The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Amy Kershaw, Commissioner
Q2 FY 2024 C3 Legislative Report
Report Overview
Pursuant to the requirements of line item 3000-1045 of section 2 of Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023, the
Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) submits the following quarterly report on the
Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) operational grant program.
In July 2021, as early education and care providers continued to face financial challenges due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, EEC launched the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) operational grant
program. This non-competitive grant was designed and continues to provide a foundational payment to
child care providers to help support day-to-day operations and keep programs open and accessible to
Massachusetts families with children. C3 grants are used to support a variety of existing operational
costs like labor expenses, along with new investments in compensation and other quality supports.
Unlike in previous years, the C3 program is funded entirely with state resources in FY 2024. In FY24,
through the end of Q2, the C3 program has approved approximately $231.5 million in grants to over
7,532 child care providers and the 39,148 educators employed by them. Almost all (92%) of eligible
providers have applied for at least one grant award.
Overview of the C3 Formula
In the summer of 2021, the Department worked with Third Sector Capital Partners to develop a formula
for distributing monthly C3 funding that incorporated several key principles:
- Stability: The Department aims to support providers in meeting key operational and workforce
needs during the pandemic to ensure that programs could remain open and accessible to
families despite COVID 19 financial and operational challenges.
- Equity: C3 funds are available to all providers, and the formula intentionally directs additional
funds to providers in historically marginalized communities and to those serving families
receiving child care financial assistance.
- Adequacy: The formula is designed to be sufficient to support basic operations and allow
providers to invest meaningfully in recruiting and retaining the early education workforce.
- Simplicity: The formula is simple to administer and for providers to understand, so that both the
Department and providers can anticipate the grant amount each month.
With these key principles in mind, the Department developed the following C3 funding formula
1) Base Amount: This element of the formula ensures that grants are scaled appropriately based
on program size. Each eligible provider receives a base amount of $83.33 per month for each
licensed seat in their program. This $83.33 amount was designed to cover approximately 10% of
providers’ operational costs. All family child care providers (FCC) are currently funded at a license
capacity of 10 children, which is the maximum size for which FCCs can be licensed.
2) Staffing Level Adjustment: Recognizing that staffing is the single largest cost driver in most
program budgets, the staffing level adjustment was designed to direct additional funding to
programs with larger per child staffing costs. This includes providers that serve infants and
toddlers, which requires a lower child to educator ratio, as well as programs that employ
additional educators to provide services such as longer hours for families or lower educator to
child ratios. FCC providers receive an additional 1.5 times their base amount if they employ a
part-time assistant and an additional 2 times their base amount if they employ a full-time
assistant. Group and school age (GSA) providers receive a staffing level adjustment based on the
ratio between the number of FTEs that they employ and a minimum required by regulations to
serve their license capacity.
3) Equity Adjustment: Each provider’s base amount and staffing level adjustment is multiplied by
an equity adjustment to direct additional funding to providers in historically marginalized
communities and those serving children receiving EEC child care financial assistance. The equity
adjustment leverages the Center for Disease Control’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) as well as
the proportion of a provider’s license capacity that is filled with children receiving subsidies. If a
provider is located in a census tract or zip code with a high SVI or if a provider serves between
1/3 to 2/3 of its license capacity with children receiving child care financial assistance, their base
amount per slot and staffing adjustment is multiplied by 1.3. If a provider is located in a census
tract or zip code with a high SVI or if a provider serves more than 2/3 of its license capacity with
children receiving child care financial assistance, their base amount per slot and staffing
adjustment is multiplied by 1.4.
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Incorporation of Equity into the C3 Formula
As is highlighted above, the C3 formula is designed to prioritize equity by providing additional funding to
programs that serve a high proportion of children receiving child care financial assistance or that operate
in communities with a high social vulnerability index. The formula also provides additional funding to
providers that serve infants and toddlers and that offer more expansive services. EEC monitors the
distribution of grant funds across FCCs and center-based providers that accept child care financial
assistance to ensure that the equity bonus is successfully allocating additional funding to these
providers. In Q2 of FY 2024, 66% of grant funds were awarded to providers that serve children with EEC
child care financial assistance (See Table 1).
Table 1. Proportion of C3 Funds Distributed based on Participation in the
EEC Child Care Financial Assistance System (July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
Not Serving Children with Child Care Serving Children with Child Care
Total Grant Financial Assistance Financial Assistance
Funds
Percent of Funds Percent of
Grant Funds Grant Funds
Reported Funds Reported
Family Child Care $42,900,632 $14,474,917 6% $28,425,714 12%
Center-based Care $188,600,320 $63,907,200 28% $124,693,120 54%
All Providers $231,500,952 $78,382,117 34% $153,118,834 66%
Note: This table includes all C3 applications from July 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. For purpose of this analysis, “Serving
Children with Child Care Financial Assistance” is defined as a program that billed EEC for a child with child care financial assistance
in February 2020, May 2021, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, September 2022, December 2022, March 2023, June 2023,
or September 2023, as these are the points in time incorporated into the C3 formula.
EEC also monitors the percent of total funds awarded over the grant period that are the result of the
equity adjustment. Table 2 shows the percent of funds awarded that are generated by the equity
adjustment, with breakdowns by provider type, child care financial assistance participation, and SVI. In
Q2 of FY 2024, 21% of all the funds awarded were generated by the equity bonus.
