Bill S.2619

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:

SECTION 1. Section 1A of chapter 15D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of “board”, the following definition:-

“Caregiver”, a person living with, supervising and caring for a child whose parents are not living in the home with them or a person with legal guardianship of a child regardless of whether the child’s parents are living in the home with them.

SECTION 2. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, after the definition of “child care center”, the following definition:-

“Child care financial assistance”, financial assistance given to eligible parents or caregivers for child care provided by an early education and care provider pursuant to a contract or voucher agreement with the department.

SECTION 3. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, after the definition of “department”, the following definition:-

“Early education and care provider”, or “provider”, any childcare center, family child care home, large family child care home, or out-of-school time program licensed or exempt by the department of early education and care located within the commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides early education and care programs and services.

SECTION 4. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, after the definition of “group care facility”, the following definition:-

“High needs”, needs that may result in an individual or family needing more services, including but not limited to any physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, cognitive, behavioral, or health related disability or condition, exposure to domestic violence, trauma history, limited English proficiency, limited literacy, homelessness or housing instability, income at or below the federal poverty line, or involvement with the department of children and families.

SECTION 5. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 100, the figure “10" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 12.

SECTION 6. Said section 1A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, after the definition of “mixed system”, the following definition:-

“Operational grant”, an amount of funding from the department to early education and care providers currently enrolling children receiving child care financial assistance or certifying their willingness to enroll a child receiving child care financial assistance should a family choose the provider and there is an available opening.

SECTION 7. Section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (e) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

(e) establish and develop a schedule for revising: (i) a rate structure for voucher and contracted payments to early education and care providers who accept children receiving child care financial assistance, as required pursuant to section 13A, based on the payments meeting the full cost of providing high-quality early education and care programs to such children when combined with operational grant funding, fees paid by parents or caregivers, and any direct funding paid by a source other than the department to providers, in conformity with federal and state law, regulations and quality and safety standards; provided, that the rate structure shall include higher rates for the provision of care during nonstandard hours, as defined by the department, sufficient to encourage providers to offer care during nonstandard hours; provided further, that the method for reimbursement for voucher and contracted payments to early education and care providers on behalf of children receiving child care financial assistance shall be based on quarterly enrollment rather than daily attendance of participants; and (ii) a sliding fee scale for families receiving child care financial assistance which is updated at least every 5 years to reflect affordability standards for participating families; provided, that recipients of child care financial assistance whose income is not more than 100 per cent of the federal poverty level shall not be charged fees for care and income for families that exceeds 100 per cent of the federal poverty level shall not exceed 7 per cent of the family’s total income and shall be determined by applying the sliding fee scale to the remainder of the family’s income after deducting 100 per cent of the federal poverty level. A public hearing under chapter 30A and the approval of the board shall be required before the establishment or revision of the rate structure and sliding fee scale.

SECTION 8. Said section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out clause (t) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:--

(t) subject to appropriation, establish the early childhood mental health consultation grant program to provide consultation services and workforce development to meet the behavioral health needs of children in early education and care programs, giving preference to those designed to prevent expulsions and suspensions from the programs and to early education and care programs serving high percentages of high needs students. The grant program shall promote efforts to ensure healthy social and emotional development in child care settings and shall include, but not be limited to: (i) consultation services utilizing on-site, child focused observations using evidence-based observation tools; and (ii) providing on-site coaching for educators to address challenging behaviors and identify and facilitate referrals for children in need of more intensive services.

SECTION 9. Said section 2 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following clause:-

(v) annually collect from early education and care providers licensed by the department, data on: (i) the number of employees; (ii) the pay rates and employer-paid benefits; (iii) the tuition charged for full- and part-time early education and care programs by age group; (iv) numbers of children enrolled by age group, family income range, gender, race, ethnicity, country-of-origin, disability status, children receiving early intervention services and preferred language.

SECTION 10. Section 3A of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 26, the words “Bureau of Jewish Education” and inserting in place thereof the following words: Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

SECTION 11. Section 5 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “a common and shared body of knowledge”, in line 27, the following words:- ,including cultural competency and awareness of implicit bias.

SECTION 12. Said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 13 the following section:-

Section 13A. (a) The department shall establish an early education and care financial assistance program, subject to appropriation, which shall provide sufficient child care financial assistance to enable eligible families to afford and access high-quality early education and care programs for infants, toddlers, preschool-age, and school-age children; provided that a school-age child’s financial assistance shall continue until at least the end of the school year in which the child reaches the maximum age.

