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. [ ] 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. There is legislation that addresses improving the compensation of the child care workforce in Hawaii. A Senate and companion House bill was introduced during the 2024 Hawaii legislative session to provide subsidies to retain the existing child care workforce in licensed infant and toddler child care centers and group child care centers, and bonuses to registered family child care homes. The bill proposed to increase the pay of a child care center’s child care workers to a rate of not less than $16.00 an hour. The bill did not pass legislation, however, legislators may work with the Department of Human Services on how Hawaii may be able to improve early childhood workforce compensation. 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 the Department of Human Services contracted statewide Child Care Resource and Referral program, People Attentive To Children, shared resources of telehealth and mental health consultation is being developed for family child care providers. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. The Department of Human Services continues to work with the Department of Health to provide infant and early childhood mental health consultation to providers and their staff. A memorandum of agreement needs to be developed and would provide financial resources to develop mental health consultation services to the child care workforce. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. Teacher Waiver Pilot Program, Demonstration Project to waive Infant/Toddler staff qualifications while the staff member works towards completing caregiver qualifications. The Department of Human Services contractor, People Attentive to Children, also provides family child care recruiter services. 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 the Department of Human Services contractor, People Attentive To Children, a shared services program training is provided on: Fiscal Management, Financial Reports and Internal Controls, Marketing for Child Care Programs, and Staff Recruitment and Retention. Fiscal Management training reviews with providers to gain skills in developing a process for building a budget and how to utilize the budget for decision making throughout the year. Fiscal Management training also introduces to providers how to utilize financial reports to manage finances and understand the concept of internal controls to strengthen overall fiscal health. Training on Marketing for Child Care Programs introduces the focus on external and internal marketing efforts and utilizing data to inform marketing efforts to achieve greater success. Staff Recruitment and Retention training reviews best practices related to interviewing, recruiting, and hiring new employees. Training also reviews having a framework for building an effective orientation for new employees, components of a staff handbook, and strategies for providing feedback to employees. 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. [ ] Recordkeeping. iv. [x] Hiring, developing, and retaining qualified staff. v. [ ] Risk management. vi. [x] Community relationships. vii. [x] Marketing and public relations. viii. [ ] 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: The Department of Human Services contracted agency, People Attentive To Children for the Training services is required to provide interpreter services and reasonable accommodations for attendees of 12 separate training series and 128 classes provided through the training contracts. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: The Department of Human Services contracted agency, People Attentive To Children for the Training services is required to provide reasonable accommodations for attendees of 12 separate training series and 128 classes provided through the training contracts.