American Recovery and Reinvestment American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)Act (ARRA)

Draft

EEC Board MeetingMay 12, 2009

ARRA Requirements Overlay

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Existing Federal Law

ARRA Requirements

Federal Agency Guidance on ARRA

Governor’s Office, State Comptroller, and Legislature

EEC

ARRA ARRA

Constraints Funding is available on a two year basis only; Funding should expand, not supplant existing budgeted and

appropriated funding; Expenditures must be directly tied to stimulating economic

activity/creating and protecting jobs; Funds must be spent with transparency and accountability; Where applicable, funding will be subject to existing rules and

regulations of the governing funding source with additional specific guidance to be provided by relevant federal agencies;

Applicable Goals Spend quickly to preserve and create jobs and promote

economic recovery; To assist those most impacted by the recession; To stabilize State and local government budgets, in order to

minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases.3

Draft Principles for ARRA Expenditures: Draft Principles for ARRA Expenditures: EEC Board’s Fiscal and Budget CommitteeEEC Board’s Fiscal and Budget Committee

SustainabilityInvest one-time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the “funding cliff”

AccountabilityEnsure transparency, reporting and accountability

Economic ImpactSpend funds quickly to save and create jobs

CollaborationDevelop cross-agency initiatives to maximize benefits to children

ReformUse ARRA to promote reforms and cost saving initiatives that will provide a foundation for future growth

Prioritization

Prioritize limited resources toward children with the greatest education and care needs and multiple risk factors.  EEC’s Strategic Plan emphasizes that the Department values all children and all families.  In a fiscally constrained environment, the Strategic Plan also recognizes that children with the greatest educational needs and multiple risk factors come first.

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EEC Outreach and Planning Process for ARRA

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U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE ARRA GuidanceARRA Guidance

IDEA Part B- Preschool Special Education

Award: $10,263,466

Guidance• Must be used to support preschool special education and to

improve student achievement through school reform;• Funds must demonstrate a “sustainable commitment” given they

are one-time in nature;• 100% goes directly to school districts; no set-aside; • 50% of total funding must be used for recovery and 50% for

reinvestment• ESE/EEC have limited discretion on use of funds, but may

encourage certain expenditures for all districts.• EEC may require certain activities or expenditures only for

districts not in compliance with OSEP Indicator 12 (% of children transitioned from EI to Early Childhood Special Education by age 3)

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U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE ARRA GuidanceARRA Guidance

IDEA Part B- Preschool Special Education

Implementation

1st allocation: $5,131,733 available July 1 for FY10/FY11 with RFR posted in Mid May

2nd allocation: $5,131,733 available in late Sept for FY10/FY11

All Districts will be allowed to use funds to mitigate staff and service reduction.

All Districts will be encouraged to develop local protocols/procedures for transitions from EI to Special Education; Districts not in compliance with indicator 12 will be required to do so.

All Districts will be encouraged to strengthen linkages with community-based programs, especially for delivery of itinerant services.

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Administration for Children and Families: Administration for Children and Families: ARRA GuidanceARRA Guidance

CCDBG

EEC Award: $23.9 Million $20.1 Million to Provide Access to Financial Assistance for Child Care For

Low Income Families $3.8 Million in Quality Set-Aside

$1.1 Targeted to Infant Toddler Quality

Wampanoag Tribe Award: $4,716 (Not Administered by EEC)

Guidance Assist those most impacted by the recession through the provision of

funds to expand services to additional children and families; Through targeted funds, improve the quality of child care to support the

health and well-being of children; Activities allowable must fall within EEC’s existing program

requirements, per State Plan.*

*Any changes to program requirements such as provider rates (e.g., provider rate increases), income eligibility guidelines, and sliding fee scale require State Plan amendment and federal approvalwhich may delay implementation of ARRA programming.

