Category: CIF

HOUSE PANEL READIES $1.4 BIL HOUSING BOND, ROAD OUTLAY BILLS FOR FLOOR VOTES

HOUSE PANEL READIES $1.4 BIL HOUSING BOND, ROAD OUTLAY BILLS FOR FLOOR VOTES

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JUNE 3, 2013….The House this week is poised to advance legislation that would invest $1.4 billion in housing investments over the next five years, the first of a series on long-term borrowing bills expected to surface this session in the Legislature.

A House committee also voted on Monday to advance a bill facilitating $300 million in spending on local road projects over the next year, and House Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Chairman Rep. Antonio Cabral said he expected the full House to vote on that bill as well on Wednesday, barring any last minute “hiccups.”

With the House planning a Wednesday afternoon session, the House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets voted unanimously on Monday to recommend the housing bond bill (H 3464) and a bill (H 3488) setting the terms for borrowing $300 million to support the state’s Chapter 90 local road and bridge repair program.

The Patrick administration has raised concerns about the affordability of the $300 million road program, given the uncertainty of ongoing talks about raising taxes, and last week notified municipal officials that it would release only $150 million as it awaited resolution to debate over new revenue.

Cabral said the committee considered inserting language into the terms bill to “encourage” Gov. Deval Patrick to release at least $200 million immediately for local road repairs, which would be equal to the funding approved last year. Cabral said the committee ultimately decided to recommend the bill as written and to continue to put pressure on the administration through lawmakers and local officials to release more than $150 million. “I think we’re going to get there. It’s a matter of getting the governor to understand that the funds will be there,” Cabral said.

Testifying in support of the Chapter 90 terms bill, Massachusetts Municipal Association Executive Director Geoffrey Beckwith said important local road projects and repairs will be delayed across the state and long-term costs will rise because the Patrick administration has agreed to release only half the funds authorized under a law approved unanimously by the House and Senate and signed in May by the governor.

“We’re very disappointed with this quite frankly,” Beckwith said.

Asked by Rep. Carl Sciortino whether the MMA could show a financial analysis proving the affordability of the $300 million Chapter 90 allocation, Beckwith said House and Senate Ways and Means Chairmen Rep. Brian Dempsey and Sen. Stephen Brewer, and Transportation Committee Chairmen Rep. William Straus and Sen. Thomas McGee had all testified to its affordability.

“We believe those are very strong, powerful and credible sources talking about the financial affordability of the Chapter 90 funding,” Beckwith said.

Michael Valenti, of the Massachusetts Highway Association, testified that there is $562 million in annual need to maintain the 30,000 miles of roads maintained by cities and towns. He said reducing Chapter 90 funding to $150 million would put “enormous burdens” on cities and towns by delaying repairs and requiring more costly road replacement projects in the future.

The Bonding Committee also took testimony on the housing bond bill filed by Housing Committee Co-chair Rep. Kevin Honan that would be the first long-term housing spending bill to come before the Legislature since 2008.

“This is one of the more important bills the Legislature can pass this session,” said Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the Senate co-chair of the Joint Committee on Housing.

Among the investments made by the bill is a $500 million authorization for the rehabilitation and modernization of state-assisted public housing. Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Aaron Gornstein said the bill would not create any new state-owned public housing, but would speed up the turnover of dilapidated units once they become vacant.

“There are not a lot of vacancies, but we’re trying to turn those units around quickly,” Gornstein told Rep. Paul Heroux, who asked if the bill would reduce wait times for public housing.

Cabral said the Bonding Committee made one policy change in the bill to encourage owner-occupied homeownership through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The amendment would require purchasers of homes with two to six units to live in the building for up to 10 years before the occupancy restriction is lifted. “We believe it will create better stability in these neighborhoods where investments are being made,” Cabral said.

The bill also includes $55 million to facilitate home modifications for the elderly and disabled to allow them to remain in their homes and stay out of nursing homes. Another $45 million is included in the proposed bill for the first time to support capital investments in early education centers that advocates said are “squeezed financially” and an important resource for low-income families.

