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. [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. The Lead Agency will continue to implement the Child Care WAGE$® Tennessee education-based salary program to further support the early care and education workforce by providing biannual salary supplement incentives based upon education achievement and retention to encourage educational advancement and reduce turnover. This program provides eligible educators who work in child care providers licensed by the Lead Agency an annual incentive, issued in two parts, based on specific qualifications that include working at least six (6) months in the same child care program with children birth to five years for at least 10 hours a week. The Lead Agency evaluates these quality programs and services at least annually to better meet these and other needs of the child care workforce. 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 strategies, partnerships, and supports that may expand access to benefits for the child care workforce in Tennessee. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. The Lead Agency works with the Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (AIMHiTN), Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance, Tennessee Child Care Resource and Referral Network (CCR&R), and other CCDF Quality Child Care Partners to promote social emotional and behavioral health supports for early childhood educators as well as families and children. The Lead Agency also partners with AIMHITN to administer the Tennessee Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Warmline, a virtual support to the early care and education and other professionals who may be seeking professional consultation around mental health concerns. More details about the Warmline may be found at https://www.aimhitn.org/tn- iecmh-warmline. The Lead Agency evaluates these quality programs and services at least annually to better meet these and other needs of 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. The Lead Agency is implementing a statewide strategy leveraging a Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) model developed by the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) to increase the supply and capacity of early childhood education, improve child care program quality, and support early care and education professionals and employers. The TECTA Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program (TECAP) is a paid RAP designed to increase education and training opportunities for current and emerging child care workforce. This career pathway is defined by the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA). Child care programs licensed by the Lead Agency that meet the RAP requirements are eligible to participate. Each apprentice is assigned an experienced mentor teacher who has the same or higher education certification/degree. The mentor must complete training, meet with the apprentice for an hour each week, attend coaching meetings, document the apprentice’s progress, and serve as a role model to help connect theory to practice on the job. 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. Each Tennessee Early Childhood Program Administrator Credential Academy consists often (10) two-hour sessions of instruction. The sessions are comprised of direct instruction, interactive assignments, and participation in online discussion boards. Child Care Resource and Referral also works closely with providers through the development of continuous Quality Improvement Plans that will target specific areas to strengthen a provider's level of quality, business practices, accessibility and availability impact to supply, and the general improvement of child care services. CCR&R also conducts Small Business Academies that promote best practices and strengthen business operations for child care agencies. The focus of the academies include: Budgets, Projections, and Planning; Financial Reports and Internal Controls; Marketing for Child Care Programs; and Staff Recruitment and Retention for Center-based Child Care Programs. 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. [ ] 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 Lead Agency ensures translations of licensing and child care payment assistance documents are available in languages other than English, including Spanish, Somali, and Arabic, on the basis of demand. The Lead Agency’s Pre-Licensure Unit works with individual development districts through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to engage potential child care providers, including non-English speaking communities to encourage capacity building to meet individualized family needs. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: The Lead Agency seeks guidance from its Division of Rehabilitation Services on recruitment, engagement, and accommodation efforts for persons who have disabilities or may require assistive technology and other form of accommodation support. The Tennessee Rehabilitation Center, administered by the Division of Rehabilitation Services in Smyrna, Tennessee, has implemented child care educator curriculum and a combination of lecture classes and clinical experience for persons who have disabilities.