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EEC warns of possible June payment delay, updates scholarship timing and names new staff
Summary
Commissioner Kershaw told the May EEC board the agency is serving the largest caseload in its history and warned that, without timely supplemental appropriations, June childcare provider payments could be delayed.
Department of Early Education and Care Commissioner Kershaw used the May board meeting to report operational items: increased caseload, a potential June payment timing risk, delays in scholarship application posting, and several personnel hires.
Caseload and potential payment timing risks "We are serving more children than we ever have in our childcare financial assistance program," Commissioner Kershaw said. The agency has been monitoring expenditures and the governor filed a fair-share supplemental budget intended to address FY25 surpluses. The commissioner said the governor filed a supplemental budget "in order to ensure that we had enough funding to support our caseload expenditures through the end of the fiscal year." EEC staff warned that without action on the supplemental, "payments for June to our providers of childcare financial assistance would be delayed, until the new fiscal year or until the supplemental budget passes," and that the agency had begun communicating potential timing risk to providers.
Scholarship application delay and outreach Kershaw said the early educator scholarship application is delayed by IT barriers and EEC is working with the Department of Higher Education to post the application. The agency plans to extend scholarship application availability through December to make up for the delay and scheduled an information session that had about 300 registrants.
Personnel updates Kershaw announced several staffing changes at EEC: a new director of residential and placement services, Tim Keane; Julia Buchek as the new director of policy; and Bernadette Estacio as EEC's first director of training. She asked the board to welcome the new staff and noted that some hires are still wrapping up onboarding.
Board housekeeping and actions During the meeting the board approved the minutes of the April 9 meeting by motion and voice vote; the chair recorded the action as approved. The meeting adjourned by motion at the end of the agenda and the board scheduled its June meeting in Needham.
What to watch The agency asked attendees to watch for supplemental budget action and promised to update the board if legislative action resolves the June payment risk. The board will next meet June 11 in Needham to consider residential regulation revisions and a budget update.
