An implementation evaluation of Maine’s EC Educator Salary Supplements and Child Care Employment Award Pilot

• In Event: State and Local Strategies for Supporting the Financial Well-Being of the Early Care and Education Workforce

Abstract

Background:

The U.S. early care and education (ECE) workforce has low wages and high turnover rates. Many states, including Maine, are trying different approaches to attract and retain workers to the field.  Maine’s Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) recently implemented two new initiatives to bolster the state's ECE workforce. The first is a salary supplement program for ECE staff, which reaches 93% of the eligible workforce. The second is a child care subsidy pilot program for ECE workers with young children, which serves approximately 375 families. Analyzing the impact of these programs together, as we do in this paper, can help parse the income and support that ECE workers need to remain in the field.      

Methods:

We analyzed administrative data provided by OCFS on the salary supplement and the subsidy pilot program, including participant data and participant audit surveys, to determine staff turnover and attainment of higher credentials during the study period. We conducted twelve focus groups with center-based directors, family child care providers, and teachers and staff across the state who participated in the programs. We also conducted seven in-depth interviews with state-level administrators. Additionally, we are currently surveying directors and staff in the state about their participation in the programs and how the programs have changed their career trajectories and/or hiring practices. Focus groups, audits, and interviews were coded and analyzed.

Results:

While many program directors reported the supplements were a key factor in retaining qualified staff and encouraging staff to gain further training and credentials for additional supplements, some reported that the amount was not enough to attract new and qualified workers into the field. Additionally, respondents reported perceived inequities in the program’s rules – part-time workers (even very part-time workers) received the same salary supplement as full-time employees. Respondents were mixed about the child care subsidy for the workforce.  Staff that received the subsidy were very positive that it encouraged them to stay in the field while they had young children and allowed them to stay close to their children during the day. However, directors found the program’s implementation problematic. The program went to a waitlist within two months, and directors were left to manage some staff who had received the award and others who had not.

Conclusions and Implications:

Findings suggest that state salary supplements do support experienced workers to stay in ECE but may not be enough to recruit qualified staff into the field.  Workforce benefits provided by the state, like the child care subsidy, can incentivize workers to enter and stay in the field. But, as our analyses show, state-level implementation and communication can affect a program's success and perceptions of “fairness” in the distribution of state resources.

Author

• Theresa A Hawley, Northern Illinois University
  Presenting Author