SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2619
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
SENATE, February 8, 2024.
The committee on Education, to whom was referred the petitions (accompanied by bill,
Senate, No. 255) of Brendan P. Crighton for legislation to access after school and out-of-school
time programs; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 264) of Sal N. DiDomenico for legislation to
ensure high quality pre-kindergarten education; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 265) of Sal N.
DiDomenico and Vanna Howard for legislation relative to rates of payment for early childhood
education and care programs; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 275) of Paul R. Feeney for
legislation relative to licensed care and financial resource information for parents of newborns;
(accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 284) of Adam Gomez for legislation to create a
disproportionate share childcare provider fund; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 296) of
Edward J. Kennedy, Patrick M. O'Connor and James B. Eldridge for legislation relative to
universal prekindergarten access; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 301) of Jason M. Lewis,
Susan L. Moran, Robyn K. Kennedy, Liz Miranda and other members of the General Court for
legislation to provide affordable and accessible high quality early education and care to promote
child development and well-being and support the economy in the Commonwealth;
(accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 317) of Liz Miranda, Lydia Edwards, Patrick M. O'Connor
and James B. Eldridge for legislation relative to universal prekindergarten access; (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 179) of Kenneth I. Gordon and others relative to large family child care
homes; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 428) of Brian M. Ashe relative to the mandatory
minimum age for children to attend kindergarten; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 435) of
Antonio F. D. Cabral and others relative to compulsory full-day kindergarten; (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 436) of Antonio F. D. Cabral and others for legislation to establish universal
pre-kindergarten commission and dedicate funding for pre-kindergarten offerings; (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 456) of Marjorie C. Decker for legislation to expand access to family, friend,
and neighbor-provided childcare administered by the Department of Early Education and Care;
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 489) of Kenneth I. Gordon, Adrian C. Madaro and others
relative to providing affordable and accessible high-quality early education and care to promote
child development and well-being and support the economy; (accompanied by bill, House, No.
501) of Vanna Howard and others relative to u; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 513) of
Hannah Kane and others that the Department of Early Education and Care promulgate
regulations requiring that private child care programs ensure that license-exempt programs
serving infants through kindergarten-age children comply with basic health and safety standards;
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 514) of Patrick Joseph Kearney, Simon Cataldo and others
relative to tuition-free universal full-day kindergarten; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 566) of
Lindsay N. Sabadosa and others relative to ensuring high quality pre-kindergarten education;
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 578) of Danillo A. Sena and others relative to universal access
to pre-kindergarten programs; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 586) of Priscila S. Sousa
relative to public preschool facility construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation; (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 1934) of Alice Hanlon Peisch and Sally P. Kerans for an investigation by a
special commission (including members of the General Court) relative to employer-supported
child care benefits; and (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3755) of David Henry Argosky
LeBoeuf for legislation to address workforce shortages in early education through educational
coursework and apprenticeship participation, report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 2619).
For the committee,
Jason M. Lewis
 FILED ON: 2/7/2024
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2619
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act providing affordable and accessible high-quality early education and care to promote
child development and well-being and support the economy in the Commonwealth.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 1A of chapter 15D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
2 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of “board”, the following
3 definition:-
4 “Caregiver”, a person living with, supervising and caring for a child whose parents are
5 not living in the home with them or a person with legal guardianship of a child regardless of
6 whether the child’s parents are living in the home with them.
7 SECTION 2. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
8 amended by inserting, after the definition of “child care center”, the following definition:-
9 “Child care financial assistance”, financial assistance given to eligible parents or
10 caregivers for child care provided by an early education and care provider pursuant to a contract
11 or voucher agreement with the department.
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12 SECTION 3. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
13 amended by inserting, after the definition of “department”, the following definition:-
14 “Early education and care provider”, or “provider”, any childcare center, family child
15 care home, large family child care home, or out-of-school time program licensed or exempt by
16 the department of early education and care located within the commonwealth of Massachusetts
17 that provides early education and care programs and services.
18 SECTION 4. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
19 amended by inserting, after the definition of “group care facility”, the following definition:-
20 “High needs”, needs that may result in an individual or family needing more services,
21 including but not limited to any physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, cognitive, behavioral,
22 or health related disability or condition, exposure to domestic violence, trauma history, limited
23 English proficiency, limited literacy, homelessness or housing instability, income at or below the
24 federal poverty line, or involvement with the department of children and families.
25 SECTION 5. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
26 amended by striking out, in line 100, the figure “10" and inserting in place thereof the following
27 figure:- 12.
28 SECTION 6. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
29 amended by inserting, after the definition of “mixed system”, the following definition:-
30 “Operational grant”, an amount of funding from the department to early education and
31 care providers currently enrolling children receiving child care financial assistance or certifying
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32 their willingness to enroll a child receiving child care financial assistance should a family choose
33 the provider and there is an available opening.
34 SECTION 7. Section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
35 striking out clause (e) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-
36 (e) establish and develop a schedule for revising: (i) a rate structure for voucher and
37 contracted payments to early education and care providers who accept children receiving child
38 care financial assistance, as required pursuant to section 13A, based on the payments meeting the
39 full cost of providing high-quality early education and care programs to such children when
40 combined with operational grant funding, fees paid by parents or caregivers, and any direct
41 funding paid by a source other than the department to providers, in conformity with federal and
42 state law, regulations and quality and safety standards; provided, that the rate structure shall
43 include higher rates for the provision of care during nonstandard hours, as defined by the
44 department, sufficient to encourage providers to offer care during nonstandard hours; provided
45 further, that the method for reimbursement for voucher and contracted payments to early
46 education and care providers on behalf of children receiving child care financial assistance shall
47 be based on quarterly enrollment rather than daily attendance of participants; and (ii) a sliding
48 fee scale for families receiving child care financial assistance which is updated at least every 5
49 years to reflect affordability standards for participating families; provided, that recipients of child
50 care financial assistance whose income is not more than 100 per cent of the federal poverty level
51 shall not be charged fees for care and income for families that exceeds 100 per cent of the federal
52 poverty level shall not exceed 7 per cent of the family’s total income and shall be determined by
53 applying the sliding fee scale to the remainder of the family’s income after deducting 100 per
54 cent of the federal poverty level. A public hearing under chapter 30A and the approval of the
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55 board shall be required before the establishment or revision of the rate structure and sliding fee
56 scale.
