Employer Childcare Innovation Fund draws 37 EOIs requesting $16.9M; RFP imminent

Board members heard an update on the Employer Childcare Innovation Fund, a $2.5 million state investment designed to match employer and community contributions and test models for employer engagement in childcare.

Gabby Santana Goldstein, Employer Partnerships Manager at EEC, said the fund is a competitive matching program intended to leverage employer investment toward affordable, high-quality childcare supporting workforce needs. The statutory match design allows the $2.5 million to be matched 100% by awardees in cash and in-kind contributions to create up to $5 million in pilot funding.

Alana Mallon, executive director of the Commonwealth Corporation Foundation, described the procurement process: EEC and ComCorp ran an expression-of-interest phase that yielded 37 submissions from across the state (Berkshires to Cape Cod and the Islands), representing a variety of concept types — capacity building, capital projects, voucher pilots, shared-cost models — and requesting about $16,900,000 in funding. Staff said matching commitments reported by applicants exceeded requested amounts.

The agency plans to issue an RFP imminently with a six-week response window; staff anticipate awarding three to five projects (roughly $250,000–$1,000,000 each) to be implemented over two years. Awardees will join a quarterly community of practice and receive research support to measure outcomes and develop scalable recommendations.

Board members encouraged sharing learnings beyond selected pilots, engaging philanthropic partners for additional match, and involving board members in communities of practice as feasible.

Ending: Staff will post the RFP, hold bidder webinars and an FAQ period, and return to the board with selected awardees and evaluation plans.