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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.
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.
Child care providers are often at the forefront of offering social-emotional learning and universal mental health support for school-age children. This tip sheet is a supplemental resource for direct service providers and offers simple strategies to successfully engage families, address youth development, and enhance staff progress while centering SEL and mental health services. For more information on targeted resources to elevate system and program initiatives, access the NCASE Social-Emotional Learning and Mental Health Toolkit: Support for Systems and Programs Toolkit.
This self-paced module by You for Youth provides steps and strategies for program leaders to recruit, train, and retain program staff. It includes many resources such as sample job descriptions, human resource policies and staff manuals, and ideas for interview questions and reference checks. It can assist a program leader in creating a plan for improving staff recruitment and retention. Unless you need a certificate of completion, you do not need to log in to the Y4Y portal to do the module--just click "cancel" when asked to log in and proceed.
This Better Kid Care module about supporting LGBTQ youth in out-of-school-time programs is designed to prepare staff to provide a supportive and inclusive environment. It includes videos of researchers, counselors, staff, parents, and youth who share their ideas and experiences. It also includes a number of helpful handouts, suggestions for wording about policies, and activity ideas. This resource supports equity.
This course from Better Kid Care focuses on three tiers of strategies educators and programs can use to create a culture of caring that prioritizes relationships and supports for mental health and well-being. These are important strategies, given that research has found that educators' emotional availability and sensitivity to children's needs decrease in times of stress. To promote well-being, the module suggests developing a culture of caring, deepening relationships, and promoting work-life balance and self-care. To prevent burnout, suggestions include offering job accommodations, reflective supervision, and referrals to community resources. There are helpful worksheets such as burnout assessment and team-building activities. Available in Spanish. This resource supports resiliency. This resource supports equity.
Child care providers must view their meaningful work as a business and plan and prepare for its sustainability and growth. This tip sheet will provide ideas and resources to support sustainable, quality school-age care. Readers will gain a fundamental understanding of budgeting, marketing, and staffing business practices. Additionally, this tip sheet provides a resource that aids in writing survey questions that will accurately measure the opinions, experiences, and behaviors of the communities providers serve.
This slide deck shares the first findings released from the National Summer Learning and Enrichment Study conducted by Westat about school-run summer programs in 2021 and plans for summer 2022. The representative findings are drawn from 309 Local Education Agencies. 94% of schools offered some kind of summer programming, serving 18% of students enrolled in school the previous year, with finding staffing as the biggest challenge. 76% used ARP funding, with 75% focused on learning recovery and 57% supplementing with social-emotional learning. 80% also indicated plans to offer programs in summer 2022. A final report will be shared in mid-2023.
The Virginia Partnership for Out-of-School Time (VPOST) developed a map of OST programs and the relationship with population density, poverty, and Social Vulnerability Index in Virginia as a way to highlight gaps in the availability of programs. The OST Access Map project is now being used as an advocacy tool to expand access to more children. This project could serve as a model for other states.