A new episode of the Confluence podcast discusses how Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) can support child care providers amid leadership transitions and ongoing teacher shortages.
The podcast – Support Before Sanctions: Helping Child Care Providers Stay on Track – features Shante Brown, OCDEL’s deputy secretary, and Ruby Martin, director of OCDEL’s Bureau of Certification Services.
The episode focuses on where child care providers can turn for help when challenges begin to build. Brown and Martin discuss early warning signs, when to reach out for assistance, what happens when a provider asks Certification for help, and resources available through OCDEL and its partners.
“We want providers to know that OCDEL really wants programs to be successful,” Brown said. “Our work isn’t only identifying when something is wrong. It’s to help them to connect with resources and support that can strengthen their programs. At the end of the day, we all share the same goal – children being cared for in healthy, safe environments and strong quality programs that can continue serving Pennsylvania’s children and families.”
It also features discussion on how OCDEL balances its responsibility to protect children’s health and safety with its commitment to helping providers understand requirements, strengthen their programs, and maintain compliance.
Martin said programs’ most common compliance-related issues involve the Child Protective Services Law, health and safety concerns, and severe supervision issues.
“There are usually some signs that a program is beginning to struggle, and it’s often not one issue by itself,” she said. “It’s often several pressures starting to build at the same time – a change in leadership, staff turnover, or making sure that new staff is trained appropriately.”
The Confluence podcast episode is available on The Pennsylvania Key.