57 SECTION 8. Said section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
58 amended by striking out clause (t) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:--
59 (t) subject to appropriation, establish the early childhood mental health consultation grant
60 program to provide consultation services and workforce development to meet the behavioral
61 health needs of children in early education and care programs, giving preference to those
62 designed to prevent expulsions and suspensions from the programs and to early education and
63 care programs serving high percentages of high needs students. The grant program shall promote
64 efforts to ensure healthy social and emotional development in child care settings and shall
65 include, but not be limited to: (i) consultation services utilizing on-site, child focused
66 observations using evidence-based observation tools; and (ii) providing on-site coaching for
67 educators to address challenging behaviors and identify and facilitate referrals for children in
68 need of more intensive services.
69 SECTION 9. Said section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further
70 amended by adding the following clause:-
71 (v) annually collect from early education and care providers licensed by the department,
72 data on: (i) the number of employees; (ii) the pay rates and employer-paid benefits; (iii) the
73 tuition charged for full- and part-time early education and care programs by age group; (iv)
74 numbers of children enrolled by age group, family income range, gender, race, ethnicity,
75 country-of-origin, disability status, children receiving early intervention services and preferred
76 language.
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77 SECTION 10. Section 3A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
78 striking out, in line 26, the words “Bureau of Jewish Education” and inserting in place thereof
79 the following words: Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
80 SECTION 11. Section 5 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
81 inserting after the words “a common and shared body of knowledge”, in line 27, the following
82 words:- ,including cultural competency and awareness of implicit bias.
83 SECTION 12. Said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting
84 after section 13 the following section:-
85 Section 13A. (a) The department shall establish an early education and care financial
86 assistance program, subject to appropriation, which shall provide sufficient child care financial
87 assistance to enable eligible families to afford and access high-quality early education and care
88 programs for infants, toddlers, preschool-age, and school-age children; provided that a school-
89 age child’s financial assistance shall continue until at least the end of the school year in which
90 the child reaches the maximum age.
91 (b) Child care financial assistance shall be used for the purpose of subsidizing or reducing
92 the costs to families of fees for early education and care programs for their children, including
93 increasing per child rates set by the department, according to subsection (e).
94 (c) Child care financial assistance may be used for early education and care programs
95 provided by public, private, non-profit, and for-profit entities licensed or approved by the
96 department, including, but not limited to, preschools, childcare centers, nursery schools, before
97 and after school programs, out-of-school time programs, Head Start and Early Head Start
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 98 programs, informal childcare providers and independent and system-affiliated family child care
99 homes.
100 (d) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to families receiving
101 services from the department of children and families as provided in section 2 of chapter 18B of
102 the General Laws.
103 (e) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to: (i) recipients of
104 transitional aid to families with dependent children; (ii) former recipients who are working or are
105 engaged in an approved service need activity for up to 2 years after termination of their benefits;
106 (iii) parents who are under 18 years of age who are currently enrolled in an education or job
107 training program and who would qualify for benefits under chapter 118 if not for the
108 consideration of the grandparents’ income; and (iv) recipients of the supplemental nutrition
109 assistance program who are participating in education and training services approved by the
110 department of transitional assistance.
111 (f) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to families eligible in
112 accordance with any income limits in effect under subsections (g) and (h).
113 (g) The department shall subsidize, subject to appropriation, the cost of early education
114 and care services to all families in need of these services with incomes at or below 85 per cent of
115 the Massachusetts state median income. Provided, should appropriations be insufficient to
116 subsidize the cost of early education and care services to all families in need of these services
117 with incomes at or below 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income, first priority
118 shall be provided to those children whose family’s household income is at or below 50 per cent
119 of the Massachusetts state median income or a child with a documented disability whose
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120 family’s household income is at or below 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income
121 and to all children in families who are experiencing homelessness or who are headed by a parent
122 under the age of 20; and provided further, that second priority shall be given to children whose
123 family’s household income is above 50 per cent, but not exceeding 85 per cent of the
124 Massachusetts state median income; provided, however, that a family with income below the
125 federal poverty level shall not have its priority status on a waitlist negatively impacted by a
126 family with income above the federal poverty level.
127 (h) The department shall allocate funding to increase the numbers of families receiving
128 financial assistance based on income eligibility in stages: (i) to those eligible for financial
129 assistance as stipulated in subsection (g); (ii) to provide child care financial assistance to all
130 families in need of these services, whose income is above 85 per cent, but not exceeding 100 per
131 cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (iii) to provide child care financial assistance to
132 all families in need of these services, whose income is above 100 per cent, but not exceeding 110
133 per cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (iv) to provide child care financial assistance
134 to all families in need of these services, whose income is above 110 per cent, but not exceeding
135 125 per cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (v) to provide child care financial
136 assistance to all families in need of these services whose income is above 125 per cent, but not
137 exceeding 200 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income.
138 (i) Family income, for the purposes of eligibility for early education and care financial
139 assistance shall include income of parents living with the child receiving subsidized care but
140 shall not include: (i) any form of income of foster parents, caregivers or other adult family
141 members; (ii) income of or for siblings who are not receiving subsidized care; or (iii) earned
142 income of any minor child.
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143 (j) The department shall s