Boston Council Hears Child Care Providers Crushed by Rent Hikes and Voucher Freeze

BOSTON -- September 18, 2025, Boston City Council committee examines financial squeeze on family child care providers amid two-year voucher freeze. Chair Julia M. Mejia convened the virtual hearing Thursday on Docket 1439, drawing testimony from SEIU Local 509 organizers, two Boston-area educators, a Lawrence city councilor, and the executive director of San Francisco's Department of Early Childhood. Alejandra Tejeda, family child care coordinator for SEIU 509, which represents roughly 500 Boston educators, told the committee that landlords are imposing rent increases of $200 to $800 per month on providers once they learn a licensed program operates in the home, and that the pool of insurers willing to write liability policies for family child care has shrunk significantly. Ingrid Mesquita of San Francisco described a $340 million annual early childhood system funded in part by a commercial rent tax that sets a wage floor of $28 per hour and has achieved 75 percent educator retention. Council Member Benjamin J. Weber noted that even a rough Boston equivalent of $100 million would clarify what universal access would actually require.