A coalition of early education advocates and child care centers say they are facing a funding crisis. A grant program, Massachusetts began offering to these centers during the pandemic, winds down in June. The grants, known as C3, Commonwealth Cares for Children were set to expire at the end of 2021, but the Baker administration gave them a six-month extension.
Advocates say without additional public funding, the childcare crisis in Massachusetts will only get worse.
“The workforce crisis in early education and care is founded upon a wage crisis, we simply cannot compete when it comes to wages,” says Lauren Kennedy, co-president of Neighborhood Villages, a non-profit that advocates for improved early education strategies across Massachusetts.
The alternative, Kennedy says, is that child care centers raise wages and in turn ask families to pay more in tuition.
Boston 25 News has been documenting the crisis in childcare throughout the pandemic. Labor shortages forced many centers to shut down for good.
But then there’s the cost. Massachusetts has some of the highest child care costs in the country. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant care in Massachusetts is $20,913. That’s $1,743 per month.
“So how do you square we’re already paying more than anyone else, yet the centers don’t have enough money to operate and pay their employees more,” Boston 25 News anchor and reporter Kerry Kavanaugh asked.
“We want a lot of adults in a classroom of infants and very young children. And so, if I am a provider running a business, it’s very expensive,” Kennedy said.
The solution, Kennedy says is more public investment.
She’s part of a coalition of 160 child care centers that sent a letter to Governor Charlie Baker asking for $600 million dollars in either state surplus or remaining American Rescue Plan Act {ARPA} funds to continue the C3 grant program born in the pandemic.
Kavanaugh asked the Baker administration about the letter.
They told Boston 25, the new budget proposal includes $802 million in funding for the department of early education and care {EEC}, an increase of $273.9 million -or -52% since 2015.
In a written statement the administration “plans to file for further funding in the coming weeks for early education and care providers to support childcare workers and help sustain the day-to-day program.”
“What we can expect to see if these grants are not extended into fiscal year 23′, is childcare programs. Once again, falling off a cliff,” Kennedy said.
The same coalition is also backing what’s known as ‘Common Start’ legislation, a bill that would in part cap costs for families at 7% of household income and gradually creates a universal pre-k system in Massachusetts. That too would cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but no specific dollar amount has been set.