The Start Strong PA campaign has created a new video featuring Pennsylvania child care providers and parents as they talk about how the staffing crisis is impacting their business and ability to work.

Stories From the Field

Child care is crucial to many parents’ ability to work. However, child care providers are struggling to recruit and retain staff, leaving families across Pennsylvania unable to find and afford the care options they need.

Last month, the Start Strong PA Campaign partners issued results of a new survey detailing the current child care staffing crisis in 1,163 child care programs across Pennsylvania. Those results showed:

• Nearly 26,000 children currently sit on waiting lists.
• More than 34,000 additional children could be served at respondents’ sites if they were fully staffed.
• 92% of respondents reported staffing shortages.
• 51% of respondents have closed at least one classroom.

Now you can hear directly from those PA child care providers and parents in this newly released video about how the staffing crisis is impacting their business and ability to work.