Bob French, who runs the North Star Learning Center in New Bedford, said it is difficult for early education learning centers to generate the private financial backing necessary to build new facilities to support the learning needs of low-income children in public housing.

Sean Caron, chief of staff of Community Builders, also testified in support of the $20 million investment the bond bill would make in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program that he said was integral to private, affordable housing development.

Caron said Community Builders, a nationwide non-profit developer, is counting on the tax credit in its plans to develop the vacant Loom Works textile mill in Worcester into 94 units of new housing with parking and green space, creating 175 jobs in Worcester.

Charles Eisenberg, a member of the Commonwealth Housing Task Force, said the $500 million investment in rehabilitating existing units is “desperately needed,” and called the low-income housing tax credit program an important tool for expanding access to affordable housing and retaining a qualified workforce.

“This is Massachusetts. We don’t have gas fields or wheat fields. We have hard working people and they can move somewhere else if they choose,” Eisenberg said.

Thomas Connolly, executive director of the state chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, said the $500 million investment in state public housing would help address a $1.8 billion backlog of necessary capital improvements.

“This governor has been a great friend to public housing. But this is a five-year authorization bill so we just hope the next administration is as supportive of public housing as this governor,” said Connolly, who has recently clashed with the Patrick administration over the governor’s plan to consolidate oversight of local public housing authorities.

-END-
06/03/2013

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SourceState House News

A slightly different kind of Brain Building: how a bond bill can support early ed

Home › Russet Morrow › 2013 › May ›
Posted: May 17, 2013
A slightly different kind of Brain Building: how a bond bill can support early ed
In an opinion piece in this week’s Boston Globe, Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Jeffrey Sanchez wrote about legislation that would upgrade child care facilities serving low income children, to meet important quality standards.
United Way has been working with Children’s Investment Fund on this issue since 2011, when we helped fund the study that evaluated child care facilities operated by nonprofit, community-based providers. We’ve worked closely with them since then to push this legislation at the state house, recently testifying at a legislative hearing.
Working with over 50 organizations in our area that provide early childhood services in our neighborhoods, we know exactly how critical these programs are to working families. We also know through research that investing in young children and the environments where they spend their time is an investment in the future prosperity of the Commonwealth. Today’s children are tomorrow’s prosperity and it all begins with building young children’s brains.
The architecture of the human brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins at birth. Just as the building of a home follows a sequence, brain architecture is built and shaped by early experiences. A strong foundation early on increases the likelihood of positive outcomes. Brains get built through interactions with parents, caregivers, and community. These “back and forth” interactions literally wire their brains.
The context and environments where brain building happens matters. Good physical spaces enhance the quality of the interactions between educators and children, reduce behavior issues in classrooms, and promote the general health of those spending up to ten hours a day in these spaces. Most child care spaces were not originally designed as educational settings, and as a result, lack appropriate, safe, healthy facilities.
The state has demonstrated its commitment to quality care and education through current investments to ensure that kids enter school ready to learn, and to close the achievement gap, through the implementation of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), and by leveraging federal resources such as Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge funding. This legislation would augment these investments by providing the means for those programs that serve our most vulnerable children to create effective, safe, and welcoming spaces to give these kids a good start. Additionally, it would enable facilities to more fully participate in QRIS, the state’s method of assessing quality in its early education and care and out of school time facilities.
We know what works. We know how to design and build effective high quality child care spaces. This bill will enable programs to have the funding to implement what has been proven effective. Children need programs that support their optimal development, and in the future, those children will repay the investment through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship.