(b) Child care financial assistance shall be used for the purpose of subsidizing or reducing the costs to families of fees for early education and care programs for their children, including increasing per child rates set by the department, according to subsection (e).

(c) Child care financial assistance may be used for early education and care programs provided by public, private, non-profit, and for-profit entities licensed or approved by the department, including, but not limited to, preschools, childcare centers, nursery schools, before and after school programs, out-of-school time programs, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, informal childcare providers and independent and system-affiliated family child care homes.

(d) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to families receiving services from the department of children and families as provided in section 2 of chapter 18B of the General Laws.

(e) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to: (i) recipients of transitional aid to families with dependent children; (ii) former recipients who are working or are engaged in an approved service need activity for up to 2 years after termination of their benefits; (iii) parents who are under 18 years of age who are currently enrolled in an education or job training program and who would qualify for benefits under chapter 118 if not for the consideration of the grandparents’ income; and (iv) recipients of the supplemental nutrition assistance program who are participating in education and training services approved by the department of transitional assistance.

(f) The department shall provide child care financial assistance to families eligible in accordance with any income limits in effect under subsections (g) and (h).

(g) The department shall subsidize, subject to appropriation, the cost of early education and care services to all families in need of these services with incomes at or below 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income. Provided, should appropriations be insufficient to subsidize the cost of early education and care services to all families in need of these services with incomes at or below 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income, first priority shall be provided to those children whose family’s household income is at or below 50 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income or a child with a documented disability whose family’s household income is at or below 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income and to all children in families who are experiencing homelessness or who are headed by a parent under the age of 20; and provided further, that second priority shall be given to children whose family’s household income is above 50 per cent, but not exceeding 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income; provided, however, that a family with income below the federal poverty level shall not have its priority status on a waitlist negatively impacted by a family with income above the federal poverty level.

(h) The department shall allocate funding to increase the numbers of families receiving financial assistance based on income eligibility in stages: (i) to those eligible for financial assistance as stipulated in subsection (g); (ii) to provide child care financial assistance to all families in need of these services, whose income is above 85 per cent, but not exceeding 100 per cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (iii) to provide child care financial assistance to all families in need of these services, whose income is above 100 per cent, but not exceeding 110 per cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (iv) to provide child care financial assistance to all families in need of these services, whose income is above 110 per cent, but not exceeding 125 per cent, of the Massachusetts state median income; (v) to provide child care financial assistance to all families in need of these services whose income is above 125 per cent, but not exceeding 200 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income.

(i) Family income, for the purposes of eligibility for early education and care financial assistance shall include income of parents living with the child receiving subsidized care but shall not include: (i) any form of income of foster parents, caregivers or other adult family members; (ii) income of or for siblings who are not receiving subsidized care; or (iii) earned income of any minor child.

(j) The department shall subsidize early education and care by: (i) providing vouchers for payment to providers, enabling families to access early education and care providers of their choice; and (ii) offering families the alternative of an open space with a provider that is subsidized under the provider’s contract with the department.

(k) The department shall require early education and care providers, as a condition for receiving payments from the department for financial assistance provided to families under this section, to enter into and comply with contractual agreements with the department. The contractual agreements shall require the provider to comply with this chapter and any other federal or state requirements necessary to receive funding for financial assistance provided to families under this section.

(l) The department and its agents shall not reduce, terminate or deny continued financial assistance to families until and unless the family is determined to be ineligible and is given the opportunity for an administrative appeal hearing. In situations in which the department or its agents deny a family’s application for financial assistance, the department shall provide the family an opportunity for an administrative appeal hearing and shall process such appeals within 60 days from the date requested.

(m) The department and its agents shall not reduce, terminate or deny continued child care financial assistance to families based on their household income until and unless the household income exceeds at least 85 per cent of the Massachusetts state median income or the income threshold for currently eligible families as prioritized in subsection (g) or (h), whichever is higher.

(n) To the extent not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, the department shall not terminate or deny child care financial assistance on the grounds of fee arrears until and unless: (i) the family’s fees and financial assistance have been adjusted, prospectively and retroactively, to take into account any reduction in income, and the arrears reduced accordingly; and (ii) the family has been offered an affordable payment plan, taking into account their income and expenses, and only if the family refused to enter into the plan. The department shall make an adjustment determination and offer an affordable payment plan within 90 days of fee arrears. Disputes about the existence or amount of fee arrears and the affordability of payment plans shall be subject to administrative appeal. The department shall accord providers the option of receiving department payment of arrears and repaying the department as the family makes payments under a payment plan.

