American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA)
EEC Board Meeting
May 12, 2009
ARRA Requirements Overlay
Existing Federal Law
ARRA Requirements
Federal Agency Guidance
on ARRA
Governor’s Office, State
Comptroller, and Legislature
EEC
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ARRA
Constraints
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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.
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Draft Principles for ARRA Expenditures:
EEC Board’s Fiscal and Budget Committee
Sustainability
Invest one-time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the “funding cliff”
Accountability
Ensure transparency, reporting and accountability
Economic Impact
Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs
Collaboration
Develop cross-agency initiatives to maximize benefits to children
Reform
Use 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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• Proposals evaluated based on ease of implementation and
“match” to federal requirements, Strategy Screens, and
Board Principles for ARRA Expenditures
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• Prioritize, analyze and refine proposals through Advisory
Team and Board Committees
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• Solicit Ideas from the Field (77 unduplicated ideas)
• EEC Board Input/Decision-Making
• EEC develop implementation plan and works closely with
EOE, ESE and other state agencies to maximize funding
and align ARRA funding priorities
U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE
ARRA Guidance
IDEA Part B- Preschool Special Education
Award: $10,263,466
Guidance
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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;
Up to 50% of total funding can be used for recovery and at least
50% must be used 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).
U.S. DOE and M.A. ESE
ARRA Guidance
IDEA Part B- Preschool Special Education
Implementation
1st allocation: $5,131,733 available Summer 2009 for
FY10/FY11 with RFR posted in late May
2nd allocation: Up to $5,131,733 available in late Sept/Oct
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:
ARRA 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
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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.*
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*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 approval
which may delay implementation of ARRA programming.
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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)
QUALITY
Summer Learning and Literacy Promotion
Incentive Grants to Facilitate Local Coordination of Family
and Community Engagement Programming
 Child Care Regulation Reform Implementation
 Statewide 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 for up to 2 years only in the
following circumstances:
 Summer-only care;
 A sibling of children already enrolled;
 A child “aging up” of a current program; and/or
 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).
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.
Timeline: Policy development in May and June; implementation in
Summer or when funds are received
Estimated Demand and Cost:
Continuity
Infant/
Toddler
Pre-K
Category
Demand
and Cost Estimates
Need
Cost
Need
Cost
Need
Cost
Siblings
434
$4.23 M
74
$.56 M
260
$1.27 M
Aging Up
n/a
n/a
35
$.26 M
147
$.72 M
Job Search
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School Age
Pending analysis
Summer Learning and Literacy Promotion
Purpose: Statewide training and technical assistance grant to
support partnerships between public schools and out of
school time programs 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
 Priority services to programs who serve children
receiving Summer Learning Promotion Vouchers
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Summer Learning and Literacy Promotion
Allocation: Up to $250,000
Method of Distribution: Competitive Grant – single award
Eligibility: Out-of–school time programs intermediary with
experience in providing out-of-school time 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
Incentive Grants
Purpose: Provide one-time 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
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Implement new/revised Job Retention Policy to
ensure existing families currently enrolled in EEC
Financial Assistance are able to retain and find
employment (~$5M).
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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).
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Provide incentive grants to local communities to
develop an integrated and coordinated family
and community engagement infrastructure
($250,000).
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
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June Board Meeting
 Discuss: Self-Sufficiency Vouchers; Regulation
Reform Implementation , Statewide Quality
Initiative, and Literacy Training Opportunities.
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