Philanthropic Resources

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National Early Childhood Funder Collaborative (ECFC) has a great website with COVID-19 resources relevant specifically to early childhood funders.

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The National Early Childhood Funders Collaborative hosted a call entitled What’s Next for Child Care: Paths to a Sustainable and Equitable Recovery, which explored the role of Community Development Financial Institutions in supporting child care recovery.  The slides and recording can be found here.

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Home Grown is a new national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care. They have published a toolkit that outlines actions funders and intermediaries can take now to establish emergency funds that meet the needs of local providers and caregivers.

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The Bridgespan Group has a resource collection which offers guidance to nonprofits, philanthropists, and impact investors on navigating the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and the expected economic downturn.

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National and Statewide EC Advocacy

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Center for American Progress released an update to their popular child care deserts maps, integrating a new drive-time methodology. This update is designed to help advocates  and policymakers understand and assess with greater clarity the communities where there may be the greatest immediate need for child care investment when considering stabilizing and re-opening the wider economy. An accompanying issue brief summarizes trends and findings.

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Strategies for Children works to ensure that Massachusetts invests the resources needed for all children, from birth to age five, to access high-quality early education programs. They have a section on their website with COVID-19 resources for MA EC providers.

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Strategies for Children presents: “Advocacy 101"

 

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard is releasing Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body. You can link to a downloadable version, along with a 3 page In Brief summary of the paper and a context-setting statement from Jack Shonkoff. As you’ll see in that statement, we hope that releasing this paper will help us—together—to launch a new conversation in the early childhood field that truly connects learning and health in policy and practice.

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The BUILD Initiative helps state leaders develop early childhood systems. You can read their blog, with updated information on COVID-19 response, here. 

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Alliance for Early Success, a national early childhood advocacy organization, has affiliates in all states. They have a very up-to-date section on their website with each state's response to COVID-19 as it relates to early childhood.

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Childcare Aware of America - In addition to great resources on their website for EC responses to COVID-19, they are doing webinars on specific topics related to the crisis. The webinars New Laws Offer Financial Resources to Family Child Care Providers by Tom Copeland and COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Updates & Business Resources for Early Childhood Programs highlight just a few of the informative sessions available. 

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First Five Years Fund is another strong EC advocacy organization. This link is to their overview of federal COVID-19 financial supports.

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The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advancing policy solutions for low-income people. Early education and care is one of their key issues, and they have several new fact sheets on policy issues connected to early childhood during COVID-19.

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CLASP published a piece written by Alycia Hardy, CLASP’s newest Child Care and Early Education Policy Analyst. This article discusses the necessity for states to equitably incorporate diverse parent and other caregiver voices in conversations and policy decisions related to child care reopening during the coronavirus pandemic

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Direct Support for Local MA Communities​

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Philanthropy Massachusetts has a section on their website highlighting emergency COVID-19 relief funds set up across MA and across issue areas.

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Mass Nonprofit Network has up-to-date links on their website to resources for MA non-profits during COVID-19, links to emergency funds that have been set up all over the state, and guidance on federal relief programs. They also continue to update their list of available MNN and Affiliate Webinars.

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State of MA COVID-19 Relief Fund is a state-sponsored philanthropic fund to help support essential frontline workers and vulnerable populations across Massachusetts. It is designed for rapid relief, and will work primarily through community foundations throughout the state.

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Resources for Families

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The National Academies of Sciences has a comprehensive Child and Family COVID-19 Resource List.

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The Center on Developing Child at Harvard has a Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development.

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The Brain Architects, a new podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, focuses on the specific, practical questions that often arise for parents and caregivers during the critically important period of early childhood. Listen to their most recent episodes here.

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TEAM UP’s network of local community health centers which deliver high quality, evidence-based integrated behavioral health care to children and families, has developed a list of COVID-19 behavioral health resources.

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA’s Network of Care is a site that helps people of all ages and from all parts of the Commonwealth find information on behavioral health services and treatment in their communities.

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Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health has COVID-19 resources for providers and caregivers.

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Promise Venture Studio has put together a website focused on families with young children, intended as a curated space for resources, tools, and guidance.

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Support for Childcare Providers

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Summary of financial assistance to childcare providers, developed by independent consultant Kim Lucas can be found here. Chart includes federal, state and private resources.

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All Our Kin is a trusted resource for family childcare providers, and their website include current COVID-19 guidance.

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First Children's Finance has great resources for managing childcare businesses during COVID-19. They have tools for things like analyzing financial statements during a closure.

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Zero to Three supports parents, providers and policy makers in the infant/toddler ecosystem. They have added resources to their website for providers during this time.

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General Nonprofit Resources

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TSNE MissionWorks has an excellent list of COVID-19 resources for nonprofits, including guidance on financial resources available during the current crisis.

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Mass Nonprofit Network has an extensive, regularly-updated set of COVID-19 resources for nonprofits.

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CARES Act & Other Financial Relief Documents

 

Fiscal Management Associates (FMA) has developed a regularly updated toolbox for the Paycheck Protection Program.
 

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) hosted an early April webinar entitled, "Paying Yourself, Your Staff and Your Bills:  Helping Child Care Programs Understand and Navigate SBA Loan Options."  The slides and webinar recording from this clear presentation are available now.

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COVID Relief Coalition is a coalition of law firms, nonprofits and governmental agencies that have joined forces to help small businesses and nonprofits in the greater Boston area access emergency loans and other sources of relief.

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Bipartisan Policy Center has a good summary of the resources available to the EC ecosystem through the CARES Act.

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City of Boston - Financial Relief - A Handbook for Small Business Owners is a great list of resources available, including many loan programs to SB owners, and is not confined to Boston.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides another good overview of financial supports available for small businesses, including childcare. You can also listen to the April 6th webinar on support specific to the early education sector.

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Vox article - Read here for a step-by-step analysis of different supports from the CARES Act, and how to walk through the process.

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State of Massachusetts has a list of CARES Act supports, with basic FAQs about each one.

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United Way of MassBay and Merrimack Valley is looking for volunteers who are interested in virtually volunteering their time and professional expertise to help nonprofit agency partners navigate the extreme challenges they face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Public Sector Resources

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Children's Funding Project has published a guide titled "Navigating New and Flexible Funding Streams For Kids During COVID-19".

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Mass Health has assembled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for families with children receiving home and community-based behavioral health services during COVID-19.

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MA Department of Early Education and Care - The state's early education and care agency has a webpage devoted to the COVID-19 crisis for programs, children, and families.

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MA Attorney General's Office has a link with resources for families and providers.

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