URL: http://speakunited.org/blog/russet+morrow/2013/05/slightly-different-kind-brain-building-how-bond-bill-can-support-early-ed

SourceSpeakUnited, a United Way Blog

Upgrade child-care facilities

THE PODIUM
Upgrade child-care facilities
By Sal DiDomenico and Jeffrey Sánchez
It is time for Massachusetts to invest more in the infrastructure of child care.
As parents of young children, we spend hours agonizing over finding the best teachers and programs for our children but we seldom consider the influence of inadequate classroom facilities on their capacity to learn. Throughout children are going to child-care centers that are too cramped, have poor air quality, and lack space for pre-schoolers to run around either indoors or out. These inadequacies will not only have an impact on our children’s education and opportunities for success, but will also influence the Commonwealth’s ability to maintain a competitive economic edge.
In 2011, the Children’s Investment Fund released a study that looked at the state of child-care facilities operated by nonprofit, community-based providers essential to many working parents in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth. The survey determined there were significant challenges facing operators — for instance, 33 percent of centers statewide and 50 percent of those in Boston had entrapment hazards in play equipment and structures; 54 percent of programs statewide, and 31 percent in Boston lacked indoor gross motor space and equipment, which is the kind of space that encourages movement and can help address childhood obesity. Statistics aside, the study revealed that a great number of children within the Commonwealth are attending child-care facilities without the infrastructure necessary to keep them safe and healthy.
The study recommended a public financing mechanism to help providers renovate or upgrade their facilities. The truth is that most nonprofit providers are well aware of the limitations of the space they are forced to work in. But community-based programs that serve children from low income neighborhoods are generally constrained by what is available to them — many of them are operating in church basements or community centers offered to them for free, or former store fronts — which they can rent at low cost. While most providers are appreciative of whatever inexpensive space they can find, these buildings are not designed for quality learning experiences for our children. Many operators of these centers would like the chance to improve the buildings they and their students occupy.
One of the great challenges facing these community-based child-care providers is that oftentimes they cannot afford or do not qualify for conventional financing to make necessary facility improvements. In January, we filed legislation that will authorize $45 million over five years for early child care and out-of-school time facilities that serve children and families living in low-income communities across the Commonwealth. This will provide flexibility in facility improvements or expansion, and allow providers to build new facilities or renovate as market conditions dictate. This bill also will ensure that providers receive technical expertise to expose them to best practices, which will help to ensure both high quality and cost effective projects. Finally, it will safeguard the state’s investment by requiring that facilities continue to serve eligible children for the life of the financing.
Not only essential to the growth and well-being of our young people, the early care and education and out-of-school time sector is critical to the Massachusetts economy, now and into the future. Two-thirds of children in the Commonwealth live in families where all parents are working. In order to work, parents need access to good care. High quality early care programs help children from low income communities thrive and help break the cycle of poverty; in fact, economists estimate a 7 -t0-16 percent return on public investment in high quality early education. Additionally, the sector currently provides 24,000 jobs and generates $1.5 billion in annual revenues. By passing this legislation, Massachusetts will be at the forefront of a growing national movement to invest in high quality early childhood education as a way of securing our future.
In February, President Obama focused on high quality early education programs, arguing they are one of the best, most cost-effective investments the country can make right now. Quality space – designed specifically for learning – must be part of the definition of high quality early education. Many of these children spend ten hours a day, five days a week at these facilities — we owe it to them, and to ourselves, to ensure that the space they’re in is designed to maximize their opportunities to learn.
Democratic State Senator Sal DiDomenico represents the Middlesex and Suffolk district in the Massachusetts State Senate. Democratic State Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez represents the 15th Suffolk/Norfolk District.

URL: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/05/16/upgrade-child-care-facilities/mKfRGFE7u6a5TJ7if6NxEI/story.html?event=event12
© 2013 The New York Times Company

SourceThe Boston Globe, The Podium

Activists cite continuing demand in push for major spending on housing

ACTIVISTS CITE CONTINUING DEMAND IN PUSH FOR MAJOR SPENDING ON HOUSING

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, APRIL 4, 2013…. Describing the housing market as “more stable” since the height of the foreclosure crisis, the Patrick administration’s top housing official on Thursday asked lawmakers to support a four-year $567 million spending program that he said will both create affordable housing and jobs.

“The construction of affordable housing leads to direct jobs and we have created 17,000 jobs through our programs since 2007,” said Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary for housing and economic development.

Gornstein testified Thursday before the Joint Committee on Housing at a hearing on Gov. Deval Patrick’s housing bond bill. The committee was also taking testimony on a similar five-year, $1 billion housing bond bill filed by the committee’s chairmen, Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and Rep. Kevin Honan (D-Boston).

