6.1 Supporting the Child Care Workforce

Lead Agencies have broad flexibility to implement policies and practices to support the child care workforce. 6.1.1 Strategies to improve recruitment, retention, compensation, and well-being a. Identify any Lead Agency activities related to strengthening workforce recruitment and retention of child care providers. Check all that apply: i. [x] Providing program-level grants to support investments in staff compensation. ii. [x] Providing bonuses or stipends paid directly to staff, like sign-on or retention bonuses. iii. [x] Connecting family child care providers and center-based child care staff to health insurance or supporting premiums in the Marketplace. iv. [ ] Subsidizing family child care provider and center-based child care staff retirement benefits. v. [ ] Providing paid sick, personal, and parental leave for family child care providers and center-based child care staff. vi. [ ] Providing student loan debt relief or loan repayment for family child care providers and center-based child care staff. vii. [x] Providing scholarships or tuition support for center-based child care staff and family child care providers. viii. [ ] Other. Describe: b. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to assess and improve the compensation of the child care workforce in the State or Territory, including increasing wages, bonuses, and stipends. The District has a long-running commitment to improving the compensation of early childhood educators, commensurate with the high standards we set for early educators and supports we provide early educators to meet those standards. Consistent with the requirements of the locally passed Birth-to-Three for All DC Amendment Act of 2018 (DC Law 22-179), the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) regularly conducts cost modeling analysis of the costs for providers to deliver care under various operating scenarios. As part of that analysis, OSSE reviews publicly available data on early educator salaries in child development facilities from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and, in fall 2022, conducted the DC Child Care Provider Survey, which included questions on staffing and staff compensation for a variety of roles, including early educators and administrative roles. This data is used as part of OSSE’s cost modeling analysis to estimate the cost for child care providers to deliver care at current average staff compensation levels, as well as what it would cost providers to deliver care while paying staff salaries comparable to those paid to public school teachers with comparable credentials, and to calculate the incremental cost to increase staff compensation to reflect parity with public school educators. In 2021, the DC Council passed legislation creating the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which allocated District funds to increase staff compensation for early educators, and created the Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force to inform OSSE’s implementation of the fund. In FY24, consistent with the Task Force’s recommendations, OSSE began distributing funds to child development facilities that opted-in to the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund through a child development facility (CDF) payroll funding formula. The Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund is open to all licensed facilities caring for children from birth to age 5. Participating facilities receive quarterly payments to increase wages for eligible educators and must in turn pay eligible assistant teachers and lead teachers fixed wages or salaries that meet or exceed minimum salaries established by OSSE. To support these efforts, in FY24, OSSE published minimum salaries, by role and credential, for eligible early childhood educators whose employers participate in the Fund, as well as a salary schedule that reflects parity with similarly credentialed educators working in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), the District’s local school district. Although the minimum salaries are required for child care providers participating in the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, the salary schedule is purely advisory in nature and intended as a resource for child development facilities in adopting their own compensation schedules or policies. In February 2024, OSSE reconvened the Early Childhood Educator Equitable Compensation Task Force to review available data and lessons learned from the implementation of the Fund to date and make policy and implementation recommendations to support equitable and sustainable long-term implementation of the Fund for both District Government and participating child care providers. The FY25 Budget Support Act instructed the Task Force to submit a report to the Mayor and District Council by September 30, 2024, that recommends changes to the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund to limit fiscal pressures on the program; proposes a new compensation scale, which takes into account the compensation and benefits of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools and District public charter schools; and provides additional recommendations for the allocation of Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Funds. c. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to expand access to benefits, including health insurance, paid sick, personal, and parental leave, and retirement benefits. Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between OSSE and the DC Health Benefits Exchange (DCHBX), funds from the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund support HealthCare4ChildCare, an innovative program that provides free or low-cost health insurance coverage for employees of licensed child development centers and homes and their families. Through HealthCare4ChildCare, the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Funds subsidize a portion of premiums purchased through the exchange by eligible child care employers and individual District residents working in child care facilities (including home providers). While OSSE does not provide leave benefits directly, many District workers earn paid sick and safe leave through the District’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 and the Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act of 2013 and are eligible for the District’s paid family leave program under the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016. OSSE shares resources and information with child care providers and other stakeholders to assist them in understanding the program and to assist providers in complying with employer requirements. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. OSSE partners with DC Child Care Connections (DC CCC), the District’s child care resource and referral (CCR&R) program; the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health (DBH); child development facility leaders; and other private and nonprofit entities to offer wellness supports, mindfulness training, and other supports to enhance the mental health and well-being of the early childhood workforce. Through Healthy Futures, the District’s early childhood mental health consultation program operated by DBH, early childhood educators in Healthy Futures sites have access to mental health consultation, mindfulness, and other well-being supports. In 2023, OSSE updated the District’s core knowledge areas for early educators to incorporate two additional areas that promote early educator health and well-being: 1) personal development and self-care; and 2) financial literacy. Adding these topics to the core knowledge areas allows the early childhood workforce to receive credit for completion of professional development courses related to their health and well-being. Additionally, beginning in 2019, the Quality Improvement Network (QIN), the District’s Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) program administered under a grant to OSSE, added a goal related to staff wellness to nurture well-being and cultivate a thriving community. In 2024, the goal was further refined to reflect the breadth of the QIN community. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. OSSE’s Agency Strategic Plan identifies Early Learning as one of seven priorities and, within that priority, identifies investing in the early learning workforce as a key initiative. OSSE’s approach to cultivating, advancing, and retaining high-quality early educators rests on three interdependent levers: 1) Set high standards for early childhood educators through minimum education requirements in OSSE’s child care licensing regulations; 2) Support early educators to meet those standards and remain and advance in the field, through scholarships, professional development opportunities, and supports for well-being; and 3) Compensate early childhood educators commensurately with high standards and the importance of their work. This strategy reflects a belief, grounded in evidence, that early educators who have the knowledge, skills, and support to be effective in their roles, and are compensated accordingly, will stay in the field longer and will provide better learning experiences for young children, resulting in improved access, quality, and child outcomes of early care and education. In addition to minimum education requirements, compensation and benefits initiatives, and supports for mental health and well-being outlined in other responses, OSSE provides support for educators to earn their Child Development Associate (CDA) credential through free, in-person, and/or hybrid CDA training and preparation programs, as well as scholarships and supports for early educators who are pursuing an associate or bachelor’s degree. In December 2023, OSSE updated the District’s child care licensing regulations, which establish minimum education requirements for the early childhood workforce, to recognize additional pathways to meet the requirements and provide flexibility in the timeline on which educators enrolled in credential and degree programs or newly entering the field are required to meet credential requirements. These changes recognize the diversity of needs and backgrounds of early childhood educators in the District, address barriers to degree and credential attainment for some educators, provide an opportunity for experienced early childhood educators to remain employed in their positions, and cultivate a continued pipeline of educators entering the field. In 2023, OSSE updated the District’s core knowledge areas for early educators to incorporate two additional areas that promote early educator health and well-being: 1) personal development and self-care; and 2) financial literacy. Adding these topics to the core knowledge areas allows the early childhood workforce can receive credit for completion of professional development courses related to their health and well-being. OSSE further provides support for recruitment and retention of early educators through the DC Shared Services Business Alliance (DC SSBA), which provides robust business and management coaching, administrative and human resources support, finance and revenue training, and access to a child care management system to participating child care businesses, which supports them to implement effective human resource systems, policies, practices, and strategies to promote recruitment and retention of staff, as well as to improve revenues and business efficiencies to increase staff compensation and benefits. 