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The Early Learning PA (ELPA) coalition has released a new report on the state of early care and education in Pennsylvania. 

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The report, Providing the Necessary Foundation for Young Children to Succeed, includes a number of findings regarding the effect on the state when families can access child care options. It also provides policy recommendations about recruitment and retention for the child care workforce.

The report states that the focus of the ELPA coalition – of which Pre-K for PA, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, and Start Strong PA are members – advocates for access to high-quality early care and education and healthy development opportunities for all Pennsylvania children.

The report takes a deeper look into complexities within the state’s child care and pre-k system and recommends improvements that are necessary to ensure the system functions equitably. Its aim is to increase access and affordability for all Pennsylvania families.

Key Findings

The report’s key findings include:

• 71% of families with young children in the state have all available caregivers in the workforce.
• Pennsylvania loses about $6.65 billion annually when families cannot access child care options.
• Only 25% of eligible infants and toddlers are being served by Child Care Works, leaving more than 73,000 eligible infants and toddlers unserved.
• On average, child care for an infant in Pennsylvania comprises about 17.5% of the median family’s income.
• The state’s average wage of a child care worker is about $15.15 per hour.
• Only 46% of all child care capacity in Pennsylvania meets high-quality standards and only 36% of providers serving children under age 5 in Child Care Works are high-quality.
• Only 46% of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds participate in high-quality, publicly-funded pre-k, leaving more than 78,000 without access to a high-quality program.
• At 49%, child care programs comprise the largest share of Pre-K Counts providers in the state, with half of Pre-K Counts children being served in high-quality child care centers.
• The average salary for pre-k teachers in the state is $34,430, compared to $68,250 for kindergarten teachers.
• 96% of kindergarten teachers agree that students who attend high-quality pre-k programs are ready for success when they start kindergarten.

Policy Recommendations

The report’s recommendations for policymakers in Pennsylvania include:

• Implementing and continually funding a recruitment and retention model to increase the child care workforce and ensure providers have the staff needed to operate at full capacity
• Cease using market-rate surveys, instead conducting cost estimation studies to develop an approved modeling tool to determine the true cost of providing high-quality care; this would ensure accurate investment in state funding in the child care sector to build an infrastructure that would support providers
• Increasing state and federal funding for the child care sector to serve more infants and toddlers
• Increasing state pre-k investments in Pre-K Counts and HSSAP
• Developing and fully funding a pay parity policy for pre-k teachers that reflects wages provided to teachers in the K-12 system
• Requiring OCDEL to produce a report every three years that provides a clear picture of the early childhood workforce, using state-level and county data and including recommendations on how Pennsylvania can better support the profession
• Expanding the number of high-quality providers by increasing incentives within the state’s QRIS, Keystone STARS
• Providing additional opportunities for professional development and career advancement for the early care and education workforce
• Conducting an equity audit of the state’s early care and education system to understand better the changes needed to ensure equitable access for all children

The entire report can be viewed online.