Preschool Support Pilot Program Receives High Marks

BREWSTER – In September, the town embarked on a 10-month pilot program that offered childcare support for families with preschoolers. Five months later, Program Administrator Cassie Boyd Marsh’s update shows positive progress. 

In 2023, one of the select board’s strategic goals focused on the feasibility of a town-funded childcare subsidy program. By May of the following year, voters approved a warrant article appropriating $250,000 from the overlay surplus to fund the pilot program. 

The program allocates $3,000 per family with an eligible child, ages 3 or 4, between the months of September and June. There is no income restriction. Parents choose to use the funding up front or spread it over the 10-month period. According to Marsh, 16 families have already used all of their allotted funds. 

Town officials have been working directly with 13 childcare providers to cover a portion of a family’s monthly bill. If the families decided to stretch the funding over 10 months, the checks would cover $300 of their monthly childcare bill. 

As of Jan. 1, all but $22,000 of the $250,000 has been awarded to applicants. 

Marsh, president of Bailey Boyd Associates, which works on a few Brewster community development projects, has been the lead on the project since the start. In her report, she said the program received 68 applications, of which 67 were approved. The remaining unapproved applicant was from a family who had twins. It was decided early on that the program would only allow one eligible child per family. 

Assistant Town Manager Donna Kalinick suggested opening the program up once all applications had been received to account for circumstances where families had multiple eligible children. The select board was in favor. 

Separately, the town is the lead community for the regional Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the towns of Brewster, Wellfleet and Dennis. In addition to housing rehabilitation, the program provides childcare subsidies for eligible families who earn up to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) in Barnstable County. Bailey Boyd Associates has been an integral part of the process, helping to secure the grant and administer the programs. 

In a 2024 quarterly report for the grant, 11 applications serving a total of 17 children have been approved. The program provides subsidies of up to $7,000 per child, which is paid directly to the childcare provider. 

Marsh said three of the families who were enrolled in the town’s preschool support program have also applied to the CDBG program after exhausting the initial funding. Many of the other families are not eligible for the CDBG grant due to income restrictions.

The select board was in favor of bringing the preschool support program back for a second year, approving a warrant article to be brought to voters at the spring annual town meeting. Kalinick said she believes the overlay surplus will still be a viable funding source.