February 5, 2024 Survey: Shortage of PA Child Care Teachers Results in 26,000 Open Slots The September 2023 survey conducted by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab on behalf of Start Strong PA continues to demonstrate Pennsylvania’s ongoing child care crisis. About The survey, conducted between August 29, 2023 and September 21, 2023, details the child care staffing crisis in 762 of Pennsylvania’s child care programs and its effects on working families’ ability to access care. According to programs: Nearly 26,000 additional children could be served at child care programs if fully staffed. 2,395 open positions have resulted in the closure of 934 classrooms. Child care providers’ inability to recruit and retain staff is having a direct impact on the quality of their programming. In addition to the survey, child care providers shared their challenges and recommended solutions in 13 Child Care Listening Sessions held by Start Strong PA and The Office of Child Development and Early Learning in November and December 2023. Themes similar to those in the survey emerged and hundreds of participants shared stories illustrating the impact of staffing shortages. Reports from each listening session will be available within the next month, according to Start Strong PA. For more information about the survey and the listening sessions, read Start Strong PA’s news release. TweetSharePinShare0 Shares