CCDBG ARRA Proposals

ACCESS Summer Learning Promotion Vouchers

Job Retention Policy for Existing Families (Continuity of Care)Self Sufficiency Voucher for New Working Families of (2 Year

Only/Preschool Aged Children)

QUALITYSummer Learning and Literacy Promotion Incentive Grants to Facilitate Local Coordination of Family and Community Engagement Programming

Child Care Regulation Reform ImplementationStatewide Initiative to Advance Existing Quality

Efforts/Support QRIS (e.g., assessment, UPK standards)Sponsorship for Literacy-Based or other ARRA Related

Training Opportunities

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Job Retention Policy For Existing Families (Continuity of Care)

Purpose: Support existing working families receiving EEC financial assistance to retain and find work by providing continuity of care for their children in the following circumstances: Summer-only care A sibling of children already enrolled; A child “aging up” of a current program; A family who loses their job or has a reduction in hours below

current minimum eligibility (extend child care provided during job search/ work hour reduction up to 26 weeks total); and

A family who finds work within 90 days of losing eligibility.

Discussion options/questions: 1) prioritize among categories; 2) eliminate some categories; 3) provide only part-time care for job search/during work hour reduction

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Job Retention Policy For Existing Families (Continuity of Care)

Proposed Allocation: ~$5M

Method of Distribution: Revision to existing “Continuity of Care Policy, ” and implemented through voucher for ARRA tracking purposes.

Expected Cost/Impact:

Timeline: Policy development in May and June; implement in Summer or when funds are received

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Category Estimated Need

Siblings Pending

Aging Up Pending

Job Search Pending

Break in Service pending

School Age Learning Promotion Grant

Purpose: Statewide training and technical assistance grant tosupport partnerships between public schools and school age child care programs to deliver intentional summer learning opportunities.

Grant supports complementing school day and year learning, summer academic retention, and literacy acquisition among children and youth in Massachusetts’ lowest performing urban school districts through:

Modeling effective practices for developing literacy skills; Providing professional development to afterschool program

staff on literacy curricula; and Providing coaching and feedback to afterschool program staff

as they implement literacy practices

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Summer Learning and Literacy Promotion

Allocation: Up to $250,000

Method of Distribution: Competitive Grant – single award

Eligibility: Afterschool intermediary with experience inproviding afterschool and summer programs with professional development on complementary learning and technical assistance on partnering with schools.

Expected Impact: Up to 3,000 children and youth from~50 programs

Timeline: Summer 2009

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Local Family and Community Engagement Local Family and Community Engagement IncentiveIncentive Grants Grants

Purpose: Incentive/planning grants to local communities to facilitate development of a Coordinated Family and Community Engagement infrastructure. Grants funds to be used for developing and implementing an effective local model for the delivery of family engagement and support activities and to develop and integrated proposal for submission in FY2011 competitive bid process.

Funds to be used to help resolve/facilitate key issues including: governance/council consolidations; service area realignment, expansion to services for families with school-age children, delineation of roles and responsibilities, coordination with other public and private resources, etc.

Eligibility: Communities with multiple EEC grants, multiple governance structures and/or inconsistent service areas.

Allocation/Method of Distribution: $5,000–$15,000/eligible community; through competitive bid

Timeline: RFR to be posted in late Summer/early Fall 2009

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ARRA Proposal Summary

Implement new/revised Job Retention Policy to ensure existing families currently enrolled in EEC Financial Assistance are able to retain and find employment (~$5M).

Initiate a statewide grant to provide training and technical assistance to school-age programs serving children from “Commissioner’s Districts” to support summer learning and literacy promotion ($250,000).

Provide incentive grants to local communities to develop an integrated and coordinated family and community engagement infrastructure ($250,000).

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Key Next Steps

Draft School Age Learning Promotion RFR; Develop/Refine Job Retention Policy; Draft Local Family and Community

Engagement Incentive RFR; Further discuss/develop other ARRA proposal with

Advisory Team and Board Committees

June Board Meeting Discuss: Self-Sufficiency Vouchers; Regulation

Reform Implementation , Statewide Quality Initiative, and Literacy Training Opportunities.

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