COVID-19 Updates and News
(Note: This is a legacy page and is not being updated; Last updated 4/8/21)

UPDATES

Thursday, April 8 Update:

Federal Relief Funding Overview

The Children's Funding Project released a Cradle-To-Career Guide to Federal Relief Funding for Kids During and Beyond Covid-19. Read it here.

Friday, March 18 Update:

Understanding the COVID Vaccine for Early Childhood Professionals

Child Care Aware of America discussed how the vaccines were developed and tested. Child care providers shared their experiences with the COVID-19 vaccines, and a pediatrician explained how the vaccines work. Watch the recording.

Great news: Federal relief for child care is on the way!

Read more in the Eye on Early Education blog, including an overview and EEC's plan for the federal stimulus funds.

Tuesday, February 16 Update:

EEC Strategic Action Portal

Read the Department of Early Education and Care's strategic action plan for 2020-2025 and learn about engagement opportunities, including on this Wednesday at 6pm.

Interactive Map of Licensed EEC Providers in MA

Thanks to the Vital Village Networks, learn about Licensed Early Education and Care Providers by program type and capacity in MA.

Thursday, February 11 Update:

A Blueprint for Progress on Early Learning and Care

Read the new report from the First Five Years Fund.

Using and Communicating Data to Advance Racial Equity in Early Care and Education Systems (Alliance for Early Success Webinar)

Thursday, February 4 Update:

COVID-19 testing for the Massachusetts Early Childhood Community is Now Open!

View the sites and hours, and read an opening day article.

Monday, February 1 Update:

Boston Children's Hospital Webinar: Healthy and Safe Child Care during COVID-19

Last week, the Boston Children's Hospital held a webinar, Healthy & Safe Child Care during COVID-19. View the recording.

Also from BCH: The COVID-19 vaccine for kids: When will children be vaccinated?.

Monday, January 25 Update:

COVID-19 Testing for Early Childhood Community

Lieutenant Govenor Polito announced a new COVID-19 testing pilot for the early childhood workforce, children, and their families. Watch the press conference (starts at 13:57), read the Governor's press release, and find out more information.

The Massachusetts Early Childhood Funder Collaborative supports COVID-19 testing for child care. Read our press release.

Monday, December 14 Update:

EEC Update - COVID-19 Child Care Playbook Update

On December 14, EEC released the latest update to their COVID-19 Child Care Playbook, containing policies and guidelines for providers.

Wednesday, October 14 Update:

COVID-19 Risk among Child Care Providers

Read Yale University’s study on the spread of COVID-19 among child care workers and explore supplemental resources from Child Care Aware® of America.

Wednesday, September 9 Update:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts COVID-19 Order No. 49

Governor Baker signed an executive order on August 28th, allowing for more clear and flexible guidelines for early education and care facilities, local municipalities and parent groups in supporting remote learning during the 2020-21 school year.

EEC Update - Remote Learning Policies and Processes

On September 9th, EEC released policies and guidelines for complying with the new Executive Order. Read here.

Tuesday, August 11 Update:

Update from MA EEC Regarding Reopening

EEC has released another Reopening Update.

Wednesday, July 29 Update:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation - COVID-19 and the Impact on Childcare

To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on childcare, the Center of Education and Workforce is looking at every angle of those affected, including the revised childcare equations of parents, employer solutions, and childcare provider needs and capacity constraints. Dig deeper here.

Thursday, July 16 Update:

Update from MA EEC Regarding Reopening

EEC has released its Reopening Information Package with guidance for providers.

Child Care Relief - Making the Case

Many of the nation's childcare advocacy organizations have come together for form Child Care Relief and are Making the Case for a Child Care Stabilization Fund.

Results from Survey of MA Early Education Providers Reliant on Parent-Paid Tuition Fees

Neighborhood Villages has released the results of a survey of private-pay child care providers whose sobering findings can be found here.

Hechinger Report on reopening schools and prioritizing the youngest learners

The pressure is building to have learners back in school this fall — here’s how it can work.

Tuesday, July 7 Update:

Oversight Hearings on Early Education and Care

The Massachusetts Senate/House Joint Committee on Education hosted Oversight Hearings on Early Education and Care on July 1 and July 7. Testimony was provided by invited guests from the public sector, the provider community, and other stakeholders, including Eastern Bank Foundation Fellow Turahn Dorsey, whose testimony is attached here. Testimony from Commissioner Aigner-Treworgy can also be read here, while coverage from the hearing can be found here.

Friday, June 26 Update:

"How To Support the Early Childhood Community During a Pandemic" Webinar on July 1, 2020

On Wednesday, July 1, at 1 p.m. Eastern, join Cindy Jurie, Ph.D, Director of Research and Special Projects at the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County (ELCOC). During this webinar, Jurie will discuss how ELCOC stepped up to support child care providers through the pandemic. For more information and to register, click here.