The administration’s bill also assumes that it will be able to spend the nearly $500 million in unspent affordable housing authorizations over the next several years. The Eldridge-Honan bill cancels previous unspent authorizations and outlines a new $1 billion plan.

One of the major differences between the administration’s bill and the Eldridge-Honan bill is a new $45 million Early Education and Out of School Time capital fund that the two lawmakers have proposed to support building new facilities and modernizing existing child care facilities catering to low-income children.

“I am pleased that the Joint Committee on Housing has recognized the importance of quality child care facilities in creating healthy and vibrant neighborhoods,” said Leo Delaney, president of the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care.

Gornstein said he has not spoken to Patrick about the proposed child care fund, but expressed some concern that capital spending on the education program from the DHCD budget would crowd out available resources for housing. He said it might be better for the program to be included under another secretariat’s bond cap.

Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, called the child care fund a “critically important residential service to achieving financial independence” for low-income families.

Clark Ziegler, director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, said economic recovery has not alleviated the need for new affordable housing, citing Census data that showed 160,000 “extremely low-income” families in Massachusetts unable to find housing through the private market.

“The need has never been greater, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Ziegler told lawmakers.

He also lent his support to maintaining the $20 million authorization for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, a program currently under review as part of the Patrick administration’s overhaul of tax expenditures and one scheduled to decrease to $10 million.

Rep. Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat, testified to the need for affordable housing, particularly in communities like Somerville. “One of the unfortunate ways Massachusetts is leading the nation is the gap between its richer and poorer residents,” Provost said.

Provost said the foreclosure crisis left many former market rate units “vacant and deteriorating” and called Attorney General Martha Coakley’s receivership programs for foreclosed property a good idea but a “glacially slow process” that leaves little option in most cases but to gut the properties and covert homes into high-end condominiums.

“We need to be producing housing which is affordable to people who work and raise families, not just the very wealthy who happen to come to our communities. God bless their success, but we need something besides this increasingly competitive market,” Provost said.

END
04/04/2013

Serving the working press since 1910 http://www.statehousenews.com

This article also appeared in the Hingham Journal and online on Wicked Local Hingham.

URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/hingham/newsnow/x846079493/State-House-News-Activists-cite-continuing-demand-in-push-for-major-spending-on-housing#axzz2PsUZUnoU

SourceWicked Local Hingham

Activists cite continuing demand in push for major spending on housing

ACTIVISTS CITE CONTINUING DEMAND IN PUSH FOR MAJOR SPENDING ON HOUSING

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, APRIL 4, 2013…. Describing the housing market as “more stable” since the height of the foreclosure crisis, the Patrick administration’s top housing official on Thursday asked lawmakers to support a four-year $567 million spending program that he said will both create affordable housing and jobs.

“The construction of affordable housing leads to direct jobs and we have created 17,000 jobs through our programs since 2007,” said Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary for housing and economic development.

Gornstein testified Thursday before the Joint Committee on Housing at a hearing on Gov. Deval Patrick’s housing bond bill. The committee was also taking testimony on a similar five-year, $1 billion housing bond bill filed by the committee’s chairmen, Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and Rep. Kevin Honan (D-Boston).

The administration’s bill also assumes that it will be able to spend the nearly $500 million in unspent affordable housing authorizations over the next several years. The Eldridge-Honan bill cancels previous unspent authorizations and outlines a new $1 billion plan.

One of the major differences between the administration’s bill and the Eldridge-Honan bill is a new $45 million Early Education and Out of School Time capital fund that the two lawmakers have proposed to support building new facilities and modernizing existing child care facilities catering to low-income children.

“I am pleased that the Joint Committee on Housing has recognized the importance of quality child care facilities in creating healthy and vibrant neighborhoods,” said Leo Delaney, president of the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care.

Gornstein said he has not spoken to Patrick about the proposed child care fund, but expressed some concern that capital spending on the education program from the DHCD budget would crowd out available resources for housing. He said it might be better for the program to be included under another secretariat’s bond cap.

