(Left to right): Governor Maura Healey, Lowell Mayor Danny Rourke and Massachusetts Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler

LOWELL – The Healey-Driscoll Administration, along with state legislators, local officials and providers, chose Lowell today to highlight Massachusetts’ national leadership when it comes to making child care more affordable and accessible. In particular, Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to continue funding the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) stabilization grants for providers at the same level as the federal government.

Governor Maura Healey, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, Lowell Mayor Dan Rourke, Lowell City Manager Tom Golden, State Representative Vanna Howard, State Representative Rodney Elliott, House Majority Leader Alice Peisch, Education Committee Co-Chair Representative Denise Garlick and other local officials and community members marked this milestone at a Head Start preschool classroom at the Community Teamwork in Lowell.

“Massachusetts is the number one state for women, for having a baby and for raising a family. That’s in large part due to our commitment to making the strongest child care and early education investments in the country,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our nation-leading efforts have added thousands of new child care slots across the state, and we’re continuing to partner with the Legislature to make child care more affordable and support our hardworking providers.”

The Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget signed by Governor Healey sustains the state’s commitment of $475 million for this program and makes it permanent. Last year, the C3 program contributed to a 7 percent increase in child care programs, adding more than 10,600 child care slots across the state.

“Massachusetts has always been at the forefront of championing initiatives that improve the lives of our residents, and the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants are a testament to that commitment,” said Lowell Mayor Daniel P. Rourke. “By prioritizing affordable and accessible childcare, we are not only investing in our children’s future but also supporting the hard-working families who are the backbone of our communities. These grants reflect our shared values and our unwavering dedication to ensuring that every child in Lowell and Massachusetts has the opportunity to thrive.”

“Affordable child care is not just a family issue—it’s an economic imperative,” Lowell City Manager Tom Golden. “In Lowell, we see firsthand the difference that the C3 grants have made for our child care centers and families. We are grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for leading on this issue and understanding the critical role child care plays in communities. This investment is a win for parents, providers, and employers in Lowell and across Massachusetts.”

C3 supports early education and care providers’ day-to-day operational costs, including compensation that enables programs to better recruit and retain their staff while mitigating increased costs for families. This critical funding effectively helped to stabilize the state’s child care system, enabling early education programs to remain open, and is also supporting system-wide growth through investments in workforce, quality and affordability.

“Along with increasing our ability to fairly compensate teachers and staff, C3 grants and other state supplemental funding have enabled us to meet the increasing needs of our children and families. The soon to be open, Rita O’Brien-Dee Center for Behavioral Health and Development, is one of our responses to the great challenge of mental health for our children, staff and families and continued funding through C3 grants is helping us to provide this much needed programming for our community,” said Karen Frederick, Community Teamwork CEO. ”We are grateful to Governor Healey and her Administration for taking a leadership role in ensuring this critical funding continues.”

Thanks to strong state investment, the early education and child care system in Massachusetts has rebounded and now exceeds pre-pandemic licensed capacity by 7,100 child care spaces, representing a total increase of approximately 37,000 seats compared to the pandemic low in the Spring of 2021.

In addition to funding C3 at $475 million, the FY25 budget prioritizes early education and child care in a number of other ways, including:

• $872 million for child care financial assistance to support low- and moderate-income families, including families receiving services or supports from DTA and DCF, as well as staff working in early education and care programs.
• $85 million for reimbursements for early education and care providers who accept state child care financial assistance, known as rates, $20 million over FY24 for new rate increases this year to better cover the cost of providing care. This is a $20 million increase over FY24.
• $22.5 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) to maintain FY24 expanded universal access to high-quality preschool, with a focus on gateway cities and rural communities.
• $18.5 million for supplemental grants to Head Start programs.