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. [ ] 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. Over the past 4 years, New Jersey’s minimum wage has incrementally increased to reach $15.13 per hour as of January 2024. In response to the minimum wage increase, NJ has earmarked funds each year to increase child care rates to support the minimum wage increase. In addition, NJ is in the process of developing a strategic plan to pilot an Apprenticeship program for early childhood education (ECE) workers. During the pilot phase, NJ will research ECE worker wage scales across different systems to help inform wage scales. Recommendations and findings from the pilot will be discussed to determine the best approach for aligning a wage scale with the career lattice. NJ continues to support the ECE Scholarship Program. Scholarships are available to working assistant teachers or teachers in childcare programs, or registered family child care providers servicing children that receive a subsidy through the Child Care Subsidy Program and or that are enrolled in Grow NJ Kids (GNJK). Scholarships and awards are currently available for the following: ● College Scholarship ● College P-3 ● CDA Training ● CDA Renewal ● CDA Assessment Fee ● Book Stipend ● Merit Award ($500 for any scholarship recipient that completes their degree/certificate) 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. DHS/DFD has expanded its shared services work throughout the state. The shared service alliances drafted a plan that members would like to work together in implementing. All alliances have acknowledged a need to retain the workforce. Shared services coordinators worked with their alliance members and their staff on finding affordable health insurance plans by promoting Get Covered NJ, as it offers a variety of affordable plans and provides options for pricing. Shared services coordinators meet with alliance member directors, staff and/or families to help them understand the program and then provide tools for easy enrollment. As needed, shared services coordinators also can connect alliance members with health insurance brokers to provide more options. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. Since 2015, DFD has contracted with Montclair State University’s Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health to provide support related to the emotional and mental well-being of the ECE workforce and the children in their care. Through their Professional Formation Initiative providers have the ability to request support through consultation, training or reflective practice if they have experienced collective stress, loss or trauma, mental-health, burnout, grief, and other situations that may impact the emotional or mental-health well-being of staff. In addition to consultation, the center also provides ongoing reflective sessions known as the Conversations for Connection, Comfort and Calm series, or 3Cs. The groups consist of open sessions to allow space for organic conversations and reflection. The groups have run continuously since April of 2020 in both English and Spanish. Providers’ also have access to special topic professional development sessions that are offered on an as needed basis. Recent virtual sessions such as ￿Staying Well to Care Well: Strategies for Restoration and Self-Care￿, or the ￿Black Caregivers Matter: A Professional Formation Community, a space for connection and support, specifically for early care and education professionals who identify as Black in our community are examples of supports that have been developed to meet the needs of the workforce. NJ will continue its efforts and work to further understand and address the mental-health and well-being needs of the professional workforce in the upcoming plan cycle through survey and other methods of stakeholder feedback. Data from these surveys will be used to determine what additional programming, training and supports are needed. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. NJ is in the process of developing a strategic plan to pilot an Apprenticeship program for ECE workers. During the pilot phase, NJ will research ECE worker wage scales across different systems to help inform wage scales. In addition, NJ will be reconvening a group of stakeholders to review proposed revisions and determine if additional changes are needed; and will make the necessary programmatic updates in the NJ Workforce Registry to reflect the revisions. Considerations will be discussed to determine the best approach for aligning a wage scale with the career lattice. 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. DHS/DFD supports strengthening business practices in a number of ways that include training and technical assistance, as well as community-based shared service alliances. The county-level Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) provide training and direct support for programs and providers on strengthening business practices. Shared services coordinators support child care and family child care providers on an ongoing basis, access their needs, and provide additional resources as needed. Workshops and/or small group coaching sessions are offered to providers from the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC) as well as through the DFD technical assistance vendor and Rutgers GNJK Training Services. This includes multiple training sessions and opportunities for Alliances to network and collaborate. Ongoing support is provided by the shared services coordinators that work with their alliance members continuously. Each alliance is designed to meet the alliance members’ specific needs and provide targeted training and support. Rutgers GNJK Training Services provides targeted workshops in Human Resources, Finance, Technology and Marketing, as well as workshops related to Child Care Management Systems (CCMS). ● Human Resources: Recruitment; Retention; On Boarding; Continuous Coaching ● Finance: Financial Management System; Record Keeping; Budgeting ● Technology / Marketing: Marketing Essentials and Tools; Social Media; Digital Tools and Organization ● CCMS: General overview of CCMS Systems, benefits and challenges Shared services coordinators also work with their alliance members and their staff on finding affordable health insurance plans. They promote Get Covered NJ as it offers a variety of affordable plans and provides options for pricing. Shared services coordinators meet with alliance member directors, staff and/or families to help them understand the program and provide tools for easy enrollment. As needed, they also connect alliance members with health insurance brokers to provide more options. 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. [ ] Compliance with employment and labor laws. xi. [x] Other. Describe any other efforts to strengthen providers’ administrative business: Training and technical assistance topics include: Business Mindset, Human Resources essentials to support turnover, Leadership including Whole Leadership Framework which aligns to work by ECLI, SMART GOALS, Digital Organization, Peer Networking, optimizing communication with families through technology, optimizing your businesses presence in google (90% used by consumers for search functions), using social media platforms, achieving full enrollment. 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: DHS/DFD’s contracted training agencies have bilingual trainers and provide access to training consultants for a variety of other languages. Staff are available to support providers with limited English proficiency. Training is offered online and statewide in both English and Spanish. Translations in additional languages are available upon request based on need. DHS/DFD’s contracted TA Centers and CCR&Rs also have bilingual coaching staff who provide support in the preferred language of the provider, when possible. This includes on-site coaching and Environment Rating Scale (ERS) observation offered in both English and Spanish. Grow NJ Kids rating reports are also issued in the language spoken by the provider. DHS/DFD also offers bilingual caseworkers or translators for parents and providers, provides informational materials about child care assistance in non-English languages, offers child care assistance applications in other languages besides English, and covers English language development in state early learning guidelines for English Language Learners. NJ offers career pathways for the child care workforce that include specializations or credentials for working with English language learners and children with disabilities. Scholarships and merit rewards have been established in these areas to recruit and support career ladders for bilingual early childhood professionals and those who speak languages other than English as well as those who want to serve children with disabilities. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: DHS/DFD requires that all contracted partners/vendors are ADA compliant and have written policies and procedures. The State's Web Accessibility Policy 07-12-NJOIT is attached to all state websites, web-based applications, and online services including the www.ChildCareNJ.gov website (http://www.childcarenj.govwebsite.thepurposeofthe/). The purpose of the policy is to improve the ease with which all users, including those with disabilities, can access and benefit from web-based government services and information. While developing the website, special attention was put into the development of "easy-to- read" and "frequently asked questions" documents with clear, user-focused language. Some of the information on the website is available in alternative formats other than plain text such as audio recordings (including recorded webinars) and videos. In addition, users who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call TTY (877) 294-4356 to access any of the hotlines listed on the "Resources" page of the website (voice calls use 7-1-1 NJ Relay). All training provided by GNJK Training services includes closed captioning for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. Additionally, all training content and associated materials are screened using the Color Contrast Checker. This tool follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a series of recommendations for making the web more accessible. To ensure accessibility, we use this tool to make the recommended color edits to slides. Lastly, all training content and materials are designed consistently at a 5th grade level to promote comprehension of materials for individuals of all abilities.