Long overdue conversations started in 2021 about the vital role child care plays in a thriving community. We know that for every $1 invested in the education and care of a child between the ages of birth to age 5 results in a positive return of $7 to our communities. As the child care workforce faced crisis, it became abundantly clear that for our economy to recover, investment into the sustainability of the child care industry was essential, not only for our youngest generation, but also for our communities to realize long-term benefits.
Child care businesses faced staffing shortages, lack of resources, financial barriers and a myriad of other new challenges brought on by the lasting impact of the pandemic on our economy. The services and supports provided through the ECE Shared Resources knowledge hub impacts the lives of more than 1.75 million children and over 30,000 business across the country. Our focus had to be a unified response that directly confronted these challenges head on, while ensuring that we supported the mental health and wellbeing of our clients, early childhood educators and the children and families impacted by our work.
Our state partners leveraged federal funding to provide pragmatic solutions to child care programs within their own communities through the use of the ECE Shared Resources knowledge hub coupled with boots on the ground, local shared services alliance networks. The combined power of this strategy supported many critically important business needs when the community needed it most.
As we look back on 2021, I hope this reflection from professionals across the country about the impact ECE Shared Resources has had in their efforts to rebuild and thrive in today’s economy leaves you with the same feeling it has left me – hope for the future, a resounding confirmation that the work we do everyday matters, and a renewed energy to continue to work collectively to buoy the support necessary for the early childhood education industry to thrive.
I am grateful for the support, collaboration, and willingness to embrace innovation which we continually receive from our 34 partner states. Their creativity and resilience are both amazing and inspiring. I look forward to what 2022 has in store for us all.
Warmest Regards,
Denise Sayer Vice President, CCA For Social Good
Fostering Diversity 7 - 8
Embracing Community 9 - 10
SUSTAINABILITY:
able to last or continue for a long time
Having resources has always been important to me as an administrator. During the past tumultuous year, it was even more important. So many questions were unanswered, but your resources helped us get through. Keep up the good work!!!”
Laura Phillips, Committee for Early Childhood Development Head Start, Jamaica, NY
As a new director, I have found many of the items in the shared resources platform to be very helpful. Not only are there readymade resources and helpful money saving programs, but there are also customizable forms and sheets that save me time. It holds helpful things in one place that I don't have to recreate myself.”
Erin Carey, St. Martin's Episcopal School at High Point, Atlanta, GA
The network has provided me answers to questions before I even know to ask them, which I find so supportive. You all delve into every topic with detail. If there is an ECE out there that is not enrolled in the network, they are really missing out. THANKS!!!"
Judith McClimans, The Learning Experience-Chantilly, Chantilly, VA
SUSTAINABILITY
A long-term, significant investment in high quality child care is essential to ensure lasting economic growth and sustainability. The ECE Shared Resources platform community grew in 2021 to encompass over 30,000 family child care homes and center-based businesses impacting over 1.75 million children. It was imperative that our investment focused on innovative solutions that supported professional, high quality business practices, reduced costs to address financial challenges, and provided services to strengthen recruitment and retention needs of early care and education professionals.
Children Affected: 1.75 MILLION Programs:
30,000+
99% agree or strongly agree I see the platform as offering substantial opportunities for providers to save money on operational costs for their businesses.
Workforce Retention: 10+ resources and growing
Job Hiring Platform:
820,000+ job post views
33,000+ job applications submitted
RESILIENCY: an
ability to recover from or adjust easily
adversity or change
With Covid, I've turned to using my resources more this last year than at any other time before in my 26 years of teaching preschoolers. I've had to be more creative and think more outside the box at how to get children interested in playing more individually and communicating with parents in different ways and how to include them in unique ways.
Carrie Molinder, Tender Moments Play House and Preschool, Haute, IN
Many of us at childcare centers do not have an HR department to be able to ask questions and get information, shared resources usually has what we are looking for. I am forever sending my staff to the teacher resources with lesson plans, printouts, and ideas on everything they need to run a successful classroom.
– Shannon Tremblay, Little Blessings Child Care, Portsmouth, NH
to
Having the opportunity to connect with the staff at CCA for Social Good has been one of the most beneficial partnerships we have. These amazing people have taught us about innovative ways to support the child care provider community. They have connected us to other people who support our goals and also connected us to resources that have saved us thousands of dollars in staff time, making our funding stretch and our processes more efficient.
– Karin Anderson Senior Manager of Early Learning Child Care Aware of Washington
“The shared resources platform was the site I went to most often when I started as an Infant & Toddler Specialist because of the amount of information available. There were several things I was unaware of or didn't know how to do, without having these resources, I don't think I would have been as helpful working with providers when I first started. If there was something I didn't know or have an answer for, I could almost always find it on Shared Source!”
