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rewards early childhood educators with an annual payment who have recently earned a credential or degree in early childhood education. Incentives program offers an annual bonus for remaining with the same employer. An educator can participate in Incentives for up to five years if they continue to meet eligibility requirements. Incentives data shows the program supports retention in child care. The Lead Agency plans to use CCDF funding to continue both programs. 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. ￿ The Lead Agency is exploring methods for supporting access to telehealth services for Early Childhood Education professionals. Currently, the Agency is collecting data from providers on access to and demand for additional benefits. In Georgia’s Pre-K Program, the state’s universal pre-kindergarten program for 4 year-olds, provides funding for benefits, at a rate of 24% to private child care program, for lead and assistant teachers in each Georgia’s Pre-K classroom. Though the funding is provided for benefits, recipients are not required to provide benefits with the funds. The Lead Agency’s data shows that even with this funding, these providers are only slightly more likely to provide some measure of benefits than those that do not receive pre-k funds. Overall, the data indicates that the median child care center does not provide benefits, while only 25% of providers report a benefit rate of 2% of higher and only 10% of providers report a benefit rate of 5% or higher. Future plans to offer or expand access are not known at this time as it is unclear to what degree the Lead Agency has the resources to create or enhance access across the early child care and education system in Georgia. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. Through the Infant Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Consultation Pilot, a master’s level mental health professional is available to all child care center staff participating in the pilot. This contracted mental health provider can link the workforce to effective mental health resources in their communities and/or provide resources to the workforce as needed to support mental health and emotional wellbeing. The IECMH Consultant also provides mental health training to child care staff and families. The pilot currently serves 12 child care centers across three geographic areas (Savannah, Macon, and Atlanta - DeKalb County). The Lead Agency plans to continue this pilot. Expansion of the program will be informed by the pilot evaluation. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. ￿ The Lead Agency currently oversees the DECAL Scholars program, a workforce program that supports professionals in pursuing early childhood education degrees and credentials. DECAL Scholars includes scholarships that pay tuition costs for students pursuing a degree at a technical college or university and training costs for students pursuing a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. The Providing Our Workforce Essential Recognition for Educational Development (POWER-ED) program provides wage supplements to scholarships recipients as long as they remain enrolled in an early childhood education degree or credential program. Upon graduation, recipients are eligible to apply for the Incentives program, which offers an annual bonus payment (up to five years) if the individual maintains employment with the same employer. Using Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding, the DECAL Scholars program was revamped in 2023 to increase access to benefits for more