| REOPENING |
| Governor's plan: Reopening Massachusetts |
| Department of Early Education and Care: |
• Overview
• Care Options for Hybrid and Remote Learning Models: Joint Guidance for EEC and DESE, COVID-19 Executive Order No. 49
• Reopening Process and Materials
• Minimum Requirements for Health and Safety, updated August 21
• Frequently Asked Questions, June 28, and Frequently Asked Questions, updated August 21
• Interim Regulations, updated August 21
• COVID-19 Child Care Playbook: Implementing the Minimum Requirements for Health and Safety
• Family Child Care Providers: Additional Guidance, Plan Template, Instructions Video
• Group and School Age Providers: Plan Template, Instructions Video
• EEC Operations Status Report, including program closures and COVID case data
• DPH COVID-19 Response Reporting Page, download the Chapter 93 EEC Weekly Report
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Stay Tuned: DESE and EEC will release a joint Early Childhood and Out-of School Time Q&A document on reopening in the near future. You can also expect a document on COVID-19 Developmentally Appropriate Practices in educational settings. |
Board of Early Education and Care: meetings, recordings, and slides.
• EEC plan for December stimulus funding. March, 2021 |
Legislature: Joint Committee on Education, Virtual Oversight Hearing on the Status of Early Education and Care in the Commonwealth during the COVID-19 emergency. July 1 video, July 7 video .
• Testimony by Amy O'Leary, Strategies for Children
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| Reopening Advisory Board: Report (5/18). Read our child care advocacy letter to the Board. |
| Covid testing: Pool testing advocacy letter to Governor Baker (1/11/21). Strategies for Children letter to Governor Baker (11/30). Include early education and care and out-of-school time providers in rapid testing. |
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| STATE |
| COVID-19 Testing Site Locator: Remember to call ahead and ask about the turnaround time for testing results!
MA Testing Information. |
| COVID-19 Exposure Resources: |
| • Contact your Local Board of Health |
| • Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Science (BIDLS): 617-983-6800
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| • Department of Public Health: childcare.covid19@state.ma.us |
| • COVID-19 Positive Reporting Form in your LEAD account
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| • Dr. Katherine Hsu: Katherine.Hsu@massmail.state.ma.us or 617-983-6948 |
| Department of Early Education and Care: |
| • Official EEC email updates |
| • EEC Town Hall Webinars (recording archive) |
| • Resources for educators |
| Mass.gov: COVID-19 |
| Attorney General's Office: guidance on private-pay child care, assistance for small businesses |
| The Employer's Guide to Unemployment insurance |
| Project Bread food site map. FoodSource Hotline 1-800-645-8333 (toll-free) |
| Mass. Nonprofit Network: Three Steps for Nonprofit Leaders Faced with Difficult Workforce Decisions |
| Multilingual resources from MIRA Coalition, Recursos en español. |
| Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health (MassAIMH): COVID-19 resources for mental health and 'Going Back to School' social story template. |
Society for the Protection and Care of Children: Infant and early childhood mental health focused best practices and recommendations |
| Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): APP Imprints (Woburn), Trusted Tees (Hudson), H.T. Berry (Canton), EDCO. |
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| FEDERAL |
CDC Guidance for Child Care Programs |
| Child Care Aware of America: Summary of Federal Supports |
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP): Child care funding in the CARES Act (3/26), Fact Sheet on $50 billion proposal for child care relief (May), Child Care Relief Funding in the Year-End Stimulus Deal: A State-by-State Estimate (12/22) |
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Advocacy Resources |
| Writing Testimony Workshop video and follow-up email, July 6, 2020 |
| Advocacy 101 webinar slides, June 2020 |
| See FAQ below for more advocacy information, or contact info@strategiesforchildren.org |
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Technical Assistance |
United Way and Shared Services have partnered with Food & Supply Source and Staples Advantage to provide an opportunity for licensed EEC providers to purchase PPE and cleaning supplies at lower-than-market price. Become a member today! |
| Webinar recording of Goodwin Webinar For Massachusetts Childcare & Early Education Providers On Reopening 6/25/2020 |
| Webinar recording of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), An Update for Child Care Providers, 4/24/20 |
| Webinar recording of Goodwin: Town Hall for Massachusetts Childcare and Early Education Providers, 4/22/20 |
| Children's Investment Fund: 1-on-1 technical assistance on PPP loans, in English and Spanish, support@childrensinvestmentfundma.org |
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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions |
How long does the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program last? |
The CARES Act created the FPUC program, which provides an additional $600 per week to individuals who are collecting regular Unemployment Compensation (UC), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Extended Benefits (EB), Trade Readjustment Act (TRA), and Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DA). This program ended on July 31, 2020 and individuals no longer receive an additional $600 with their weekly benefits.
Congress will revisit negotiations after the November 3, 2020 election.
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) has disbursed the 6th and final Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) $300 supplemental benefit to unemployment claimants. The limited additional weekly unemployment benefits went to all eligible claimants for the weeks ending 8/1/20 through 9/5/20. FEMA has informed DUA that no additional LWA payments will be available beyond the 6 weeks already allotted
For more information on Unemployment Insurance and the various benefit programs visit this site on mass.gov. If you are unsure which benefits to apply for or how to utilize the unemployment website please review this flowchart and these detailed application instructions. |
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| Is financial assistance available to early childhood and out-of-school time providers who are hosting school-age remote learners? |
| Yes! The state allocated $12.1 million through the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund and the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) to create the Remote Learning Support Services Grants. The application is due November 10, 2020. Each eligible city or town must determine a "Lead Applicant". The Lead Applicant will be responsible for determining which organizations receive funding for this grant. If you are a community provider offering remote learning support services contact your city or town ASAP in order to be considered for grant funding. You can view the Request for Response and the Frequently Asked Questions for more info. |
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How can I help advocate for the early education and care field? |
The first step is to contact your elected officials and share your personal story. We need everyone to understand the economic ramifications of COVID-19 on our already underfunded system. Click here to find your federal, state, and local elected officials.
At the federal level, there are proposals for child care in the House and Senate. We need child care funding to be a part of the national recovery conversation. Continue to educate yourself on any legislation related to our field and speak up to help gain support for our industry:
First Five Years Fund - Comparison of proposals, June 2020
The Moving Forward Act - Fact sheet and section by section summary
The Child Care for Economic Recovery Act
The HEROES Act
State budget advocacy is essential. A June 24 report from Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center found that the child care sector in Massachusetts would need $690 million over the next five months to recover from revenue losses due to COVID-19 closures, and reopen under new health and safety requirements. For more information, visit our state budget webpage or contact info@strategiesforchildren.org
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