(o) The department shall review the early education and care financial assistance program at least every 2 years to identify access barriers to families and opportunities to improve families’ experience with the financial assistance process including, but not limited to, department paperwork and verification requirements. The department shall remove any access barriers including, but not limited to: (i) making technological improvements; (ii) streamlining the application and renewal processes; (iii) improving outreach to potentially eligible families regarding the availability of financial assistance and the process for applying; (iv) ensuring access for families whose primary language is not English; (v) establishing procedures to screen families for the need for disability accommodations and provide these accommodations; (vi) ensuring that the department, through its agents and employees, promptly responds to communication by parents and caregivers; and (vii) ensuring that families with children with high needs are informed of openings with providers that focus on serving such families and children.

(p) The department shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this section after providing the opportunity for public comment. Public comment on regulations proposed pursuant to this subsection shall be accepted through both testimony at public hearings and written comments and shall be adopted only after consideration of these comments.

SECTION 13. Subsection (a) of section 17 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definitions of “Family child care provider” and “Family child care services” and inserting in place thereof the following 2 definitions:-

“Family child care provider”, a person who provides family child care services on behalf of children receiving child care financial assistance and receives payment from the commonwealth for such services.

“Family child care services”, child care services provided for less than 24 hours per day in the residence of the provider on behalf of children receiving child care financial assistance for which payment is made from the commonwealth.

SECTION 14. Subsection (b) of said section 17 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 32, the words “under a rate structure for voucher and contracted payments”.

SECTION 15. Said section 17 of said chapter 15D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (h) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(h) In addition to the mandatory subjects under subsection (g), the department and an employee organization certified by the department of labor relations as the bargaining representative of family child care providers shall bargain about the rate structure for voucher and contracted payments for family child care services on behalf of children receiving child care financial assistance.

SECTION 16. Said chapter 15D is hereby further amended by adding the following 3 sections:-

Section 19. (a) The department shall establish an operational grant program to distribute operational grants, subject to appropriation. Operational grants shall be granted for educator compensation and credentialing as well as early education and care program quality and sustainability. Operational grant uses shall include, but not be limited to: (i) compensating early education and care provider staff through increased salaries, benefits, bonuses, professional development or access to continuing education opportunities; (ii) increasing affordability of early education and care to families by reducing the tuition and fees paid by families or offering scholarships to families; (iii) enabling early education and care providers to provide high-quality early education and care and to comply fully with all applicable health, safety, educational, quality-assurance and other requirements of this chapter as well as any requirements imposed by the department consistent with this chapter; (iv) improving facilities and physical spaces used by the provider; (v) enabling early education and care providers to purchase high-quality, evidence-based early literacy materials; (vi) enabling providers to address emergency situations, during which the cost of care significantly increases due to additional federal, state or department requirements or the loss of fees due to absence or unenrollment that jeopardizes early education and care providers’ ability to retain their facilities and staff; or (vii) enabling early education and care providers to maintain or increase capacity to provide voluntary supplemental services to enrolled children and their families, such as social work services, health and disability-related services and support to parents and caregivers.

(b) The department shall establish a formula for distributing operational grants to providers, which shall consider, at a minimum, the following: (i) the provider’s licensed capacity and enrollment, including the ages of the children enrolled and for whom the provider has capacity; (ii) the location of the provider, availability of care in the area and additional costs associated with the provider’s location; (iii) the demographics of the families served by the provider including how many children receiving financial assistance attend, the income level of families and other pertinent demographic data that may influence the needs of the families and children served; (iv) the number of children with high needs enrolled including those with disabilities, limited English proficiency and other factors as determined by the department; (v) the cost of quality care methodology established by the department and until such time as the methodology is established, any available information regarding the cost of quality early education and care including available credentialing frameworks and applicable salary guidelines; (vi) any other factors impacting costs to the provider of providing quality care in areas of need including, but not limited to, serving infants and toddlers, providing non-standard hours of care and providing care to children and families with high needs for whom there are shortages of early education and care slots; and (vii) promoting racial equity. The department shall annually review and update this formula based on relevant data.

(c) The department shall require early education and care providers, as a condition for receiving grants under this section, to: (i) enter into and comply with contractual agreements with the department (ii) continue or certify their willingness to enroll a child receiving child care financial assistance should a family choose the provider and there is an available opening; (iii) comply with any recommended salaries, compensation and benefits put forth by the department pursuant to clause (11) of section 5, or if the funding the provider receives is insufficient, increase salaries, compensation, and benefits to the extent possible; and (iv) provide data that the department requires, as needed to carry out the department’s assessment and reporting requirements under this chapter.

