On August 15th at Crispus Attucks Children’s Center in Dorchester, Governor Baker announced $4 million in FY18 Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund awards to the following organizations, each receiving $1 million: Citizens for Citizens, Inc. in Fall River, which serves 200 children and plans to make playground improvements, window replacements...
Children’s Investment Fund Becomes a Certified CDFI
In June, the Children’s Investment Fund (CIF) received some welcome news – the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund had certified CIF as a CDFI. This certification enables us to apply for federal funding to increase low-cost lending capital for early childhood education (ECE) and out-of-school time (OST) facility ...
Exploring Innovative Financing for Early Education
At a time when federal funding is in flux and early education and care remains chronically underfunded, state and local innovative efforts to finance child care facilities can offer smaller-scale solutions. Through its commitment to supporting high-quality early education and care with public dollars (for a background on MA’s commitment through the EEOST Capital Fund pro...
Investing in Spaces for Children
Massachusetts is only the second state in the nation to make capital bond financing available for early childhood education (ECE) and out-of-school time (OST) facilities. In 2013, state legislators passed a bill that led to the creation of the Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund, which provides capital grants of up to $1 million for providers across...
Guiding Quality Early Education Facility Design
A well-designed, well-equipped environment supports learning, but child care programs are often located in church basements, old storefronts, and other substandard spaces that were not intended for educational uses. At Children’s Investment Fund (the Fund), we believe that all children deserve to learn in safe physical environments that help support healthy development. ...