Roger Herzog, executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, called the child care fund a “critically important residential service to achieving financial independence” for low-income families.

Clark Ziegler, director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, said economic recovery has not alleviated the need for new affordable housing, citing Census data that showed 160,000 “extremely low-income” families in Massachusetts unable to find housing through the private market.

“The need has never been greater, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Ziegler told lawmakers.

He also lent his support to maintaining the $20 million authorization for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, a program currently under review as part of the Patrick administration’s overhaul of tax expenditures and one scheduled to decrease to $10 million.

Rep. Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat, testified to the need for affordable housing, particularly in communities like Somerville. “One of the unfortunate ways Massachusetts is leading the nation is the gap between its richer and poorer residents,” Provost said.

Provost said the foreclosure crisis left many former market rate units “vacant and deteriorating” and called Attorney General Martha Coakley’s receivership programs for foreclosed property a good idea but a “glacially slow process” that leaves little option in most cases but to gut the properties and covert homes into high-end condominiums.

“We need to be producing housing which is affordable to people who work and raise families, not just the very wealthy who happen to come to our communities. God bless their success, but we need something besides this increasingly competitive market,” Provost said.

END
04/04/2013

Serving the working press since 1910 http://www.statehousenews.com

This article also appeared in the Hingham Journal and online on Wicked Local Hingham.

URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/hingham/newsnow/x846079493/State-House-News-Activists-cite-continuing-demand-in-push-for-major-spending-on-housing#axzz2PsUZUnoU

SourceState House News Service

Child Care Providers Push For Public Financing For Facilities

Wednesday, April 3, 2013, 11:53am
Child Care Providers Push For Public Financing For Facilities
Nonprofit child care providers, parents, and others are asking state officials to allocated $45 million in funding as part of the state’s housing bond bill in order to renovate or build preschool and afterschool centers for children across the state.
Currently, one of the primary sources of financing for child care providers who want to renovate or update their facilities is the Children’s Investment Fund, which is managed by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), a public-private partnership. The fund has provided $10 million in financing for facilities upgrades over the past 20 years, but advocated say more money is needed.
“[Child care] providers want to ensure that their children have opportunities for healthy development and learning, but too often, those efforts are hampered by poor space,” said Mav Pardee, program manager for the fund, in a statement. “If they had greater access to capital resources, they could build space to support high quality programming. We’ve been pleased to help so many centers improve their physical plant, but we know there many still waiting for resources.”
In 2011, the Children’s Investment Fund released a study that assessed the state of childhood education facilities in Massachusetts. The research identified capital needs in both the physical condition and layout of many sites that undermine the Commonwealth’s ambitious educational policy goals.
Representatives from the United Way of Mass Bay and Merrimack Valley, the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council and the Massachusetts Association for Early Care and Education plan to testify in support of the bill at a hearing on Beacon Hill Thursday.

Banker & Tradesman ©2013 All Rights Reserved
URL: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news154487.html

SourceBanker & Tradesman

Grant will help College Bound Dorchester renovate

March 11, 2013

DORCHESTER
Grant will help College Bound Dorchester renovate
By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent
A grant from the Children’s Investment Fund will help College Bound Dorchester renovate its Samoset Street facility.
“Everyone understands that educational resources are important, but far too often people forget that a child’s learning experience is heavily influenced by the physical environment in which they are learning,” Mav Pardee, program manager for the fund, said in a statement. “By providing safe, well-designed surroundings, we can have a positive impact on teaching and learning.”
College Bound Dorchester will use a $100,000 loan and $50,000 Facilities Improvement Grant from the group to renovate 3,000-square-feet of its space, as well as add four new early education classrooms, said a release from the Children’s Investment Fund.
An affiliate of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, the fund strives to expand early childhood education in some of the Commonwealth’s most undeserved communities. Money was also contributed to support renovations at the YMCA Southcoast in Fall River, MA.
“Organizations like College Bound and YMCA Southcoast understand the positive impact of good space for children, which makes them ideal partners for CIF,” Pardee said in a statement. “Fall River and Dorchester need high quality education opportunities for neighborhood children, and we are happy to help both organizations to improve their facilities and make those programs available.”
Started in 1965, College Bound Dorchester serves more than 900 families annually with its Early Education, Out of School Time, and College Connections programs, according to the non-profit’s website.
—
Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.
URL: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/dorchester/2013/03/hold_grant_will_help_college_b.html
© 2013 NY Times Co