(d) The department shall develop enforceable compliance standards that demonstrate that early education and care provider openings are accessible to children receiving child care financial assistance with a goal of increasing financial assistance utilization and methods for ensuring that providers receiving operational grant funding meet the standards before renewing their funding.

(e) Absent any changes in circumstances and assuming compliance with all requirements in subsections (c) and (d) and otherwise determined as necessary by the department, operational grants shall be renewed to each provider annually.

(f) A public hearing under chapter 30A and the approval of the board shall be required before the establishment or revision of the operational grant formula and enforceable compliance standards.

Section 20. The board shall, subject to appropriation, establish the early education and care educator scholarship program for early education and care sector educators in the commonwealth pursuant to clause (10) of section 5 of this chapter.

The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of higher education and the early education and care workforce council, established under section 79 of chapter 154 of the acts of 2018, shall make recommendations to the board establishing appropriate guidelines, standards and application criteria for the administration of the program, including mechanisms to ensure the scholarship provides meaningful improvements in the delivery of high-quality early education and care across the commonwealth.

(b) The scholarship program shall be administered by the department through a memorandum of understanding with the department of higher education.

(c) The scholarship may be used to cover the cost of tuition, fees and related expenses, including supports unique to the diverse learning needs of the field such as personal childcare expenses in order to attend classes and class meetings and other supports deemed appropriate by the board for degree granting programs for early educators who are pursuing associate or bachelor level degrees to meet the teacher and program quality standards of the department.

(d) The amount of each scholarship shall, at a minimum, be sufficient to cover the full cost of tuition and associated fees for 1 semester of classes at a Massachusetts community college.

(e) Eligible recipients shall be current or prospective early education and care educators and providers employed by early education and care providers in the commonwealth who commit to teaching for early education and care providers for a term of service after graduation to be determined by the board and shall reflect the diversity of the commonwealth's early education and care workforce.

(f) Preference shall be given to applicants identified as providers who have displayed a proven commitment to early childhood education as demonstrated by longevity in the field.

(g) The program shall be administered by the department in a manner that ensures recipients receive adequate support in selecting programs and courses that lead to credentials and further their career in early education and care.

(h) The board shall, subject to appropriation, establish the early education and care educator loan forgiveness program for early education and care sector educators in the commonwealth pursuant to clause (10) of section 5 of this chapter with preference given to applicants identified as providers who have displayed a proven commitment to early childhood education and who work in communities predominantly serving children and families with high needs or areas with a shortage of early education and care slots.

Section 21. (a) Annually, by February 15, the department shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on education, and the house and senate ways and means committees on the department’s use of funds in the previous fiscal year as required by this section. The department may submit the information required by this section in its annual report required by subsection (g) of section 3.  The report shall include information as required by subsections (b) through (f) of this section.

(b) The cost and use of all child care financial assistance provided by the department pursuant to section 13A, including, but not limited to: (i) the number of licensed or exempt early education and care providers; (ii) the total cost of the child care financial assistance provided by the department or its agents; (iii) the utilization of available contracted slots and vouchers by region and type of care provider; (iv) number of children enrolled by age group, the total number of all children receiving child care financial assistance by region, age, type of care, family income range, gender, race, ethnicity, country-of-origin, disability status, children receiving early intervention services and preferred language; (v) the monthly average number of children on the department’s financial assistance wait list by region, age, type of care, race and ethnicity, disability status of the child, primary language of the household, adults in the household and income range of the household; and (vi) the average monthly number and percentage of utilized contracted slots by region.

(c) The distribution of operational grants pursuant to section 19 including, but not limited to; (i) a description of the formula through which funding is allocated to providers; (ii) an analysis of the incorporation of equity into the formula; (iii) an analysis of the demographic data of the families served by participating programs; (iv) recommendations as to how the program could be modified to most effectively direct grant funding to communities and for families with the greatest need, including families receiving child care financial assistance through the department, families living in census tracts with higher proportions of Black, Indigenous and people of color, gateway municipalities, and communities with a high social vulnerability index or with a median income below 85 per cent of the state median income; (v) recommendations to amend the program’s grant formula to maximize the goals of educational equity, school readiness and optimal results for families and communities with the greatest needs including, but not limited to (A) appropriate funding levels for operational supports for programs participating in the grant program in census tracts with higher proportions of Black, Indigenous and people of color, gateway municipalities, and communities with a high social vulnerability index or with a median income below 85 per cent of the state median income; (B) enhance equity adjustments for programs located in census tracts with higher proportions of Black, Indigenous and people of color, gateway municipalities, and communities with a high social vulnerability index or with a median income below 85 per cent of the state median income; (C) limit, expand or further prioritize operational grants to optimally support high quality programming including recruitment and retention of the early education workforce; (D) establish grant participation eligibility prioritizations or exclusions justified by supporting information; and (E) any other recommendations the department deems necessary.

