Children’s Investment Fund (CIF) is thrilled to announce the release of its report, Building Quality: Transforming Early Learning Environments in Massachusetts. The report reflects on CIF’s 30 years of work and celebrates the Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund, which the report re-brands as the Building Quality Capital Fund. The Capital Fund was created in 2013 through the state’s Housing Bond Bill and is co-managed by the Department of Early Education and Care and CIF. Since its inception, the Building Quality Capital Fund has invested a total of $39.2M in dozens of child care facilities across Massachusetts, including $7.5M in grants announced this summer to address emergency, COVID-related needs.
The nation’s child care system has lacked adequate funding for decades. The sector’s infrastructure has suffered, as evidenced by our 2011 report, which found that many centers struggle with challenges like poor indoor air quality and a lack of sinks in classrooms for handwashing. The Building Quality Capital Fund was created to address these challenges and has improved learning environments for over 9,000 children, more than 80 percent of whom live in low-income households.
The report profiles several child care providers that have transformed their facilities through this unique source of capital funding. It also includes highlights from a multi-year research study conducted by James Bell Associates, Wellesley Centers for Women, and D.W. Arthur Associates Architecture studying the first 16 centers funded, before and after their facility improvement projects. We’d like to give a special thanks to the providers who welcomed us into their centers for photographs, observations, surveys, and interviews.
Looking ahead, we hope the report will raise awareness of the importance of high-quality facilities. Building Quality is how we envision the future — a world in which substantial investment in child care infrastructure helps transform learning opportunities for children and their families.
View the Building Quality: Transforming Early Learning Environments in Massachusetts report here.
