At Commerce Department Summit, Governor Healey Highlights Partnerships with Business to Make Child Care More Affordable and Access

WASHINGTON DC - On June 27, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey joined U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at the National Child Care Innovation Summit, a first-of-it-kind partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation that brings together public- and private-sector stakeholders to discuss the vital role of child care as economic infrastructure. Governor Healey was invited to participate in the “Governors in Action: States Driving Child Care Reforms” panel with Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to highlight ways in which state government can partner with the private sector to strengthen the child care industry.

“It’s an honor to be invited by Secretary Raimondo to speak at the National Child Care Innovation Summit about the ways in which Massachusetts is driving innovative partnerships with businesses to make child care more affordable and accessible for families and support our hardworking providers,” said Governor Healey. “Child care is a critical enabler of the economy, but the child care market is broken. It’s going to take big, innovative solutions at all levels – and business has to be part of that. Investing in child care means investing in the caretakers and educators that families rely on every day to care for their children. But without an adequate workforce, providers can’t do their jobs. In a competitive labor market, that means getting well-paid, well-trained people into the child care workforce so that we can keep parents in the labor force. This is what our administration has focused on in Massachusetts.”

Earlier this year, as part of her Gateway to Pre-K agenda, Governor Healey also signed an Executive Order creating a task force comprised of business and industry leaders, child care providers and experts, organized labor, health services stakeholders, housing and planning experts, working parents and caregivers to advise the administration on approaches to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care. The task force includes all of the administration’s cabinet secretaries – from education, labor and workforce development and economic development to health and human services, transportation, housing and beyond – because child care impacts every aspect of life in Massachusetts. The task force is working to develop new, and innovative strategies to expand access to child care, build new facilities and reduce costs for families. They are paying particular attention to the need for workforce training and apprenticeships, and will review employer tax credits or other incentives for offering or assisting with employee child care.

The Healey-Driscoll administration has also prioritized support for the child care workforce. This year, for the first time, 5 out of the 25 new, state-funded Registered Apprenticeship programs run by the Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development are for child care educators. At the summit, Governor Healey highlighted Neighborhood Villages, a Boston-based nonprofit that operates the largest program and already graduated 68 apprentices and enrolled 100 more in the current class. More than half of their graduates receive Child Development certificates and the remainder get their Lead Teacher certificate, which qualifies them to work at the director level. The state’s Department of Early Education and Care also has $3 million in funding available to support?existing?early childhood?apprenticeship programs?and?fund?center-based?and family child care programs – with a commitment to invest $10 million through 2026.

Massachusetts is the only state that continued the federal child care stabilization grants via Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) with 100 percent state funding at the same level as the federal grants after federal funding expired. C3 has been a game changer for child care programs and families, helping to not only keep over 7,000 programs open, but also supporting over 42,000 educators. C3 enables programs to better recruit and retain their staff, increase compensation, and invest in high-quality initiatives so that costs aren’t passed onto parents. In 2024, Governor Healey proposed continuing the funding with 100 percent state dollars for the first time. This proposal was supported by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Healey. The investment helped to stabilize the early education system and contributed to a seven percent increase in the number of child care programs, adding more than 10,600 child care slots across the state. Governor Healey has proposed continuing this investment in FY25, which will enable programs to remain open and continue supporting system-wide growth through investments in workforce, quality, and affordability.

Massachusetts’ child care financial assistance programs help families pay for early education and care programs by covering all or a percentage of the cost of care based on their income. Current initial eligibility is at or below 50 percent state median income (SMI), meaning families earning less than $49,467 annually for a family of two and?$61,106 for a family of three. Earlier this year, Governor Healey proposed increasing eligibility to 85 percent SMI, which would mean that more low-and moderate-income families, including staff working in education and care programs, get help paying for care. For example, families earning less than annually $84,094 for a family of two and $103,880 for a family of three would now be eligible for help paying for care.

Governor Healey has also proposed a plan to deliver universal, high-quality preschool access for four-year-olds in all Gateway Cities by the end of 2026. This proposal would expand the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) so that every family of a 4-year-old in these 26 communities will have the opportunity - at a low or no cost - to enroll their child in a high-quality preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten.

Video of the event can be found here.