Kelly Janese,
Niagara Community
Action Program,
Niagara Falls, NY
2021 saw more business managers turn to and embrace digital solutions to help them better and more efficiently manage their programs and to align with industry best practices. ECE Shared Resources concentrated efforts on adding the right tools that provided real solutions to professionals in the moment they needed it. Several new toolkits launched to address workforce issues, affordable health and wellness benefits, training opportunities and so much more. Audience
2,602 245 a 10% INCREASE over
New resources/toolkits added to the
Webinars:
15% 10 webinars • Marketing Plan Toolkit • Workplace Safety Compliance Plan • Workplace Culture Toolkit • Teletherapy and Telemedicine
DIVERSITY: unique, variety EQUITY: fair and impartial
According to the 2000-2010 census, Arkansas had the fifth fastest-growing Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States. CCA's work through the shared resource website is instrumental in providing resources for administrators, educators, and families in the growing Hispanic and Latino communities in Arkansas. The resources provided through this informational hub helps organizations and schools serving Hispanic and Latino families foster positive relationships. Positive Interactions in the workplace and with children and families help with the quality of care for children. We are in the business of quality care for children, and we are so happy to have the expertise and work by CCA for Arkansas families, children, and the workforce.
New York Early Learning Resources (our shared resources platform in NY) is an incredibly valuable resource for our NYAEYC members and educators throughout the state. The addition of translated resources and materials has provided a huge step forward for us in our diversity, equity and inclusion work. Both in creating better access for our Spanish speaking members and educators and for all in more effectively supporting all children and families. A few examples of these critical materials include multilingual classroom and emergency resources for educators and important developmental information to provide to families.
Kristen Kerr, Executive Director, New York Association for the Education of Young Children
Robin Caudle Jones, Project Manager, Arkansas Early Childhood Education Resources
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
Each child care provider is unique and has a diverse set of needs to best support their efforts to provide high quality care for the families they serve. ECE Shared Resources has a long-term commitment to deliver a variety of solutions to meet these diverse needs with an eye towards equity. Coupled with Google Translate, the continued translation of additional resources into Spanish, platform upgrades to align with Website Compliance & Accessibility Guidelines and collaborative group efforts aimed at producing relevant tools and resources for all of the populations we serve, ECE Shared Resources continues to evolve with our growing community.
COMMUNITY: a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
“Across states with whom I’ve worked, I’ve witnessed the collective impact that the ECE Shared Resources platform can have when it is at the core of state and local shared services strategies. Whether the platform is used alone or paired with deeper second level services, it helps strengthen not just provider operations but also the work of technical assistance specialists utilizing resources within the site to meet each provider's needs.”
Grace Reef, President, Early Learning Policy Group, LLC, VA
“The QRIS program has showed me a way to greatly increase the quality of child care program. I look forward to enhancing not only my curriculum but my parent communication and resources along with my overall set up and structure of my program. I appreciate the resources you have given me to accomplish this.”
Country Munchkins Daycare, OR
“Our providers rave about the materials they have found on OK Shared Services – our state’s ECE shared services platform. The platform has myriad of resources – so there is something for everyone – and it addresses all kinds of business needs. We regularly promote the Telemedicine program because so many of our facilities do not provide benefits to their employees. Investing in the Shared Services program was one of the most cost effective and beneficial programs we could ever make available to our state’s child care providers.”
Paula Koos, Executive Director, OK CCR&R
“Before I joined the network I was very stressed out from all the stress of the pandemic. I wondered if I should continue with providing care. The shared resources platform made me realize I still love this job and made me feel like a professional again.”
Susan Gura, Just For Kids Family Child Care, CT
COMMUNITY
The child care community reaches every corner of the United States and the critically important role it plays in the sustainability and vitality of our community is undeniable. To see lasting change, we need to continue to work to find innovative solutions that address the massive challenges we have seen throughout 2021. The work of ECE Shared Resources in 2021 was specifically aligned to meet the needs expressed by all the stakeholders we serve - from our state and federal partners, to child care specialists and technical assistance staff, directors, teachers, family child care homes and more.
Platform Sponsors:
Collaboration
&
Partnership: when multiple partners in a state work together to support the field, data proves that there is
Federal funding recognized shared services as an eligible expenditure. States leveraged these new major funding streams to bring the ECE platform to their states.
97% agree that the platform was integral in supporting work in improving the quality of child care in our state
4.8/5
increase in conversion/ adoption of platform 91% increase in engagement with resources
The Coronavirus Response & Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA )
100% see the platform as a reliable source of information to support fiscally sustainable business practices for child care businesses
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
• Stabilization Grants
• The Child Care Development Block Grant
95%
see the platform as the go-to tool for providers looking to learn about best business practice in child care
100% of our partners state that the CCA for Social Good staff was very or extremely responsive to their needs for support throughout the year
Customer service provided by CCA For Social Good Team in the management of their state’s shared resources platform.
For more information, please contact:
Denise Sayer Vice President, CCA For Social Good 603.626.2121 dsayer@ccaglobal.com
Cellissa Hoyt Director, CCA For Social Good 603.626.2109 choyt@ccaglobal.com