(d) The cost and use of all allocations of funding to early education and care providers under this chapter, including identifying the providers funded, the amount the provider received, and information on the number of providers funded by region, ages served, type of provider, and percentage of enrolled children receiving financial assistance.

(e) Application information including: (i) the number of applications for child care financial assistance; (ii) the numbers of applications for child care financial assistance denied, broken out by the reason for denial; (iii) the numbers of requests for review made by families of the denial of their applications for or ending of their child care financial assistance, disaggregated by the reason for denial of the application for or end of the financial assistance and, of those, the numbers of requests for review that: (A) resulted in a decision that reversed the application denial or financial assistance ending, (B) resulted in a decision that upheld the denial or ending of the family’s financial assistance, or (C) were undecided as of the end of the 12-month reporting period; and (iv) the number of requests for an administrative hearing made by families of the denial of their applications for or ending of their child care financial assistance, broken out by the reason for denial of the application for or ending of the financial assistance and, of those, the numbers (A) that resulted in a hearing decision that reversed the application denial or financial assistance ending, (B) that resulted in a hearing decision that upheld the application denial or financial assistance ending, (C) in which a hearing was not held as of the end of the 12-month reporting period, or (D) in which a hearing was held but the decision was not issued as of the end of the 12-month reporting period.

(f) Information about providers including: (i) the number of employees by race and ethnicity; (ii) the salary bands and employer-paid benefits provided to employees, separated by job position, and within that, separated by part-time and full-time employee designation, race and ethnicity, and job location within the commonwealth; and (iii) the levels of pay rates and employer-paid benefits compared to levels reported in the previous 3 reporting years.

SECTION 17. The executive office of labor and workforce development, in consultation with the department of early education and care, shall develop recommendations to the legislature regarding opportunities to expand employer support for early education and care for workers. In developing the recommendations, the EOLWD shall consider (i) identifying and promoting employer best practices and exploring incentives for employers to support additional early education and care benefits for their employees; (ii) expanding state partnerships with the business community to identify and share best practices and explore incentives for employers to support employees who have young children; (iii) improved collaboration across secretariats of state agencies to engage with the business community; (iv) incentives or requirements for employers of a certain size or specific subgroups of employers to provide employer-supported early education and care benefits to employees; (v) the feasibility of assessing all or certain employers in order to fund expanded access to high-quality, affordable early education and care in the commonwealth; and (vi) any other matters related to the expansion of employer-supported early education and care benefits in the commonwealth.

The executive office shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on labor and workforce development, and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before March 1, 2025.

SECTION 18. Not later than December 31, 2024, the department of early education and care shall file a report with the clerks of the house and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on education, on a plan to expand local partnerships including strategies and resources necessary to address community-based program expansion plans currently in development under the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative grant. The report shall identify means by which existing programming may be continued using existing resources available to providers in the mixed delivery system. The report shall also identify strategies for expanding the number of slots available in communities currently receiving Commonwealth Preschool Partnership grants and best practices to expand local partnerships to more communities including through mixed delivery programs administered by the local school system, municipal scholarship programs directly to families based on successful models already being implemented in certain municipalities, and other approaches to expand access to public high-quality care. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.

SECTION 19. Not later than December 31, 2024, the department of early education and care in consultation with the Children’s Investment Fund and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation shall file a report with the joint committee on education, and the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing proposed improvements to the Early Education and Out of School Time Capital fund including, but not limited to, eligibility criteria, sizes of grants, ways to streamline the application process, any other parameters to increase the impact of this fund, and any data available on unmet need for early education and care facilities improvements.

