based settings can use C3 funding to: costs such as Payroll and benefits, professional development, supplies and curriculum, rent or mortgage payments, utilities, and equipment upgrades.
According to , many providers are using subsidies for employee pay increases to attract new staff and retain existing staff. survey data And an interview.
Heidi Kaufman, executive director of education at the MetroWest YMCA, which operates an early childhood program serving 140 infants and preschoolers in a community about 20 miles west of Boston, said most of the funding for C3 He says the entire amount will be used to increase employee compensation.
The MetroWest YMCA has received approximately $650,000 in C3 grants from Kaufman Equity since July 1, including approximately $72,000 in February alone. That represents just over 10 percent of her total income.
“The C3 grant was a game-changer for us,” she says. “I don’t know how we can continue to operate without it.”
Between the federal stabilization grant and the current state C3 grant, Kaufman has been able to pay her staff more competitive wages. Some head teachers with bachelor’s degrees were making about $21 an hour (about $44,000 annually) in January 2020, but now make $28 an hour (about $58,000). ing. Full-time teachers with less experience have seen their pay increase as well, from $17 an hour in 2020 to $24 an hour now. In addition, wages for part-time staff have increased by 50 percent over the past four years, Kaufman added.
“Typically, we’ve given raises on average at 3% a year. It was unheard of for someone to get an increase of up to $7 over a four-year period,” Kaufman said.
“We still don’t pay them anything close to what they’re worth,” she added. But she says it’s nice to be able to offer them a raise, and to do so without having to ask the family further.
multifaceted approach
EEC Commissioner Kershaw said Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is focused on stabilizing, healing and transforming the early care and education sectors, in that order.
“We are in a phase of restoration and transformation,” Kershaw said.
Massachusetts’ recovery was supported primarily, but not exclusively, by the American Rescue Plan and C3 grants. The Healey administration began by expanding universal preschool. sign an executive order He called for a “whole-of-government approach” to childcare, calling on various state governments to work with the business community to improve the field.
Kershaw said the state has come to realize that “multiple tools are needed to create a level of fiscal stability and health within the sector.” No single stream can really support the growth of this sector. ”
Notably, state leaders are changing the way the EEC sector supports families and providers who participate in child care financial assistance.
The governor proposed raising the income cap from 50% to 85% of the state’s median income and expanding financial aid eligibility for families. That would significantly increase the cap from about $73,000 a year to $124,000 for a family of four.
For providers, the state change The subsidy program currently uses a formula that reflects actual child care costs (rather than a market price model) to calculate reimbursement. As a result, the state is More and more programs are becoming paid For all children whose families participate in financial assistance. (About 4,800 providers (56% of approved programs) across the state participate in the subsidy program, Kershaw said.)
In Western Massachusetts, infant reimbursement rates rose 34% in February, from $72.37 to $97.18 per day.
This not only helped providers who already accepted child care subsidies, but actually made the subsidy program more attractive to providers who previously only accepted private payments, Seven Hills Child Care Resources said. said Kim Dion, assistant vice president and program director. Childcare resource and referral agency serving western and central Massachusetts.
Each month, Seven Hills processes subsidy refunds for approximately 11,000 children in the region. Dion and his colleagues then send checks totaling $12 million to about 600 providers. It also helps connect local families with child care that meets their needs.
“We are actively working to remove families from the statewide waiting list and provide them with financial assistance,” explains Marybeth Brown, assistant program director at Seven Hills. “for that purpose, [more providers] This is to receive the voucher. ”
Brown said the state’s rate hikes have certainly helped that effort, noting there has been a “significant increase” in interest from providers.
Previously, two to three providers in the region expressed interest in the subsidy program each week. But in January, Seven Hills had to limit the number of participants in a single orientation meeting to 32 providers, and the week before that to 35 people.
“The pieces are starting to come together now,” Brown said. “It all has to come together to work.”
Amy O’Leary, executive director of Strategies for Children, a Massachusetts policy and advocacy group, is encouraged by what’s happening in her state. Leaders often don’t take the time to understand the nuances of early care and education, she says, making it impossible to address the root causes of broken systems. Not this time. O’Leary says she has a tremendous debt of gratitude to state leaders who took the time to listen and learn from her. (O’Leary facilitated some of her work through what she calls her9:30 Phone call” (a series of conversations she has hosted weekday mornings since the pandemic began to connect educators, promote advocacy, and raise awareness about early care and education).
“This idea of providing foundational funding for this area was a dream,” O’Leary admits. “Now it’s like, ‘Oh my god, we’ve got it.’ Congressmen understand that. They’ve funded it and they want to continue to fund it. There is.”
Additional funding and positive changes have not resolved the field’s myriad challenges, but costs remain high. too high She points out that wages are too low for families and remain too low for educators. O’Leary explains that this has allowed educators to move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.
“People can take a deep breath and think about their business without panicking,” O’Leary said. “It comes down to respecting and acknowledging broken systems. Instead of asking people to do more with less in general, [the state is] We are asking them to do more and do more. ”
Brown knows there are still many challenges ahead. She says this is just the beginning of a long journey. Still, there’s an undeniable energy and sense of anticipation in Massachusetts right now.
“People who have been in this field for years now feel hopeful,” Brown said. “I feel hopeful.”
And if history serves as a guide, what started in Massachusetts may soon take root nationwide.
“We had the first public school and the first public library in this country, and we are committed to leading in early education and care,” Kershaw said.