6.1.2 Strategies to support provider business practices a. Describe other strategies that the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to strengthen child care providers’ business management and administrative practices. Through a grant, OSSE supports the DC SSBA, which provides administrative and business support functions to participating child development homes and centers to build the business capacity of program leadership, enable them to achieve efficiencies and reduce the burden of operational and administrative functions to free up leaders’ time and resources for other priorities, including staff coaching and compensation. DC SSBA partners with Capital Quality, the District’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), DC CCC, and the QIN, to leverage and share resources in support of participating child care businesses. To enhance and align efforts across multiple District organizations in providing child care businesses support, OSSE partners with Hurley and Associates, an OSSE grantee, to convene the DC Early Childhood Education Business Collaboratory. The members of the DC Early Childhood Education Business Collaboratory, which includes Hurley and Associates (co-lead), United Planning Organization (UPO), Kids Comprehensive Services, the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), and Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif), collaborate with OSSE to coordinate business training and supports and advance efforts to promote child care business sustainability in the District. In 2024 the Collaboratory members developed core competencies for child care business leaders across four domains: 1) financial management; 2) business efficiency; 3) enrollment management; and 4) and human resources. Going forward, professional development and business capacity-building opportunities provided by OSSE and other partners will be aligned to the core competencies as a common framework for advancing child care program leaders’ knowledge and skills and facilities’ practices in areas most aligned with sustainable quality child care business operations. For example, OSSE will highlight how basic and advanced business training aligned to the framework can be used to meet annual professional development requirements included in child development facility licensing regulations. The District’s Trainer Approval Program (TAP) will certify trainers that offer training on business practices for child care center directors and owners aligned to the competencies. b. Check the topics addressed in the Lead Agency’s strategies for strengthening child care providers’ administrative business practices. Check all that apply: i. [x] Fiscal management. ii. [x] Budgeting. iii. [x] Recordkeeping. iv. [x] Hiring, developing, and retaining qualified staff. v. [x] Risk management. vi. [x] Community relationships. vii. [x] Marketing and public relations. viii. [x] Parent-provider communications. ix. [x] Use of technology in business administration. x. [x] Compliance with employment and labor laws. xi. [ ] Other. Describe any other efforts to strengthen providers’ administrative business: 6.1.3 Strategies to support provider participation Lead Agencies must facilitate participation of child care providers and staff with limited English proficiency and disabilities in the child care subsidy system. Describe how the Lead Agency will facilitate this participation, including engagement with providers to identify barriers and specific strategies used to support their participation: a. Providers and staff with limited English proficiency: In alignment with the DC Language Access Act, OSSE makes resources and communications available in the most common languages spoken among child care providers and staff (English, Spanish, and Amharic), and all OSSE staff and grantees have access to a language access support line to communicate with providers with limited English proficiency. Further, OSSE’s grantees who support professional development, Capital Quality, DC SSBA, CCR&R, and the QIN all include staff members with proficiency in Spanish and other languages who are able to support early childhood providers and early educators with limited English proficiency in becoming licensed, participating in the subsidy system, and accessing professional development and postsecondary opportunities. OSSE and its partners offer professional development opportunities regularly in English, Spanish, and Amharic. The CDA Training and Preparation program is also offered in English, Spanish, and Amharic. Capital Quality employs staff who speak Spanish and Amharic, and all staff have access to the language access line for any individual who may have questions or want to learn more about the initiative. Capital Quality participation is required for all subsidy providers. OSSE engages regularly with the District’s Multicultural Spanish Speaking Providers Association (MSSPA) to understand the experiences, needs, and opportunities of Spanish- and Amharic-speaking and immigrant early childhood educators, directors, and owners, including identifying and addressing barriers to participation in the child care subsidy system and OSSE-funded professional development and postsecondary education opportunities. Through this partnership, OSSE has been able to connect early educators and providers with limited English proficiency with the subsidy system. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: OSSE provides outreach and services to persons with disabilities. Customer service sites and in-person training locations (e.g., OSSE headquarters and CCR&R service centers) are accessible and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The online learning platform supports information in multiple modalities (e.g., documents, videos, assignments, etc.). All providers, including those with disabilities, are encouraged to participate in Capital Quality, the District’s QRIS. Quality facilitators who support Capital Quality receive training, technical assistance, and coaching to support providers, early educators, families, and children with special needs.