RECAP of the August 13, 2025, EEC Board Meeting: Updates to the C3 Formula
At Neighborhood Villages, we prioritize keeping up with the policy landscape in the early education and care field, both across the country and in Massachusetts. That includes tuning-in to the monthly meetings of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care (“EEC Board”), to stay apprised of updates and to identify opportunities for how we can work with government and other stakeholders to improve our early education and care system.
The topic of this month’s Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Board meeting was the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) program formula.
For additional detail on any of the meeting topics, view the slides here or watch the recording on YouTube.
Here’s what you need to know…
Commissioner Amy Kershaw announced that at the next Board meeting on September 10, 2025, EEC will review the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Massachusetts State Budget and the Early Education and Child Care Inter-Agency Task Force will present on their progress.
EEC staff provided an update on the C3 Formula and their plan for FY26. The Board voted to move the draft proposed C3 formula forward and pursue a public comment period regarding the formula. EEC stated that the current formula is working and directing resources to the sector. It has created over 2000 new seats since November 2024, allowed programs to meet enrollment benchmarks, and enabled programs to enroll more children receiving CCFA. The formula has only been in place for less than a year, so they would like to keep it the same. They believe it is in the best interest of the field to do so, especially given that the funding for the program is the same as it was last year. They also stated that maintaining the formula at this time will allow stability and predictability. EEC also shared their plans and approach for FY26. They are focused on two areas regarding C3: 1. Building compliance to new statutory requirements and 2. Ongoing analysis of C3 application and survey data identity.
In order to build compliance to new statutory requirements, EEC plans to do the following:
Use Board review and public comment;
Ensure that all programs receiving C3 demonstrate a willingness to enroll children receiving CCFA; and
Encourage programs to meet salary benchmarks.
These actions are required by the 2024 reforms that were passed in the FY25 budget. To learn more about the 2024 reforms, you can check out our fact sheet here.
EEC proposed using this year to maintain the current formula and pursue programmatic adjustments then review the field feedback and consideration of proposals for FY27 during the fall. In other words, the public comment period, which is required by law, will be used to gather information. Aside from the programmatic adjustments, there will be no changes to the formula in this fiscal year. The information gathered during the public comment period will be used to potentially make changes in the next fiscal year. The programmatic adjustments include the following:
Ensure all adjustments align with statutory requirements and manage funding;
Attestation of willingness to accept applications from children with CCFA;
Revise fund use requirements focusing funding on workforce investments; and
Continue to manage access to new providers.
EEC proposed the following process:
In August, EEC will present the current formula for a 30 days public comment period, which is what they did at this meeting. During the public comment period, the public can provide written or verbal feedback. The public comment period will run from August 13 to September 12, 2025. You can find more information here;
On September 8, 2025 at 6pm, EEC will host a public hearing to gather feedback. The hearing will have live interpretation in multiple languages. You can find more information here;
In October, EEC will come back to the Board so they could vote on the proposed formula after the public comment period; and
In November, if the Board approves the proposal, EEC will include an attestation in the C3 recertification application. In order to continue receiving C3 grants after November, programs will have to agree to their willingness to accept children receiving CCFA, if space were available and a family with a CCFA voucher sought a spot at the program. EEC clarified that this attestation does not require that programs have children with CCFA enrolled or a voucher agreement in place at the time of this attestation. Over time, EEC will provide information regarding programs needing to have a voucher agreement but that is not required at the moment. The certification would be adjusted and EEC would recalculate programs grant awards for the remainder of FY26.
The Board voted to move the C3 formula forward and pursue a public comment period regarding the formula.
The next EEC Board meeting will be on September 10, 2025, in Boston.