Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

The Early Childhood Educator Scholarship provides financial help to hundreds of early educators taking college courses each year - increasing qualifications and supporting career advancement. There is still time to apply this year! Learn more about the scholarship program and start your application today: https://lnkd.in/eiJzPemh

*NO CALL on Monday, October 14 in observance on Indigenous Peoples' Day! Join us on #The930Call Tuesday, October 15 to hear about the October EEC Board Meeting from Commissioner Amy Kershaw, Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care Learn more about #The930Call and sign-up to receive weekly email updates and Zoom Access https://lnkd.in/edJCX676

“Our administration delivered historic investments in early education and child care in our first two budgets, and I’m thrilled to see that funding at work,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “This funding is providing access to high-quality affordable preschool, lowering costs for families and helping parents stay in or return to the workforce.” #UPK #UniversalPreK #Preschool https://lnkd.in/exhues8n

EEC’s regular October board meeting is currently underway! Tune in: youtube.com/c/EECMass Agenda and materials: https://lnkd.in/etFGa4qM

Wonderful visiting Crayon Campus, Inc. in New Bedford today to announce that new contracts have been awarded to 110 early education and care programs. These contracts invest $402 million a year to purchase high-quality early education and out-of-school time care through approximately 19,000 contracted seats in center-based and family child care programs for children eligible for child care financial assistance. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is the first to re-procure these child care services in 15 years, continuing our work to improve access and affordability to care for families and make government services more modern and equitable. Thank you for joining us, DCF Commissioner Staverne Miller and State Representative Antonia Cabral! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eWtqHVuF #ChildCare #News #AfterschoolPrograms #FinancialAssistance #Government

Through Governor Healey’s?FutureTech Act, EEC is soliciting vendors to design and develop a new family portal and case management system for the state’s child care financial assistance programs. These efforts aim to build a more modern, mobile-friendly, accessible, multilingual, and dignified child care financial assistance technology system, reducing barriers for families seeking assistance paying for child care and making it easier for child care providers to administer the programs. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eWQfyz2A #IT #TechnologyNews #ChildCare #PressRelease

We were honored to join Community Teamwork in Lowell this week to cut the ribbon for their new Rita O’Brien-Dee Center for Behavioral Health & Development, a modern space dedicated to providing children and families with supports and resources that will help foster healthy social-emotional development outcomes. Named after a true pillar of the CTI community, the new space reflects the shared vision and transformative partnerships Rita has inspired over her five decades of work with the organization and that drive positive change for children, families, and educators. Thank you to the leaders, educators, staff, and supporters at CTI, as well as Senator Barry Finegold, and Representative Vanna Howard, for your continued commitment to this work - and congratulations on this important milestone!

Calling all early education and care staff to join us tomorrow for an information session on the early childhood scholarship! Our next session walking through the application process is on September 25 at 7 pm. Join us then to learn more! Deadline to apply has been extended to November 1st. https://lnkd.in/eRk6SrJD

EEC announced today the first round of pilot partnerships to boost economic mobility pathways for early childhood educators, with a focus on family child care: * The Community Group will support center-based apprenticeship programs Three organizations will serve as FCC intermediary support: * Family Services of Central MA, serving EEC's Western and Central regions * United Way of Massachusetts Bay , serving EEC’s Metro Boston and the Northeast regions * The SEIU Education and Support Fund, serving EEC’s Southeast and Cape region In 2024, the three organizations for FCC intermediary support will collaborate to design a high-quality training program to support new FCCs through licensure and developing core educator competencies. In 2025, the three vendors will implement these programs by creating a system of program recruitment, mentorship pairing, and quality management, which aims to graduate a combined 250 FCC educators by 2026. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ecQeUhiQ #Apprenticeships #FamilyChildCare #Workforce #EconomicMobility

Thanks for having us, For Kids Only Afterschool, to celebrate the state’s first-ever registered #apprenticeship program for the Out-of-School Time (OST) workforce!