Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Requests Vendors to Build New Child Care Educator Portal and Credential Management System

Boston — The Executive Office of Education and Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) have opened a request to solicit vendors to design and build an early education and care educator portal with an embedded credential management system. These efforts aim to build a more modern, accessible, multilingual and unified portal, reducing barriers for early childhood educators seeking to start or advance their careers and strengthening the foundation within Governor Healey’s early education and child care task force’s efforts to recruit and retain members of the child care workforce.

“Child care plays an essential role in driving the state’s economy and competitiveness forward, which is why our administration has placed a high priority on expanding access to affordable, high-quality child care,” said Governor Maura Healey. “I am excited to see the impact of these IT system improvements, supporting our ability to strengthen the pipeline of high-quality early education professionals.”

“Our administration is committed to supporting and expanding the early education workforce. When programs have a consistent and highly skilled workforce, they can offer better care to even more families,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “This new educator portal and credential management system will be a one stop shop for our hardworking early childhood educators to find resources and tools to start or advance their career.”

This system will create a single front door for current and aspiring educators to apply for and access their professional credentials, minimizing the need to maintain and share paper records. It will also be integrated with EEC’s StrongStart Learning Management System, setting up the state for future integration possibilities, including automatically importing courses from StrongStart and associating educators with their programs. The IT project builds on the administration’s progress in creating a more modern and dignified child care financial assistance system, as well as building a more sustainable career pathway for the vital early childhood workforce.

“Creating a streamlined child care educator portal and credential management system will support our continued efforts to bolster the early childhood workforce and make government services more user friendly,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. “Improving access to early education and care for all families in the communities in which they live, learn and work is key to strengthening our economy and creating a more affordable and competitive Commonwealth.” 

“We have been focused on upgrading and transforming EEC’s technology systems, from background record checks to child care financial assistance and now educator credentialing. These efforts are grounded in making our systems easier to use and being more modern and accessible. The administration is building towards the early education and care system we believe all children, families, programs and educators deserve,” said Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw.

ITS81 Category 3 vendors can find the RFQ on COMMBUYS.

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