Department of Early Education and Care staff used an information session to explain how programs can become CCFA voucher providers and how payments and referrals operate.

Vice Commissioner Tairis Nicolás (introducing herself during the session) outlined the enrollment pathway for programs that want to accept CCFA vouchers: contact the local Child Care Resources & Referral (CCR) agency (a CCR search link was shared in the chat), attend orientation (group or individual), complete required documents such as license and payment-rate information and a parent handbook, then sign the voucher agreement. Tairis said the application will include a monthly declaration related to CCFA participation.

Tairis described CCFA as a state-funded assistance program that helps low-income families access child care across multiple settings — center-based care, licensed family child-care, and certain school or extracurricular programs — and noted CCFA’s role in referrals from DCF and DTA for families in transition. “Los proveedores SFA dan el cuidado infantil según las necesidades de las familias,” she said while describing different eligible care settings.

The session explained two family child-care models in Massachusetts: independent family providers that manage all administrative tasks and providers who work with a supporting system that provides administrative and referral support. Tairis said independent family providers sign the CCR directly, while providers who work with a system sign through that system, which assists with compliance and referrals.

On payment timing, presenters explained CCFA payments are reimbursements: providers deliver a month of child-care services and receive reimbursement the following month. Tairis walked through attendance-record expectations and the voucher-agreement process to request payment.

Referrals and family searches come through the CCR search tool and 2-1-1. Presenters described how a family expresses interest, receives a list of nearby providers who accept assistance and then completes the program’s standard registration steps; payment begins after the child starts attending and the provider submits required information.

The department emphasized that providers who are uncertain about their ability to accept vouchers can request an administrative review and that EEC will share additional guidance and training sessions to help enrollment and compliance.