The Children’s Investment Fund (“the Fund”) offers technical assistance, training and financial support to non-profit early education and care (ECE) and out of school time (OST) programs across Massachusetts. In late May, the Fund administered the tenth Building Stronger Centers Training Institute (BSC), a comprehensive four-day program for ECE and OST providers. ...

Massachusetts is fortunate in that over the last several decades, the Commonwealth has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to community development in a bipartisan way. On Thursday, May 31st, we saw the most recent example of this support when Governor Charlie Baker signed the $1.8 billion Housing Bond Bill into law. The bill will allow for new capital spending on affor...

It’s no surprise that as the weather turns warmer and sunnier, we get a chance to join our non-profit community development partners to celebrate milestone events in the project development process.  But it is always gratifying to attend groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies and see these affordable housing, supportive housing, and child care projects go from ide...

Over a decade ago, a college professor and her students routinely observed how children interacted with teachers in an early childhood education program in Connecticut. They found that only 3 percent of each child’s time was spent interacting with an educator. This low percentage was notable, considering that research shows that engagement with a caregiver is essential t...

Reflecting on the last twelve months, the housing and community development sector in Massachusetts has accomplished much in our efforts to build strong communities. We are proud of both CEDAC’s contributions and the work of our non-profit community partners. These partners are the backbone of the Commonwealth’s robust community development sector and its achievemen...