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. [x] 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. DCYF will continue to assess the state of provider and staff wages using the Cost of Quality Care Study survey, as it did in 2024. The Design Team recommended cost of quality care model variable options the state should select in building subsidy base rates, including the MIT living wage standard for program staff. DCYF plans to work with the legislature to increase subsidy base rates with these recommendations as the frame. 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. Licensed family home providers who accept subsidy are eligible for health care benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Design Team discussed above recommended cost of quality care model variable options the state should select in building subsidy base rates, including $9,000 per year in discretionary benefits. DCYF plans to work with the legislature to increase subsidy base rates with these recommendations as the frame. d. Describe any Lead Agency ongoing efforts and future plans to support the mental health and well-being of the child care workforce. The Design Team’s recommendations included that subsidy base rates be sufficient to support paid vacation and sick leave for providers equal to 40 days per year. They reasoned these benefits are ￿essential for reducing burnout￿. DCYF plans to work with the legislature to increase subsidy base rates with these recommendations as the frame. 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 the Imagine Institute, DCYF provides business supports to licensed family home programs. Additionally, the Imagine Institute executes Imagine U, a mentoring program that supports those interested in opening their own family home program. Through the Early Care and Education Access and Living Wage Proviso and Grow Your Own Program, DCYF is working to establish opportunities to recruit and retention the early care and education workforce. While DCYF has education requirements in place, DCYF provides multiple pathways to meet these education requirements, recognizing the need for various options to meet the needs of the workforce. 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 state’s updated licensing regulations to include business practice training for directors, lead teachers and family home licensees. An initial licensing orientation includes information about basic business practice such as program operation and policies. The state contracts with a community college to offer subsidy billing and electronic attendance training to licensed family homes and FFN providers. The state collaborated with PD Contractors and local organizations to develop business practice training that includes policy development, business and fiscal management, recruitment, retention, leadership and creating a healthy work environment. 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: DCYF facilitates participation for providers with limited English proficiency. The required orientation for child care licensing in available in English, Spanish, and Somali and can be provided in other languages upon request. Licensing staff include staff who speak Spanish and Somali, and an interpreter can be made available upon request. Additionally, some DCYF contractors offer adapted trainings specific to the language and cultural needs of communities. In addition, Washington State has a provider recruiting program for licensed family homes that supports prospective licensees with mentorship and training. b. Providers and staff who have disabilities: Providers with disabilities are supported with training delivery that meets ADA requirements, allowing them to enter the field while meeting the required training. Training provided through DCYF contracts are held in locations that offer access for persons with disabilities, such as at colleges, libraries and other community organizations. DCYF also facilitates participation in Early Achievers, which is mandatory for subsidy participants. For deaf or hard of hearing providers, a DCYF requested sign-language interpreter can be requested for Early Achievers meetings. In addition, electronic presentations on Early Achievers programs are reviewed by the internal communications team to meet accessibility requirements. Early Achievers webinars are produced in multiple languages and use close captioning. The webinars are also recorded so that participants may watch them on a computer with accessible software.