Massachusetts Family Child Care Emergency Fund (MAFCEF)

- APPLICATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED FOR THIS PROGRAM -

As our state faces the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of family child care has never been more evident, and these caregivers and providers have never been more vulnerable. Massachusetts’ 6,000+ family child care providers have been historically underfunded, and many may not survive the current COVID-19 state-mandated closure.

In addition to providing high quality care to some of the Commonwealth’s highest need young children, family child care represents a backbone of our economy. If we do not act quickly to maintain the state’s supply of this crucial care, our near-term efforts to rebuild the Massachusetts economy will be stalled.

Emergency funds for family child care TODAY can help to maintain the post-crisis supply of this care by helping to stabilize the economic status of family child care providers, thereby ensuring access to care for vulnerable families as they return to work. Unfortunately, to date, state and federal emergency assistance programs have been designed such that most family child care providers have been unable to access them.

To address this crisis, the Commonwealth Children’s Fund (CCF) is launching the Massachusetts Family Child Care Emergency Fund (MAFCEF) with $1 million in matching funds. With the creation of this fund, CCF will partner with funders from across Massachusetts to provide financial support to high quality family child care providers so that they may remain a viable option for vulnerable families as they return to work.

MAFCEF At a Glance

Fund size: $1 million in matching funds from CCF
CCF will provide 1:1 match of up $75,000 to each Partner Funder
Partner Funders will work with local Intermediaries to provide grants of $2,500 each to selected family child care providers (FCCs)
CCF will accept pre-applications from Partner Funders on a rolling basis beginning on Tuesday, April 28th, 2020

PLEASE NOTE:

CCF will not accept applications directly from FCCs. FCCs, please work with your local Intermediary to determine if they are participating in this program
Only Partner Funders are eligible to apply directly to CCF
Intermediaries: Please work with your local Funder to determine if they are participating in this program

To learn more, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions (Updated 8/25/20) and Pre-Recorded Q&A Webinar

How MAFCEF Works

There are four key players in the process:

Commonwealth Children’s Fund (CCF) has established a $1 million matching fund focused on providing emergency relief to Massachusetts Family Child Care providers (FCCs). Through this match, CCF’s intent is to engage and partner with other MA funders to support this critical sector.

CCF will provide support across a geographically diverse group of Massachusetts communities.

CCF will provide 1:1 matching funds to MA Partner Funders who will work in partnership with local Intermediaries, who will in turn provide $2,500 in emergency support to individual FCCs.

The CCF match will consist of:

A maximum of $1,250 per FCC (plus 4% administrative fee to the Intermediary)
- Partner Funders are welcome to provide more or less funding per FCC if they and their chosen Intermediary opt to do so
A maximum of $75,000 per Partner Funder

CCF can provide assistance to Partner Funders who need help identifying Intermediaries in their communities.

Instructions on How to Apply:

For Partner Funders

For Intermediaries

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Required Documents

Materials below are all available for immediate download. See application instructions above.

Application Package for Partner Funders:

Partner Funder Pre-Approval Application to CCF (PDF) (Google Form)
Partner Funder Application to CCF (PDF) (Google Form)
Partner Funder Post-Grant Report to CCF (PDF) (Google Form)

Application Package for Intermediaries:

Intermediary Grant Application to Partner Funder (PDF) (Google Form Instructions)
Intermediary Worksheet Template (XLS only)
Suggested Grant Process for Intermediary Awards to FCCs (PDF)