SourceBoston Globe (boston.com)

At the January EEC Board Meeting

January 28, 2013
At the January EEC Board Meeting
by Irene Sege
The Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care voted to endorse a bond bill that includes $45 million in capital financing for non-profit providers of early education and out-of-school time services to build or renovate facilities. The bill follows the 2011 release of “Building an Infrastructure for Quality,” a report from Children’s Investment Fund, found shortcomings in safety, air quality, indoor space for physical activity and other measures.
Mav Pardee, director of the Children’s Investment Fund, updated the board on the Building Quality Campaign – a partnership comprised of the fund, Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CHAPA), and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. The bond financing for early education and out-of-school-time facilities is included in CHAPA’s $1.2 billion housing and community development bond bill. Representative Jeffrey Sanchez has filed a separate facilities financing bill with the same language as a placeholder.
The legislation would make financing available to licensed non-profit providers with at least a quarter of their enrollment children from low-income families. Financing would range from 50-80% of total development costs, based on the number of children eligible for subsidies, and would be in the form of permanent deferred loans for a term of 30 years. (See Pardee’s PowerPoint.)
The January 8 meeting was also the last for former Secretary of Education Paul Reville, who has returned to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Matthew Malone, former superintendent of the Brockton Public Schools, who was sworn in as the state’s new education secretary on January 14. JD Chesloff, chairman of the EEC board, presented Secretary Reville with a certificate of appreciation. Reville thanked the board and the entire early childhood field for what he termed their “inspiring commitment” to the young children of Massachusetts.
Emily Levine, our field and research associate, reports the board also discussed:
• Massachusetts Child Care Quality Cost Model. Consultants. Consultants Anne Mitchell of the Alliance for Early Childhood Finance, and Andrew Brodsky of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, updated the board on an interactive model that allows users to cost out various elements of quality. It identifies factors that drive costs at various levels, from licensing through the tiers of the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). It also estimates the cost implications of changing reimbursement rates and identifies current and potential funding strategies to support quality.
• Using research to advance the practice and impact of early education. The board heard a presentation and panel discussion (panelist bios) on current research projects on the professional development system; strategies for literacy, social-emotional development, numeracy and digital learning; Massachusetts Common Metric (funded by the federal Early Learning Challenge grant); QRIS validation (ELC funded); and home visiting grant.
• FY13 legislative report framework. Carol Nolan, EEC’s recently hired director of policy, outlined the framework for the departments FY13 report to the Legislature. The department will frame the year’s accomplishments and planned activities around the board’s five-year strategic plan and indicators of success. The board will vote on the final report at its February meeting.
The board will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, February 18, at the EEC central office at 51 Sleeper Street in Boston.

URL: http://eyeonearlyeducation.org/2013/01/28/at-the-january-eec-board-meeting-2/

SourceEye on Early Education: A blog of Strategies for Children, Inc.