SECTION 20. The department of early education and care, the executive office of labor and workforce development and the commonwealth corporation, in conjunction with regional workforce boards, shall jointly conduct a study and report on enhancing the early education workforce pipeline and developing strategies and prioritizing programming and funding opportunities to ensure that the early educator workforce meets the needs of the commonwealth. Said report shall include but not be limited to, providing recommendations on the following: (i) recruitment of new early educators; (ii) the development of apprenticeship programs and non-traditional recruitment opportunities; (iii) opportunities for collaboration between providers and vocational schools with curriculums that include early education and care; (iv) the retention of early educators (v) incentivizing the development of family child care providers; and (vi) exploring the potential for the growth of family child care providers into center-based programs. Said report shall take into consideration existing resources pursuant to clause (12) of section 5 of chapter 15D of the General Laws and may make recommendations regarding additional resources which would be required to fully implement the report. The department of early education and care, the executive office of labor and workforce development and the commonwealth corporation shall file its report with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on labor and workforce development, and the house and senate committees on ways and means no later than January 1, 2025. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.

SECTION 21. Not later than January 15, 2025, the department of early education and care shall file a report with the clerks of the house and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education, on design and implementation plans for the early education and care educator scholarship program and loan forgiveness program pursuant to chapter 15D. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.

SECTION 22. Not later than March 31, 2025, the department of early education and care shall assess the extent of current supply and the unmet needs of families eligible for child care financial assistance, taking into account relevant differences among locations within the commonwealth including: (i) subsidized transportation of children to and from early education and care providers; (ii) early education and care services for time periods outside standard hours; (iii) substitute care on days on which the family’s regular early education and care provider is unavailable; and (iv) any other factors that prevent families from accessing state early education and child care financial assistance and to assess the cost of addressing these unmet needs.

The department of early education and care shall file a report with the clerks of the house and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on education. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.

SECTION 23. Not later than March 31, 2025, the department of early education and care shall establish a methodology that the department will use for assessing and updating the full costs of high-quality early education and care throughout the commonwealth. This methodology will be used to determine child care financial assistance reimbursement rates and operational grant amounts which are adequate to help meet the cost of providing high-quality early education and care. The methodology shall take into account all aspects of providers’ operations and responsibilities and costs that vary with location, type of provider, age ranges of the children served, and service to children with high needs.

The methodology shall include at least the following components: (i) pay and benefits to all staff, taking into account staff-to-child ratios needed depending on age ranges and service to children with high needs, curriculum planning time, as well as necessary non-educational staff activities, such as communications with families and department staff; (ii) professional development and instructional coaching for staff involved in the direct education and care of children; (iii) occupancy, including rent, utilities, maintenance, and improvements to physical environment; (iv) furnishings, appliances, equipment, office supplies and administration, including internet, telephone, insurance, permits, and taxes or fees; (v) educational supplies and curricula, observational tools, and toys; (vi) nutritious meals and snacks; (vii) transportation services for children to, from, and between early education and care providers, schools, and home; and (viii) costs of additional services to children and families with high needs including staff and staff training needed for accommodating children with disabilities or other high needs, interpreter services, mental health supports and other wraparound services for children, mental health supports for staff, trauma-informed care practice, and staff time required to provide comprehensive family engagement and services to ensure effective early education and promote multi-generational success.

The methodology shall annually be increased at the rate of inflation and the methodology shall be reassessed and accordingly adjusted no less than once every 5 years.

SECTION 24. (a) Not later than March 31, 2025, the department of early education and care shall develop and file a report on an early education and care career ladder pursuant to clause (11) of section 5 of chapter 15D of the General Laws.

(b) The career ladder shall include (i) minimum recommended salaries and compensation for each level of the career ladder which are commensurate with the salaries of public school teachers with equivalent credentials and training when required for a position, (ii) minimum recommended benefits for provider staff, including but not limited to health insurance, retirement benefits, paid vacation, and other leave time, and (iii) recommendations for linking professional development and educational credentials to increased compensation and leadership opportunities in the field of early education and care.

(c) The department shall file the report with the clerks of the house and the senate, who shall forward the report to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on education. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.

(d) The department shall review the salaries, compensation and benefits structure and guidelines annually and update them, as needed, based on increased cost of living and other factors deemed relevant by the department to determine appropriate compensation for the field.

(e) The salaries, compensation and benefits guidelines developed under this section shall not preclude provider staff from exercising any rights they may have to collective bargaining about salaries, compensation and benefits.

SECTION 25. Not later than October 1, 2025, the department of early education and care shall file a report with the clerks of the house and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education on a plan to pilot, scale, and evaluate on a regular basis shared services and quality licensed hubs for early education and care providers including family child care providers. The report shall be made publicly available on the department of early education and care’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.