$36M federal Preschool Development Grant fuels family advisory council and needs assessment; researchers report search and access challenges for families

The Department of Early Education and Care told its March advisory council that federal Preschool Development Grant funding is supporting system-building work — including a Family Advisory Council and a statewide needs assessment — and researchers shared early findings about how families search for and secure child care.

Arjun Shah, project manager for the Preschool Development Grant (PDG), said the $36 million, three-year federal grant (about $12 million per year) is intended to support workforce development, expand access, improve quality and maximize family choice. The agency is in the third year of PDG-funded work and described a mix of pilots, systems design and interagency partnerships funded through the grant.

One PDG project highlighted at the meeting is a Family Advisory Council intended to elevate caregivers’ lived expertise in agency policy and program design. Ayesha (staff lead on the council design) said the council will prioritize representation across regions, languages and family experiences and will include families with lived experience of homelessness, disabilities and other priority conditions. The department plans visioning sessions and targeted focus groups this spring, a design team with one-third family members, and an application process leading to an anticipated launch in October.

Researchers from MEF Associates and the Tufts Interdisciplinary Education Research Group presented the PDG-required needs assessment. Erin Bumgarner, Michelle Thompson and Justin Goldberg described mixed-methods work: a statewide survey plus focus groups conducted in multiple languages and geographies, with outreach that included traditionally under-researched areas such as Western Massachusetts and the islands.

Key findings presented to the council included: - Many caregivers search for child care primarily so they can work (72% in the survey) but find the search process difficult, especially for up-to-date information about availability, hours and cost; many rely on friends and family when public listings are incomplete. - About half of families who searched for care reported they could not find an arrangement that met their needs; financially secure families were more likely to succeed in their searches than financially insecure families. - Family decision-making typically followed a pattern: families first took what met “basic needs” (affordable, safe), then sought convenience (location, hours), and only if possible pursued “values-based” preferences (learning emphasis, individualized attention). - The research team categorized caregiver “journeys” and identified types such as “mostly seamless formal care,” “cobble-together arrangements,” and “parent care not by choice.” The latter 2 groups include many families who desired formal care but could not access it and instead combined informal care, altered work patterns, or left employment.

Researchers also reported that despite access barriers, caregivers who were in arrangements were largely positive about the care they received: 89% of respondents described their current childcare as “as good as they could have hoped for or better.” The team emphasized that many Massachusetts programs are safe and trusted but families face difficulty finding offerings that align with schedules, prices and preferences.

Arjun said the research findings will inform EEC’s five-year strategic plan and help prioritize PDG-funded pilots and system changes, including improvements to the online child-care search tools, better downloadable local reports and supports for family leadership in policy design. Ayesha said the Family Advisory Council will include supports to help caregivers participate meaningfully, including training and scaffolding to build leadership and advocacy skills.

Council members expressed strong interest in local reporting and in linking locally organized family councils with the state-level Family Advisory Council. Doty Swope of the Together for Kids Coalition (Worcester) said local family advisory work is already underway in some communities and asked about linking that work with the statewide council.

The agency said written briefs and board presentations with fuller detail will be made available in April, and invited stakeholders to provide feedback to the research and data team as the work advances.