Monthly snapshots of programs licensed or funded by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, sourced from the LEAD database. The data includes provider details, capacity by age group, and Social Vulnerability Index scores for program locations. Updates occur monthly at the beginning of each month.
Use Cases
- Analyze the distribution of LICENSED_CAPACITY across PROGRAM_TYPE and ZIPCODE_TABULATION_SVI to identify childcare deserts.
- Model FUNDED_PROVIDER_STATUS based on PROGRAM_CITY and SUBSIDY_REGION to forecast subsidy program needs.
- Track changes in PROVIDER_NUMBER and REGULATORY_STATUS over SNAPSHOT_DATE to monitor sector stability.
- Correlate age-specific capacity columns like INFANT_BIRTH15MO and SCHOOLAGE_5YR14YR with CENSUSTRACTS_SVI for targeted resource allocation.
Strengths
- Includes 22 columns covering provider details, capacity, and location-based vulnerability indices.
- Data is updated monthly, providing a time-series view of program status.
Limitations
- Unknown total row count prevents assessment of dataset scale and representativeness.
- Geographic coverage is limited to Massachusetts, restricting broader regional analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC).
- Collection Method
- Pulled from the EEC's Licensing Education Analytic Database (LEAD).
- Time Range
- Historic monthly snapshots; specific date range unknown.
- Freshness
- Updated monthly; last updated April 2026.
- Geography
- Massachusetts, USA.