By awarding capital grants for facilities improvements, Massachusetts helps afterschool and early education programs improve their physical spaces, and a new data brief from the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) provides details on the success of the program. 

 As we’ve blogged, these grants help programs with a range of projects, including playground improvements, HVAC repairs, elevator upgrades, and new fire alarms. Grants also cover construction of new classrooms, electrical system upgrades, and roof, gutter, and fencing repairs. 

“Capital investments have a lasting impact because they improve the physical spaces where early learning happens,” Jose Mendez says. He’s EEC’s Director of Child Care Business Operations & Facilities. “For children and families, that means safer, more welcoming environments and greater access to care. For programs, it means stronger infrastructure and long-term stability.” 

“To date,” the brief notes, “these grants have provided $65M to programs to strengthen the quality of children’s learning conditions and grow system capacity.”

Most grants were awarded to programs in under-resourced communities, based on their Child Opportunity Index level. 

To administer the grants for afterschool programs and for nonprofit and for-profit child care centers, EEC works with the Children’s Investment Fund. Grants for family child care programs are administered by EEC and MassDevelopment.

Tracking the grants and their impact is essential. As Arianna Burnham, an EEC-based fellow in the Early Childhood Policy Pathways Fellowship, explains, “The data EEC collects about capital grants highlight strong demand for this funding as well as its broad reach, offering a clearer picture of how providers are using these resources to enhance their programs and better support the children they serve.” 

In fiscal year ‘25, for example, EEC distributed roughly $17M in capital grant funding, including $14 million for center-based programs and $2.7 million for family child care providers.

Despite this investment, it’s quite clear that there isn’t enough funding to meet the existing need, especially among family child care providers. Specifically:

• 55 child care centers submitted requests for a total of $27.5 million, nearly twice as much as the $14 million that was available, and 

• 1,681 family child care providers requested a total of $36.6 million, more than 10 times as much as the $2.7 million in available funding

There is good news—and there’s more work to do. 

Governor Maura Healey’s FY26-FY30 Capital Investment Plan includes $57 million to fund capital grants for non-profit, center-based programs over the next four years. 

Advocates should take note of the fact that capital funding for for-profit center-based programs and family child care programs was not appropriated for fiscal year ‘26. 

So please reach out to elected officials and share the news. Facilities grants make programs better, and the more Massachusetts invests, the better these programs will be. 

To learn more, check out the brief.