MA House of Representatives proposing an Early Education and Care State Partnership Business Trust Fund

In a consolidated amendment to the 2020 state budget, the MA House of Representatives is proposing an Early Education and Care State Partnership Business Trust Fund, to assist the needs of providers in the early education and care mixed delivery system during reopening and recovery by leveraging funding through state, philanthropic and private partnerships. Read about it here. Scroll down to Amendment #87.

Monday, June 22 Update:

National Screening of No Small Matter on Thursday, June 25th

Join No Small Matter and Friends for a screening and celebration of America's Child Care Providers on Facebook Live. More details and RSVP here.

Update from MA EEC Regarding Reopening

Updates including new resources to assist programs to plan for, prepare for, and complete reopening, can be found here.

Monday, June 15 Update:

CCAoA Webinar on Racial Justice, Equity, and the Role of Child Care

In this webinar, panelists Dr. Aisha Ray, Dr. Stephanie Cureton, and Dr. Ashley C. Williams spoke about the racial justice challenges and opportunities that are central to the work of child care and early education advocacy. Use this link to register for a recording of the full webinar.

Child Care Closures’ negative and disproportionate impact on women’s labor force participation and lifetime earnings

Center for American Progress' Early Childhood Policy team's published a brief: Valuing Women’s Caregiving During and After the Coronavirus Crisis. The brief outlines how this increase in caregiving, compounded by the permanent closure of many child care providers, impacts women's labor force participation, lifetime earnings, and undermines women’s progress towards gender equality.

Thursday, June 4 Update:

Update from MA EEC

On Monday, June 1st, EEC released the health and safety guidelines for the re-opening of childcare that can be found here. Additional guidance and provider checklists are expected to be released shortly.

Monday, June 1 Update:

Early Childhood Coffee & Conversations

The Boston Foundation's May 24th discussion turned to the stunning impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on early childhood, and what the future holds for daycare and early education programs. Listen to the session here.

Friday, May 29 Update:

Updates from MA EEC

Recordings of EEC Town Hall meetings featuring emergency care providers can be found here.

Thursday, May 21 Update:

MA Dept. of Early Education and Care Field Update

Field data, insights and guidance to inform reopening can be found here.

MVYouth Establishes Childcare Providers Emergency Fund

MV Early Childcare Providers Emergency Fund Announces $150,000 in relief awards. Read more here.

Thursday, May 14 Update:

Eastern Bank Grants

The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation has announced $2 million in new grants to support early childhood during the COVID-19 crisis. Read here.

Friday, May 8 Update:

Bailout Sought for Child-Care Industry

Rep. Clark proposes $100 billion child care bail out. Read here.

Updates from EEC

EEC is working closely with the Governor's Reopening Advisory Board on the plan for re-opening child care. See updates on that topic and others here.

Why We Need $50 billion in Pandemic Child Care Relief: A State-by-State Estimate

Center for Law and Social Policy's (CLASP) state by state estimate of proposed child care relief here.

Thursday, April 30 Update:

The Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) Public Information Campaign

The Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) in partnership with UMass Medical is launching a public information campaign designed to make Massachusetts families aware of state resources that are available to them and encourage struggling families to reach out for help. You can access information and graphics that you can share to help get the word out about resources that are available here.

Friday, April 24 Update:

Commonwealth Children's Fund Announces Launch of Massachusetts Family Child Care Emergency Fund

For more information and to apply, click here. A recording to the Q&A webinar that took place on 4/27 can be found here.

EEC and the Children's Investment Fund Webinar

Webinar recording on the status of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) can be found here.

Tuesday, April 21 Update:

Webinars

On Wednesday, April 22nd, Strategies for Children is co-sponsored a technical assistance webinar to advise child care providers on various forms of financial assistance that may be available to them.

In addition, EEC and the Children’s Investment Fund hosted a webinar on Friday, April 24th at 1:00p ET about the status of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was meant to provide funding to small businesses to retain staff and pay other expenses during the COVID-19 crisis.

Friday, April 17 Update:

Speak Up for Child Care

Childcare Aware of America is spearheading an advocacy effort to secure dedicated funding for child care in the next federal relief package. Click here and Childcare Aware will help you deliver a message to your legislator.

Thursday, April 16 Update:

Senators Propose $50 Billion Bailout for Child Care

Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Tina Smith (MN) have proposed a comprehensive plan for bailing out the fragile child care sector. Their op-ed and further coverage can be found below.

Sunday, April 12 Update:

Jumpstart Workshop on Applying for PPP

Jumpstart is hosting a webinar entitled Financial Support for Preschool Partners & Nonprofit Organizations: The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program & How to Apply on Monday, April 13th at 3:00pm. The webinar recording can be found here.

Thursday, April 9 Update:

HomeGrown Launches Emergency Fund and Toolkit to Support Home-Based Child Care

Yesterday Home Grown launched the Home-Based Child Care Emergency Fund, a relief program to address the needs of home-based child care caregivers and providers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Home Grown and its members created this fund to catalyze the development of regional Home-Based Child Care (HBCC) Emergency Funds that provide direct financial support to HBCC providers.

They have developed an in-depth and informative toolkit for funders who are interested in setting up their own emergency funds to support home-based child care providers.