Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) Funds: Massachusetts Child Care Program Disbursements

C3 provides monthly operational funding to child care programs across Massachusetts. Each row represents the amount of C3 funds disbursed to a program by fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. The data is published by educationtocareer.data.mass.gov and was last updated on April 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze funding distribution by PROGRAM_ZIP_CODE to identify geographic funding patterns.
• Track C3_FUNDS disbursement trends over FISCAL_YEAR for time-series analysis.
• Identify high-funding programs by aggregating C3_FUNDS by PROGRAM_NAME.
• Monitor data currency by checking the DATA_LOAD_DATE against the FISCAL_YEAR.

Strengths

• Data includes a DATA_LOAD_DATE column, indicating when the record was last updated.
• The fiscal year definition (July 1 to June 30) is explicitly documented.
• Data is structured with a PROVIDER_NUMBER for potential record linkage.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes that data may not reflect all adjustments made to payment amounts.
• Individual family child care program names are excluded from the data.

Provenance

Source

educationtocareer.data.mass.gov

Collection Method

Likely administrative records from the C3 funding program.

Time Range

Data is organized by FISCAL_YEAR; specific range is unknown.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 14:04:51; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Child care programs in Massachusetts, as indicated by PROGRAM_ZIP_CODE.