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. The Lead Agency provides a variety of scholarships and tuition support through our contracted partners. These include partnerships with Early EdU and TEACH for higher education credits and early childhood degrees, as well as scholarships that cover the cost of CDA training, assessment and fees. We intend on continuing these scholarship opportunities indefinitely as one strategy for improving the compensation of the workforce. All quality grant funding amounts supplied for our Out-of-School Time programs are determined through deliberate planning around the cost of the number of staff needed at a program site to not only ensure quality but encourage higher wages. For the next grant release, for those programs receiving our High Quality grants, there will be a new requirement for all site supervisors to become full-time, benefited employees as well as never be included in the program’s ratio of staff-to-students. For current and future School Readiness Preschool Grants, all lead teachers must hold or gain within one year of becoming the lead teacher, a Child Development Associate Degree or greater, and wages are supplemented through these quality grants to support the higher level of education required. Additionally, one of the subcommittees of the Early Childhood Utah Advisory Council is in the beginning stages of a workforce development project, which includes assessing the compensation of the early care and education workforce across settings in Utah and discussing possibilities for compensation improvements. 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. This area is not a focus at this time, and no future plans around expanding access to benefits currently exist. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. Currently, the Lead Agency funds several courses for the workforce with content surrounding their own well-being. Strategies for self care and well-being are covered in several of our professional development offerings. Through our local Care About Childcare agencies, a series of courses called, ￿Guidance and Emotional Wellness￿ is offered. The content focuses on the Pyramid Model, with the base of the Pyramid (or the foundation of a healthy classroom) being a healthy caregiver. Additionally, a section of our course called, ￿Healthy Care￿ contains information on caring for oneself. During the pandemic, the Lead Agency collaborated with DHHS to pilot a mental health care benefit program. This program had limited success, and future plans do not include continuing to fund these efforts. e. Describe any other strategies the Lead Agency is developing and/or implementing to support providers’ recruitment and retention of the child care workforce. Through our local Care About Childcare agencies and a contract with Salt Lake Community College, the Lead Agency funds several professional development opportunities surrounding business management and administration, which are offered as virtual, synchronous courses statewide for licensed center and family child care owners, directors and business administrators. Within these courses, the topic of recruiting and retaining staff is discussed. Additionally, professional development specialists from several agencies including the Lead Agency, the Utah State Board of Education, Head Start and Home Visiting are currently collaborating to ensure that training and development opportunities are cross- sector, inclusive and widely available to the breadth of early childhood educators. 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. The Lead Agency ensures training related to child care program management and providers' business practices is accessible through the CAC Agencies. Creating Good Child Care is the most basic course that covers topics such as forms, maintaining records, developing program philosophy and mission statements, legal protection and insurance, American Disabilities Act, reporting requirements for abuse and neglect, and custody issues. Course 4 of the Family Child Care Endorsement includes content for family providers regarding ethics and professionalism, contracts and policies, record keeping, taxes and marketing. For center administrators, four 10-hour classes make up the 40-hour Director's Toolbox Endorsement. Content includes much more in depth information on contracts and policies and procedures, recordkeeping, budgeting, leadership, hiring, developing and retaining qualified staff, conflict resolution and how to effectively communicate in both writing and verbally. The Lead Agency offers a business management course through the CAC agencies that was developed by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA), which includes sessions on fiscal management, staff recruitment and retention and marketing. In addition, the Lead Agency has approved multiple online entities that provide professional development training related to child care business practices that providers may choose to sign up for and participate in on their own. Utah supports individuals who wish to obtain the National Administrator's Credential (NAC). This is a 40-hour course specific to effective program management offered through the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation organization. If an individual employed in a licensed center or family child care program chooses to take the NAC course to work toward the NAC credential, a full scholarship is available for reimbursement of the payment of the fees. This course may also be used to increase one level on the Career Ladder. Technical Assistance for both family providers and center directors regarding business practices is available through the CAC Agencies statewide, should it be requested by a provider. A partnership with the Salt Lake Community College provides customized business and finance training offered in an online, synchronous format as well as one-on- one coaching and advising for center-based and home-based child care providers statewide. A partnership with the Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) provides customized business and finance training offered in an online, synchronous format as well as one-on-one coaching and advising for center-based and home-based child care providers statewide. SLCC hosts an annual Child Care Business Summit where professionals can attend breakout sessions focused on business management and administration. Within CCQS, points are awarded to programs that have an administrator responsible for business operations who has a degree or credential in finance, business and/or program administration. Programs may also be awarded points if that individual has taken at least 10 hours of Career Ladder approved annual training in the area of business or leadership. 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. [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 has a dedicated Child Care Provider Helpline team that assists providers and staff with navigating the subsidy system. Helpline employees communicate with providers by email, phone, and video calls to assist providers with their individual needs. They train providers on how the subsidy program works, their rights and responsibilities, how to use the provider portal and report changes impacting subsidy payments. In addition to having staff bilingual in English and Spanish available, the Lead Agency contracts with a language line for translation services that is used when needed to be able to communicate and assist providers in all languages. Additionally, when webinars are held to train providers on policy changes, Spanish- speaking providers receive personalized training in Spanish. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: The Lead Agency has a dedicated Child Care Provider Helpline team that assists providers and staff with navigating the subsidy system. Helpline employees communicate with providers by email, phone, and video calls. They train providers on how the subsidy program works, their rights and responsibilities, how to use the provider portal and report changes impacting subsidy payments. The Helpline team provides individualized assistance to providers and staff who need additional support. Special accommodations may be made to support providers and staff with disabilities including video calls, relay services, and ASL interpreters. Team members often adjust their schedules to be able to accommodate providers’ schedules and set up virtual and phone appointments with providers to give them extra support with technical assistance or other help they may need to address barriers they may be facing. Additionally, a new provider portal was recently launched that is more intuitive and compatible with smartphones and other devices, giving more options to providers to receive information and communicate with the Lead Agency.