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. [ ] 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. [ ] 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. [ ] 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. In 2023, DEL commissioned the Florida Early Care and Education Workforce Study Report in which an unprecedented 14,252 teachers, directors, and other staff participated. This population was representative of Florida’s ECE program and workforce population on numerous geographic, programmatic, and demographic factors, supporting the generalizability of the survey findings. In an effort to highlight the importance of the issues related to the workforce, DEL is working with the UF AZCEECS to analyze available workforce data and to design, build, and incorporate Florida’s early child care workforce data into the Sunshine Portal in an impactful, end-user driven, and interactive format such as a data dashboard. DEL will use this information as we implement programs such as T.E.A.C.H. and INCETIVE$. Further, information from this dashboard will be critical as the DEL explores and implements policies to positively impact the child care workforce. DEL will continue to work with the legislature, provider associations, and ELCs to evaluate and increase reimbursement rates for providers. DEL will also continue to strategize ways to utilize quality funding and local match to provide opportunities for ELCs and providers to receive additional funding. 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. Currently, the DEL does not have plans to expand access to benefits for the child care workforce but continues to encourage providers to provide access to benefits. The DEL will continue to monitor the new data dashboard to inform policy decisions that support the child care workforce. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. Currently, the DCF Training Registry offers a course on TICC which includes a component on the importance of self-care for early childhood educators. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. DEL coordinated with DCF to build a dedicated Job Board for early childhood educators. The Job Board is accessed through the Registry and is active. T.E.A.C.H. scholarships also help with addressing the problems of teacher education, turnover, and compensation in this field. It provides financial incentives linked to educational attainment and retention. Local ELC’s have proven that financially supported apprenticeship projects have strengthened the local ECE workforce as a recruitment initiative. 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. To build quality and supply, a course on business practices, Management of a Child Care Center, is a requirement for completing the application for a Florida Director Credential. This course covers child care business for all ages. To obtain a level I Director’s Credential, the core requirements must be fulfilled along with the completion of an approved ￿Overview of Child Care Management￿ course or a Director Credential issued by another state. Some ELCs also offer local business trainings for providers, offering templates for business plans, parent handbooks, and salary scales. b. Check the topics addressed in the Lead Agency’s strategies for strengthening child care providers’ administrative business practices. Check all that apply: i. [ ] Fiscal management. ii. [ ] Budgeting. iii. [x] Recordkeeping. iv. [x] Hiring, developing, and retaining qualified staff. v. [ ] Risk management. vi. [ ] Community relationships. vii. [x] Marketing and public relations. viii. [x] Parent-provider communications. ix. [ ] Use of technology in business administration. 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: Providers and staff with limited English proficiency requested training be available in Spanish to provide them with a better understanding of the material DEL has translated the required pre- service training to Spanish so that it can be accessed by Spanish speaking educators or educators with limited English proficiency. Additionally, the website hosting the Florida Early Care and Education Developmental Standards has added a translation toggle option to translate from English to Spanish. The supporting trainings for these standards are available in Spanish as well. ELCs/RCMA make every effort to provide multi-lingual translation and interpretation services at all levels when engaging with child care providers and provide extensive training to staff at all levels (starting with leadership) regarding the importance of these efforts to enhance the recruitment and facilitation of the participation of child care providers in the subsidy system. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: Per the SR Contract ELCs have with providers, discrimination against children, families and staff on the basis of race, national origin, ethnic background, sex, religious affiliation, or disability is prohibited. Further, the provider must agree not to discriminate to comply with the terms of 45 C.F.R. §98.49 regarding non-discrimination against staff on the basis of religion. Vocation Rehab (VR) is a division of the FLDOE whose mission is to assist people with disabilities, ages 14 and older, in securing competitive, integrated employment. VR’s Business Relations program builds and sustains partnerships with business and industry through effective services that are driven by the needs of employers. Business Relations Representatives customize employer services to assist employers with recruiting, hiring, promoting and retaining qualified individuals with disabilities. These partnerships support business customers’ disability inclusion efforts.