Baker-Polito Administration Announces Rate Increases For Early
Education And Care Programs
Department of Early Education and Care will also increase access
to child care for low-income families
BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced a 6 percent
rate increase for all early education programs that provide care for low-income
families, worth $28.6 million, which represents the largest rate hike for
subsidized early education and care programs in 10 years.
The Administration also plans to
reinvest an additional $9.3 million on an annual basis to provide further rate
hikes to some infant and toddler care providers to ensure they are paid the
median reimbursement rate.
The Department of Early Education and
Care (EEC) will also increase access to child care - serving approximately
1,100 more children during FY’18 - by reissuing vouchers from families that no
longer need subsidized care during the year, which would have gone unused
otherwise.
The significant investment in rate
increases will support early educator salaries and benefits at early education
and care programs in order to improve hiring and retention issues faced by
programs that serve families receiving state subsidies.
Along with the rate increases, EEC
plans to ensure income-eligible children receive access to at least 12 months
of continuous care, regardless of changes in family status.
“We are pleased to work with the
Legislature to provide these rate increases for providers who care and educate
our youngest residents,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “It
is vital for these programs to be able to train and retain experienced staff,
and these rates increases will help them accomplish that important aspect of
any high-quality child care program.”
“This significant investment will
ensure our state’s early education and care programs are able to pay good
teachers more, and help improve the quality of programs by maintaining
continuity of staff,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.
The rate increases depend on
legislative approval to move available funding from Fiscal Year ’17 to Fiscal
Year ’18.
“These rate increases represent a
historic investment in our early education workforce, which in combination with
other initiatives and policy reforms, lays a strong foundation for meaningful
quality improvements in this crucial sector of our education system,” said
Education Secretary James Peyser.
“With today’s announcement, the
Commonwealth moves one step closer to universal access to high quality early
education services. The Senate has long prioritized funding to expand access to
those services, as well as supporting efforts to boost quality and
rates," said Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst).
"There are few items in the state budget where the return on investment is
as great as early education and care services.”
"Teachers are at the heart of
a high-quality early education and care system,” said Early Education
and Care Commissioner Tom Weber. “I am thrilled that the Department
is able to make this important progress to help early education programs
provide better compensation for our workforce and recognize their important
work and valuable contribution to our Commonwealth."
“Promoting children’s healthy
development starts with investing in the adults who care for
them,” said Board of Early Education and Care Chair Nonie Lesaux.
“We know from decades of research that rich, rigorous, and fun learning
opportunities are more likely when educators are well-trained and are
able to stay and grow in their professional roles. This rate increase is an
essential investment in those who are so vital to the
Commonwealth’s youngest citizens.”
"The tentative agreement
reached by our union SEIU Local 509 and the Baker-Polito administration is a
positive step forward in our fight for fair wages and quality training for all
individuals in our state,” said President of SEIU Local 509 Peter
MacKinnon. “I am proud of the work that our union has done to secure a
contract that directly invests and supports our educators and families of the
commonwealth while also developing the workforce. We would like to thank
the Department of Early Education and Care in working with us to reach this
tentative agreement and are especially grateful to the Commonwealth's
leadership -- Governor Baker, Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Rosenberg, and
the entire Legislature -- for making early education, and those that provide
it, a priority."
“These funds will help programs attract and retain qualified educators, which will help ensure that children receive high-quality early education and care," said William Eddy, Executive Director, Massachusetts Early Care and Education. "On behalf of the early educators in the Commonwealth, I thank the Baker-Polito Administration and the Department of Early Education and Care for their leadership and critical investment in our educators, families, and future.”
The new funding will extend the 3.6
percent rate increase to state-subsidized family child care programs, who are
represented by the Service International Employees’ Union Local 509 (SEIU 509).
Earlier this year, center-based early education and care programs received a
3.6 percent increase in reimbursement rates.
Funding for
these initiatives is available due to the full implementation of the state’s
Child Care Financial Assistance System (CCFA), a new technology platform for
managing $500 million awarded annually in early education and care subsidies
CCFA provides improved accuracy for
verifying subsidy eligibility through real-time data validation at each step of
the award process and stricter enforcement of financial assistance policies and
regulations. All subsidized
care providers are required to use CCFA for documenting subsidy eligibility,
authorizing awards, reporting child attendance, and submitting billing requests
to the Department of Early Education and Care.
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