Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Here at Strategies for Children, we have been inspired by the early education and care community’s collaborative spirt.

We are in this together.

People at the local, state and national level are all fighting for children, families, educators, providers and the early education and care system.

To contribute to this effort we have created a new page on our website that we will update frequently with information and resources.

We also want to update you on what has been happening so far:

On Friday, March 27th, 2020, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act was signed into law. This legislation will provide critical help for the early childhood education sector, including these highlights reported by NAEYC:

• $3.5 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to ensure continued payment and assistance to child care providers and to support child care for essential workers;

• $750 million in grants for Head Start, including as much as $500 million for summer programs;

• up to $10 million in small business loans that can be forgiven if programs use the loans for specific purposes such as wages, paid sick or family leave, health insurance benefits, retirement benefits, mortgages or rent, or utilities;

• direct payments of up to $1,200 ($2,400 for couples) to qualifying taxpayers, plus an additional $500 per child;

• access to a pandemic unemployment insurance benefit for four months, on top of the regular state unemployment insurance benefit for qualifying individuals, and

• suspension of payments on federal student loans to support the many early childhood educators earning their degrees and credentials.

We are grateful to the members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation for their leadership in this work and for their support for young children and families.

As we all move forward together, please let us know what kind of help you need – no ask is too big or too small. We want to know.

•share your short- and long-term needs by completing this short online form called: What You Need

• tell us more about how you are making decisions about private-pay families and collecting tuition payments using this second online form called: Private Pay Child Care.

To learn more about the needs of your fellow providers, check out this summary of the survey results to-date.

Please keep in touch. Hearing from you about the real life, day-to-day challenges will inform our advocacy and communication strategies and help us match up resources with needs.

And thank you for all you are doing for children, families, and each other.