Licensed Early Education and Care Providers by Program Type and Capacity in MA

The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) licenses all child care programs in Massachusetts. Read more about licensing requirements.

Data map description: this map shows the licensed Early Education and Care (EEC) providers in 2020 and their program types and capacity.

  • The top layer "Licensed Large Group EEC Providers" shows overall preschool capacity (green square) by center-based providers, which includes preschool, toddler/preschool mixed, and preschool/school aged mixed programs.
  • The second layer "Licensed EEC Providers (0-5 Capacity)" illustrates care capacity for children aged 0-5, which includes infant, toddler, preschool, infant/toddler mixed, toddler/preschool mixed, and preschool/school aged mixed programs. A blue circle indicates a large group and school age child care provider. A brown circle indicates a family child care (FCC) provider. 
  • The capacity of a FCC provider ranges 3-10. Total capacity of a large group and school age child care provider ranges 6-734.
  • The bottom layer "Child Opportunity Index (COI)" shows neighborhood-based opportunities that influence children’s health and development in the Boston Metropolitan Area.
  • Additional information for the data interpretation: (a) After school capacity may be present in the data. (b) FCC providers generally serve 0-5 year old children.

Observations:

  • In the City of Boston, 64% of the providers are FCC sharing 22.7% of 0-5 capacity, and 35% are the Large Group providers sharing 77.3% of the capacity. The percentages are similar to statewide numbers. 
  • The highest percentages of FCC providers appear in the neighborhoods of Dorchester (82.5%), Hyde Park (85%), and Roxbury (81.8%) in Boston. 
    • In Sept., 2020, FCC providers in the City of Boston were more likely to share an intention to reopen date (Boston Opportunity Agenda, 2020), which implied that FCC providers could offer relatively more stable support to families during the pandemic. (Please read further the BOA's report, "Boston’s Child-Care Supply Crisis: What a Pandemic Reveals" by clicking the link above.)
  • Compared to the 0-5 capacity, the center-based preschool program capacity appears relatively high in the neighborhoods of Allston/Brighton (74%), West Roxbury (71.6%), and Charlestown (64.2%). 
    • While the city's average is 55%, the relatively low percentages appear in the neighborhoods of Hyde Park (32.5%), Mattapan (43%), and Dorchester (47%). These neighborhoods show relatively low neighborhood-based resources and conditions that influence children’s health and development, indicated by the Child Opportunity Index (COI). (Please read more about COI on our dashboard page and diversitydatakids.org). 

Map Tips:

  • Click on dots to see more information about providers. 
  • Select a specific layer on the legend to see the layer you would like to read more closely.
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Definition: This maps shows the MA licensed Early Education and Care (EEC) providers in 2020 and their program types and capacity. 

Data Source: Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, (Data retrived on November 29, 2020)

Footnote: All the EEC providers are licensed by Mass Department of Early Education and Care. All the EEC providers are currently within their license effective period, however, due to the limitation of the data source, we do not include the information about whether the center is operating or not.

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