Highlight On: Children’s Investment Fund

November 21, 2012
Highlight On: Children’s Investment Fund
By hboyle
The Children’s Investment Fund (CIF) was founded in 1991, with a mission to help non-profits in Massachusetts to develop high quality facilities for early learning and youth programs. Their mission is grounded in the belief that children’s healthy growth and development depends on a safe physical environment. The quality of an early education program’s indoor and outdoor space contributes greatly to the overall quality of the child’s educational experience. For example, research demonstrates that facilities lacking in adequate space or appropriate heating and cooling systems detract from children’s ability to learn effectively.
CIF offers loans and grants to programs for renovation, expansion, and/or construction of new spaces for early education and youth programs. CIF’s loan programs offer borrowers more flexible terms then other lenders, and their grant programs include emergency facilities grants and small equipment grants. Since its inception, CIF has invested in 500 early childhood education(ECE) and out-of-school-time (OST) programs’ facilities improvement or expansion projects. This November, CIF distributed grants to six programs on the North Shore in the Lynn and Haverhill areas, for facilities improvements ranging from new windows to sinks in the classroom. In some cases, the grants made it possible for programs to apply for National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation and will help with QRIS compliance.
By targeting non-profit programs, CIF aims to impact programs serving high-needs children who are more apt to attend a non-profit ECE or OST program. In this way, BTWIC and CIF are aligned in their efforts to improve the quality of early education for this vulnerable population.
CIF has released several important papers and reports documenting the condition of early learning and youth program facilities in MA. Most recently, CIF published the report: Building an Infrastructure for Quality: An Inventory of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time Facilities in MA. The report is available here.
CIF will file a bond bill for facilities financing in January 2013, either as a stand-alone bill or as part of a larger community development bond bill sponsored by another advocacy organization. The United Way of Massachusetts Bay and the Merrimack Valley has agreed to work with CIF in its “Building Quality” campaign with the goal of securing funding to support the development costs for ECE and OST facilities across the Commonwealth. A copy of the bill and more information will be available soon.
Posted in Early Learning
URL: http://www.btwic.org/2012/11/21/highlight-on-childrens-investment-fund/
© 2012 Bessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children Inc.

SourceBessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children Inc.

Grants boost up Lynn nonprofits

Monday, November 5, 2012

Grants boost up Lynn nonprofits

By Chris Stevens / The Daily Item
LYNN — The child care program at the Lynn YMCA may seek accreditation for the first time thanks to a grant from the Children’s Investment Fund.

“One of the things holding us back is that we didn’t have hand-washing in each classroom,” said Tania Buck, senior director of After School and Government Relations for the YMCA Metro North. “This is a huge step.”

With a $4,500 grant from Children’s Investment Fund, Buck said she was able to purchase three portable sinks that gave them the last detail needed in order to apply for accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Buck said when it comes to seeking money to upgrade facilities the Children’s Investment Fund, (CIF) is about the only game in town.

“I’ve worked with them for years, they’re wonderful,” she said.

The Children’s Investment Fund’s mission is to ensure that children “spend their days in physical environments that support healthy development and learning.” To meet that end it gives grants aimed at helping not-for-profit child care providers upgrade facilities and education spaces.

Mav Pardee, CIF’s program director, said they target nonprofits because those agencies tend to serve a high proportion of children on public subsidy. It is the first time in several years that CIF has targeted the North Shore.

“We know that providers on the North Shore want the highest quality space for the kids in their care, but often lack the resources to fund these repairs and improvements,” Pardee said.

Lynn Economic Opportunity Inc., and Catholic Charities Child Care of Lynn were also among the six grants CIF handed out. The other three were given to agencies in the Lawrence area.

LEO received funding to develop a playground while Catholic Charities received money to replace worn out windows.

Last year, CIF issued a report, “Building an Infrastructure for Quality,” based on the condition of nonprofit child care facilities around the state. Pardee said the report found that too often the spaces where early child care and after school programs operate need repairs or improvements in order to fulfill, what she called, “the commonwealth’s ambitious educational policy goals.”

“There is a lot of evidence that quality of a facility has an impact on a child’s health,” she added. “When we did a site visit up at Catholic Charities, it’s in an old school and there was air coming through the (closed) windows.”

Pardee said CIF is also interested in supporting teachers and the space they need as well.

“Many improvements that providers would like to make do not require a lot of money, but even small repairs and equipment replacement are often beyond their reach,” she said.

Buck said she is grateful for the ability to purchase the sinks, which coast $1,300 each.

“We only have bathrooms in one classroom, the other two classrooms were always transitioning back and forth to wash hands because as preschoolers they wash their hands all the time,” she said. “We’re really happy.”

Chris Stevens can be reached at cstevens@itemlive.com.

Copyright © 2012 The Daily Item
URL: http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2012/11/05/news/news02.txt

SourceThe Daily Item, Lynn