State Legislature Helps Families Help Kids

A release from the office of House Minority Leader Brad Jones:

BOSTON – House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), Representative James J. Dwyer (D-Woburn) and Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) announced Monday that Reading residents will be able to access child development services and resources with the help of a grant awarded by the state’s Department of Early Education and Care (EEC).

EEC recently released its list of Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) Grant Awards for Fiscal Year 2019. The Town of Wakefield is scheduled to receive $139,840, which will be used by the Family Resource Network at the Woodville Elementary School to service families in Reading, Wakefield and five other surrounding communities, including Lynnfield, Melrose, North Reading, Stoneham, and Winchester.

“Having access to quality early education programs is critical to a child’s growth and development,” said Representative Jones. “This grant will help to ensure that these services are readily available to families in Reading.”

“I'm pleased to see that the Department of Early Education and Care is investing in early education programming in our community through this generous grant," said Senator Lewis, who represents five of the communities affected by this grant. “Working families benefit in so many ways from increased access to early education and care – this investment will make children in our community safer, healthier and more prepared for successful futures.”

There are currently 90 CFCE programs operating across the state, providing services to 350 cities and towns. The CFCE Network encourages collaboration between local early education and care partners, while providing families with information and referrals to services and programs, including those that promote school readiness.

The grant awards are subject to appropriation in the Fiscal Year 2019 state budget. In April, the House approved $13,742,000 for this program, while the Senate funded the line item at a slightly lower amount of $13,442,000.

A six-member Conference Committee is currently meeting to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget. The conferees hope to have a final budget on Governor Baker’s desk before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.