In August 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration launched the C3 grant program, which leveraged federal funding and developed a critical new source of support for early education and care providers across the state. This operational grant program provides all early education providers in the Commonwealth who apply with baseline funding through a formula that accounts for program capacity, whether a program serves subsidized children, and the communities that the program serves.
Access to stable, quality early education and care programs is critical to the pandemic recovery for children, working families, and the economy. The Administration is committed to continuing this critical line of support for early education and care providers across the Commonwealth as we work together to continue to stabilize the sector. As the Governor reviews the FY23 budget in its entirety, EEC is opening the application for Fiscal Year 2023 C3 grants beginning on Tuesday, July 19th.
At that time, eligible EEC-licensed programs will be able to submit an application to receive funding for July 2022. At the beginning of August, eligible programs will also be able to submit applications or recertifications to receive funding for August 2022. Availability of funding is subject to final appropriation in the FY23 budget.
Programs eligible for funding whose applications are approved by August 4, 2022 could receive funding for the approved applications by August 15, 2022. Programs that get their application submitted and approved by August 15, 2022 will receive funding by August 27, 2022.
Eligible programs can continue to receive payments on a monthly basis through at least December 2022, provided they submit monthly recertifications.
The C3 grants have proven to be a highly effective approach to supporting the state’s early education system, providing more than $400 million in C3 grants to 6,746 EEC-licensed providers - both center-based and family child care providers - across the Commonwealth. C3 grant funding has enabled programs to remain open, maintain licensed capacity, provide bonuses and salary increases for educators, and more.
As a reminder, recertifications for C3 funding from the previous round of grants, between the months of July 2021 and June 2022, need to be completed no later than Monday, August 1st. Programs will receive this funding by the end of August 2022 as well.
Information about the C3 program and additional resources can be found here. Frequently asked questions can be found here.
