Free Childcare is in the News
You may have seen the recent headlines like “House Bill Providing Free, Reduced Cost Child Care Heads to Lamont’s Desk” or “New program to help support affordable childcare.” Unfortunately, some of the news media was not clear about the timing of this assistance, which programs will offer these spots, or who will be eligible. Since the ECS has received questions about this announcement, specifically from parents wanting to find free childcare this summer, we put together this summary.
The state legislature passed Senate Bill 1 which establishes a state-managed Early Childhood Education Endowment fund starting on July 1, 2025. The endowment is slated to fund a multi-pronged approach to make childcare more accessible for families and more sustainable for providers.
1. Funding
The formula used for Early Childhood Education Endowment fund is based on the State of Connecticut unappropriated general fund surplus. The new fund has received an initial transfer of $300 million. The plan is for the fund will continue to grow with annual funding from budget surpluses and investments.
2. Timing
The Early Childhood Education Endowment fund was established in 2025, but money will not be spent out of this endowment fund until later. A tuition subsidy that would make childcare slots free for families making under $100,000 per year and cap tuition at 7 percent of a family’s income above $100,000 starts in Fiscal Year 2028.
3. Current Capacity
Only state-funded childcare spots can be offered for free under this endowment. Early Start CT is the new Connecticut program which provides funding to childcare programs, it combines 3 existing programs — Child Day Care Contracts, School Readiness Grants, and State Head Start Supplement Grants — into 1 new program. Here in Southington, there is currently only one Early Start CT childcare program, the Margaret Griffin Child Development Center. Through June 2027 they will receive state funding for 45 preschool slots which they currently offer to low-income families on a sliding scale.
4. Community Need
When you compare Margaret Griffin’s 45 state funded slots to the more than 2000 babies born to Southington families in the last five years, especially given a 26% free and reduced lunch rate in the public school district, it is clear there are not nearly enough state-funded programs in town. The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) recognizes that communities have different needs. In order to connect with local communities, the OEC is establishing “Local Governance Partners” (LGPs) to support families and collect feedback about needs. Starting this summer, the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington will serve in this LGP role. In 2026 the LGPs across the state will be tasked with conducting a community needs assessment to identify the needs of families. The results of this survey will help the OEC determine how many state-funded slots there should be and where they should be located.
5. Future Capacity
Senate Bill 1 also calls for an increase in the total number of state-funded childcare slots, including for infants and toddlers. After the needs assessments are complete, the OEC will then put out a request for applications where all childcare providers can apply to receive state-funded slots as of July 2027. The OEC plans to create an online system where families can match their need for care with open state-funded childcare slots.
6. How You Can Help
We will be asking families to complete the community needs assessment when it is released in 2026. The ECCS is starting to recruit people to join their new “Community Table” advisory group which will help identify what Southington families need and to advocate for more funding. If interested in learning more about becoming a part of the Community Table or the ECCS Board of Directors, please contact the ECCS Executive Director at southingtonearlychildhood@gmail.com.
7. Finding Care Now
In the meantime, if you are looking for childcare, the ECCS has lists all the licensed providers in town in their Resource Directory and also tries to track childcare openings. The CT Care4Kids childcare subsidy program is accepted by several childcare providers in town and a few offer programs financial assistance.
