EEC proposes keeping C3 formula for FY26, hears widespread concerns about voucher freeze and funding limits

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) held a public hearing Sept. 9 on the C3 grant formula proposed for fiscal year 2026, during which agency staff proposed maintaining the current formula for one year while collecting public comment and making several programmatic changes.

EEC presenter Jocelyn, an EEC staff member, told attendees the recommendation is to “maintain the current formula in FY26” to provide continuity while the department reviews public feedback and addresses statutory compliance requirements written into recent budget language. Jocelyn said any changes for fiscal 2027 would be developed through an additional public process.

Why this matters: C3 grants support early-education providers’ operating budgets and workforce pay. The program is level-funded in FY26, EEC staff said, meaning the state has the same appropriation as FY25. Many family child-care providers and center operators told EEC that the current combination of a voucher (Child Care Financial Assistance, or CCFA) freeze, formula limits and caps is depressing enrollments, reducing C3 payments for some providers and putting programs at risk.

During the presentation, Jocelyn summarized components of the formula: monthly grant calculations use licensed capacity (with adjustments when enrollment is below 75% for centers or below three children for family child care), a base rate that varies by program type and ages served, and an equity adjustment that considers the number or share of slots filled by CCFA children, Head Start status, location by the Child Opportunity Index and an internal pay-ratio test (a program becomes ineligible for the equity adjustment if its ratio of the highest-paid individual to the lowest-paid educator is particularly high). She also described a budget-language limit that caps annual payments to any large for-profit multi-site provider with more than 10 sites at 1% of total formula funds unless the commissioner grants an exception.

EEC also described planned programmatic changes that are not part of the formula itself: beginning in November, C3 applicants will have to attest that they would be willing to accept children with CCFA vouchers if they had an open space; EEC will introduce fund-use expectations directing that 50% of C3 funds be spent on workforce-related expenses (existing allowable uses already include workforce investments); and the agency will continue quarterly reviews of capacity and access for newly licensed programs, with special attention to growth under level funding.

Public comments: more than a dozen providers and advocacy groups spoke, presenting a mix of support for the program and concern about specific formula features.

- Harold Blanco, co‑founder of Eco Latino, said the grant is “a lifeline” for Spanish‑speaking family child‑care educators and urged that the formula recognize programs that currently serve mainly private‑pay families because many cannot accept vouchers during the CCFA freeze. Harold said the formula reductions last year (May and November 2024) have made operations harder for small family providers.

- Wendy, a family child‑care provider, gave a numerical example of how changes reduced her annual grant: “Instead of $24,000 per year I will get $9,600 per year,” she said, and argued providers should not be penalized when they are willing to accept vouchers but cannot because of the voucher freeze.

- Nasby Chowdhury, government relations representative for KinderCare, and Elsa Jacobson, director of state government relations for the Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC), urged changes to two restrictions they say penalize large providers: the administrative/compensation ratio that can strip the equity adjustment when a center’s pay ratio exceeds a threshold, and the statutory 1% cap on funding for providers with more than 10 centers. Jacobson said the cap “undermines some of the key goals of the program” by limiting the ability of larger providers to retain staff and expand access.

- Donna Dannatt, founding director of the Children First Center in Granby, and several other center leaders described substantial salary increases funded by C3 and urged minimal change for FY26 so organizations can plan budgets under level funding. Donna said educators at her program have seen an average salary increase of about 27% since January 2023.

- Steve Huntley, executive director of Valley Opportunity Council, representing a mostly CCFA population (about 95% of children served), urged retaining the current formula because C3 funds are being used for behavioral supports and other services for high‑need children.

Speakers across family child care and small nonprofit centers also reported operational problems tied to the CCFA system (frozen vouchers, portal errors and delayed payments) that reduce their ability to enroll subsidy children and therefore reduce some programs’ C3 payments. One speaker said 18 family child‑care providers had closed in a recent period (June 1 to the present).

Questions and next steps: EEC staff noted the public comment period remains open through Sept. 12 at 5 p.m.; they will compile written and oral comments, present a final proposal to the EEC board for a vote in October and anticipate updating the C3 application and recalculating grant awards in November. Jocelyn and other staff emphasized that the public hearing and written comments are being collected to satisfy budget‑language requirements that the agency “use a board review, public comment, and vote to establish the C3 formula.”

No formal policy vote or board decision occurred at the hearing; EEC staff characterized the department’s current recommendation as a proposal to be reviewed and voted on at a future board meeting.

EEC said recordings, transcripts and interpreted recordings in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and Mandarin will be posted; staff provided contact information for written comments (Robert Worthman) and confirmed the department will save the chat and include it in the public record.

EEC is scheduled to review the public comments and bring a final proposal to the board in October; the C3 application and recalculated awards would be updated in November if adopted.