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Interagency early‑education task force posts year‑two report, cites apprenticeship scale and grants
Summary
The Massachusetts interagency Early Education and Child Care task force published its year‑two report outlining progress on 31 recommendations, highlighting a $5 million SAFE3 apprenticeship grant, employer childcare innovation funding, FCC capital grants, broadband device awards and cross‑agency work on safety zones and liability insurance.
The interagency Early Education and Child Care task force released its year‑two report and briefed the joint Workforce and Advisory councils on actions taken to expand access, quality, business supports and workforce development. The report, posted on the agency website the day of the meeting, organizes recommendations by status—scoping, developing, implementing and integrated—and describes next steps.
Faith Ambrose, a project manager with the Executive Office of Education, said the report is split into four areas: access and affordability, quality, sustainable business and workforce, with each recommendation labeled to show progress and next actions. ‘‘When you open the report, you’ll see each recommendation listed with its status, progress, and next steps,’’ she said.
Gabby Goldstein, who described partnership work with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce, said the task force secured a SAFE3 competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for $5 million to expand registered apprenticeships in early education. ‘‘In round one, we issued $1.8 million to eight organizations to scale the early education workforce and place over 300 apprentices,’’ Goldstein said.
The task force highlighted employer‑supported childcare funding carved out in the FY25 budget: EEC allocated $2.5 million with a one‑to‑one match (totaling $5 million) to create an employer childcare innovation fund. Goldstein said the agency received 37 expressions of interest after an initial RFP and expects to award three to five grants ranging from $250,000 to $1 million in summer 2026.
Officials also reviewed family child care capital grants administered with MassDevelopment. The program awarded $2.7 million in round one—assisting more than 150 family childcare educators—and $4 million in round two. In addition, staff said a collaboration with the Massachusetts Broadband Institute yielded 522 connected devices for providers after a coordinated outreach effort.
The task force cited several cross‑agency accomplishments: a business front door portal that now includes childcare businesses, outreach with MassDOT to identify appropriate local ‘‘safety zones’’ for early care sites, and a Department of Insurance‑led group examining liability insurance access for educators. Dana Sullivan, who has been leading the project management team, said the work is intended to connect existing state resources to childcare needs and move several recommendations into implementation.
Panelists stressed this is implementation rather than a new policy blueprint. ‘‘Year two has seen us really roll up our sleeves…to begin to take action around what were 31 actionable recommendations that came out of our first year,’’ the Commissioner said. Officials said year three will focus on deeper implementation and sustainability, and that an upcoming governance and finance cohort award will support learning from other states.
Next steps include circulating the draft legislative workforce report for council feedback and planning a public event in May to mark the launch of year three.
