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. [ ] 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. [x] Other. Describe: Early Childhood Care and Education career pathways for high school CTE (Career Technical Education) students have been updated and students participating in these pathways in their high school programs have the opportunity for freshman year college scholarships (when pursuing degree or certificate in ECE) which can be renewed indefinitely upon employment in a center or family child care setting and continuation in an early childhood degree pathway. 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. Collaborations established with external organizations presently offer living expense stipends to child care providers participating in the IdahoSTARS Academic Scholarship program, ensuring they can sustain at least part-time employment while pursuing their education on a part-time basis. IdahoSTARS intends to pursue the continuation of this initiative should the external funding cease. Career pathways acknowledge the accomplishments of child care providers in their professional development efforts and grants a financial bonus based on their level of attainment in professional development once they complete 20 hours of ongoing training annually. A restructure of the current pathway slated for launch in 2025 will ensure the financial bonuses tied to PD are more equitable and accessible to all child care providers participating in professional development activities. Available business practice training and targeted technical assistance opportunities from IdahoSTARS provide child care owners with the tools and knowledge necessary to manage finances, staff, and planning more effectively, potentially leading to higher wages and compensation for their staff. 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. IdahoSTARS provides business cohorts and other professional development and technical assistance to programs in an effort to increase knowledge and resources on all aspects of successful child care business practices, including benefits. IdahoSTARS staff in the northern region of the state (Region 1) are partnering with the local Early Learning Collaborative to explore implementation of shared services in that region which may include access to benefits for 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. IdahoSTARS ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce are inclusive of a reflective consultation program, mental health awareness training, and professional development opportunities. IdahoSTARS has 5 team members that have been training to become eligible to offer reflective consultation to others. Our goal is to begin working with providers in the Spring of 2025. IdahoSTARS offers professional development on mental health awareness such as Caring for the Caregiver which provides knowledge and awareness addressing caregiver mental health and prevention of child abuse. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. IdahoSTARS partners and collaborates with high school CTE programs to expose students to early childhood education, fostering student interest in pursuing careers working with young children and broadening recruitment efforts to attract a diverse pool of aspiring educators. Additionally, IdahoSTARS provides professional development opportunities for FCS (Family and Consumer Sciences) CTE teachers to effectively prepare students for careers in ECE. Program supports including technical assistance and resources for curriculum articulation to the CDA (Child Development Associate credential) facilitate students' credentialing pathways and establish clear career trajectories in the field after graduation. Engagement with Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) student organization allows IdahoSTARS to introduce high school students to early childhood education careers, offering educational resources and opportunities to cultivate their interest and encourage recruitment into the industry. College scholarships available from IdahoSTARS to graduating high school seniors who are pursuing a degree or certificate at the post-secondary level lead to retention in the field. 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. Business practice training and targeted technical assistance opportunities are available across the state. These opportunities include topics such as budgeting, record keeping, marketing and staffing. IdahoSTARS regional office staff coach providers on general business practice topics. 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. [x] Budgeting. iii. [x] Recordkeeping. iv. [ ] Hiring, developing, and retaining qualified staff. v. [ ] Risk management. vi. [ ] Community relationships. vii. [ ] 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: The IdahoSTARS Customer Support Team is bilingual and offers support and services directly in our three largest languages: English, Spanish & Swahili. We also support child care providers with distinct languages practices in navigating our systems through document translation, the ability to request interpreters for in person appointments/visits and phone interpretation. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: IdahoSTARS customer support team works with providers and staff who have disabilities to meet their individual needs. IdahoSTARS actively supports individuals with disabilities in personal and professional inclusion. During training registration, a provider can request accommodations for training. All documents, live training slides presentations, and in-house developed online trainings are reviewed for best practices in accessibility. The IdahoSTARS website strives to meet web content accessibility guidelines to allow access to all users.