Table 2. Proportion of C3 Funding Generated by Equity Bonus, By Provider Type, Child Care Financial
Assistance Participation, and SVI (July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
Grant Funds % of Funds
Generated by Generated by
Total Grant Funds
Equity Equity
Adjustment Adjustment
Family Child Care $42,900,632 $10,921,446 25%
Center-based Care $188,600,320 $38,654,224 20%
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 Serving Children with Child Care Financial
$153,118,834 $36,412,284 24%
Assistance
Not Serving Children with Child Care
$78,382,117 $13,163,386 17%
Financial Assistance
Providers in Highest SVI Communities (SVI
$124,679,616 $35,398,232 28%
≥0.75)
Providers NOT in Highest SVI Communities
$106,821,336 $14,177,440 13%
(SVI <0.75)
All Providers $231,500,952 $49,575,670 21%
Note: This table includes all approved C3 applications from July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. For purpose of
this analysis, “Serving Children with Child Care Financial Assistance” is defined as a program that billed for a child with
child care financial assistance in February 2020, May 2021, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, September 2022,
December 2022, March 2023, June 2023, or September 2023 as these are the points in time incorporated into the C3
formula.
Lastly, this report includes analysis on the number of children served by C3 providers in high SVI
communities as well as those in census tracts with a median income below 85% of SMI. In Q2 of FY 2024,
the data reveal that across the 63% of C3 providers located in a high SVI community, 96,709 children are
enrolled, representing 47% of all children enrolled at a C3 provider (See Table 3). Looking at the 44% of
C3 providers located in census tracts with median income below 85% of SMI, about 65,102 children are
enrolled, or about a third of all children enrolled at providers accepting C3 grants (See Table 4). These
percentages vary by program type, as FCCs are more likely to operate in communities with a high SVI or
median income below 85% of SMI. For data on these trends over the entire grant period, see the
Appendix.
Combined, the analyses above indicate that the equity adjustment is effectively supporting both
providers that serve children receiving child care financial assistance and those that operate in high
needs communities. The Department will continue to collect and monitor data to ensure that the C3
grants are reaching the highest need communities and families across the Commonwealth.
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 Table 3. Enrollment at C3 Providers by SVI (July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
Number of Percent of
Number of Percent of
providers providers
children children
receiving grant receiving
enrolled enrolled
funds grant funds
Providers in Highest SVI
3,529 22,241 73% 70%
Communities (SVI ≥0.75)
Providers NOT in Highest
Family Child SVI Communities (SVI 1,275 9,617 27% 30%
Care <0.75)
Total 4,804 31,858 100% 100%
Providers in Highest SVI
1,186 74,468 43% 43%
Communities (SVI ≥0.75)
Providers NOT in Highest
Center-based
SVI Communities (SVI 1,541 98,107 57% 57%
Care
<0.75)
Total 2,727 172,575 100% 100%
Providers in Highest SVI
4,715 96,709 63% 47%
Communities (SVI ≥0.75)
Providers NOT in Highest
SVI Communities (SVI 2,816 107,724 37% 53%
All Providers <0.75)
Total 7,531 204,433 100% 100%
Note: This table includes all approved C3 applications from July 1, 2023, December 31, 2023.
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 Table 4. Enrollment at C3 Providers by State Median Income (July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023)
Number of Percent of
Number of Percent of
providers providers
children children
receiving grant receiving
enrolled enrolled
funds grant funds
Located in a Census Tract
with a Median Income 2,530 15,898 53% 50%
Family Child Below 85% of the 2021 State
Care Median Income ($89,645)
Located in a Census Tract
with a Median Income 85% 2,270 15,944 47% 50%
or above the 2021 State
Median Income ($89,645)
Total 4,800 31,842 100% 100%
Located in a Census Tract
Center- with a Median Income 783 49,204 29% 29%
based Care Below 85% of the 2021 State
Median Income ($89,645)
Located in a Census Tract
with a Median Income 85% 1,938 123,215 71% 71%
or above the 2021 State
Median Income ($89,645)
Total 2,721 172,419 100% 100%
Located in a Census Tract
All Providers with a Median Income 3,313 65,102 44% 32%
Below 85% of the 2021 State
Median Income ($89,645)
Located in a Census Tract
with a Median Income 85% 4,208 139,159 56% 68%
or above the 2021 State
Median Income ($89,645)
Total 7,521 204,261 100% 100%
Note: This table includes all approved C3 applications from July 1, 2023, December 31, 2023. Due to missing income data
for five census tracts in the S1903 US Census Table, ten providers located in those census tracts are not included in this
analysis.
Current State of the Field
The C3 grant—both through the monthly application process, as well as a series of semi-annual surveys
of C3 recipients—has provided EEC with an unprecedented level of data and insight into the status of the
early education and care field. Each month, when providers apply for their C3 grant, they are asked to
confirm a number of key data points including: their current license capacity; the number of children
currently enrolled; the total number of FTEs they employ by role; the hourly wage of their highest and
lowest paid employees by role; benefits provided to employees; and—in the case of family child care
providers—whether they employ an assistant and the number of hours per week worked by these
assistants.
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In addition to the rich data provided through the monthly C3 applications, the Department also requires
C3 grant recipients to respond to a survey each fall and spring. These surveys provide more thorough
data on how providers are spending grant funds; how providers have invested in their workforce across
the life of the grant; educator turnover, recruitment