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This tool by The National Workforce Registry Alliance uses 2023 landscape survey data from 45 member registries to illustrate the current state of registries nationwide. Data collected includes information on registration participation; roles and settings; demographics and qualifications; career ladders and competencies; compensation and professional development support; and system integration and workforce well-being. These data may be useful for making policies and investments, as well as doing research on the workforce. This resource supports equity.
Today's youth are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety. One way that schools and other youth organizations can provide support is by implementing a wellness room for kids who need space to sort out their emotions. This issue brief outlines benefits and offers tips for creating and using wellness rooms. This resource supports resiliency.
On December 6, 2024 the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment and the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance hosted a webinar highlighting tips and resources to help school-age child care providers build or enhance their business practices and create sustainable Out-of-School Time programs. Attendees had the opportunity to explore budgeting, marketing, and staffing considerations for OST programs; along with materials including the NCASE Business Practices Tips for Out-of-School Time Child Care tip sheet.
This Better Kid Care site from Penn State Extension offers research-based online training modules on a range of topics relevant to working with school-age children such as positive youth development and guidance, career preparation for youth, financial planning, and cultural competency and responsiveness. The modules include a combination of slides, video clips, research summaries, practical tips, and worksheets. Most are geared to practitioners. The trainings are free; a professional development certification of completion is $5-10. Some modules are available in Spanish.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Reauthorization of 2016 includes requirements for health and safety training. This resource from Better Kid Care at Penn State Extension provides information on health and safety professional training for Out-of-School Time (OST) providers, as required by states. Topics covered are: (1) safe spaces, (2) transportation safety, (3) handling and storage of hazardous materials, (4) emergency preparedness, (5) prevention and control of infectious disease, (6) food and allergic reactions and how to respond, (7) administration of medication, (8) shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma, and (9) safe sleep and SUIDS prevention. The course is 6 hours long and is free; $15 if you need a professional development certification of completion. This resource is available in Spanish.
This 2023 issue of the Afterschool Matters journal is focused on the OST workforce, specifically, findings from interviews that were part of the Power of Us Workforce Survey. This survey was part of a research study designed to gather data about the experiences of youth-serving workers in a wide range of fields, with the goal of helping communities better understand the youth-serving workforce and ways to help it thrive. The journal explores the insights of professionals in the youth fields on critical issues: community institutions, summer, entry points and recruitment, compensation, career pathways, and recommendations. This resource supports equity.
Home-based Child Care Networks are seen as a promising strategy for supporting regulated family child care and legally-exempt family, friend, and neighbor caregivers. Home Grown and Erikson Institute created this evidence-based framework with 11 benchmarks to provide guidance to high-quality networks. BUILD provided a related webinar on Embedding Wellness in Home-based Child Care Systems through Strengthening Home-based Child Care Networks.
This webinar from Grantmakers for Education explores ways that two communities are building the capacity of nonprofits to work on providing quality OST jobs that are well compensated. The first example is the Walter and Elise Haas Fund's Endeavor Fund that is moving from contributions to commitment. This trust-based philanthropy effort is providing 7 grants to 7 organizations over 7 years to build nonprofit capacity. The second example is Hub One in Kalamazoo, MI, where 4 nonprofits joined forces to find solutions for ongoing challenges like scarcity, funding, compensation, and staff turnover.
The nation's success in meeting the need for quality child care depends on our ability to recruit and retain a competent workforce and registered apprenticeships is one innovative model explored in this issue brief. There are sections on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; registered apprenticeships and growth and learning; and state and local examples including WV, AL, AR, CO, FL, KY, MD, OK, PA, RI, TX, and WI. A related webinar, Apprenticeships: A Growing Strategy for the Child Care Workforce, includes examples from YMCA of the East Bay and Rhode Island model for family child care.
This issue brief from the Children's Equity Project examines data from the Yale CARES survey of center-based, home-based, and informal child care providers, including 82,000 in 2020 and 50,000 in 2021. The survey found that 45% of providers reported depression, 27% reported stress, and 60% of providers reported increases in children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. This resource supports equity. This resource supports resiliency.