May 30, 2025 Westmoreland County Child Care Roundtable Discusses Impact of Child Care Teacher Shortage on Employers Business, nonprofit, and community leaders gathered Thursday at the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce to address a child care teacher shortage that is affecting both the economy and families across the state and called for state investments in teacher recruitment and retention efforts. Calls for Recruitment and Retention Funding Trying Together joined the chamber of commerce, local advocates, and representatives from state Sen. Kim Ward’s (R-39th District) office to highlight the results of new state and local surveys that reveal how the teacher shortage – driven by unlivable wages – is forcing child care classrooms to close and leaving working families scrambling to find care. “Today, we are talking about the child care staffing crisis, a challenge that has reached critical levels and is affecting employers, workers, and families alike,” said Dan DeBone, president and CEO of the chamber of commerce. The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce has joined more than 70 state chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to urge the General Assembly to work across the aisle to allocate funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention. Emily Neff, Trying Together’s director of public policy, said that 83% of the 29 Westmoreland County providers that participated in a September 2024 survey conducted by the Start Strong PA Campaign reported staffing shortages, while 86% reported challenges in recruiting teachers. “Those programs have 69 unfilled teaching positions, and if those positions were filled, they could serve an additional 747 children in Westmoreland County,” Neff said. One employer shared that she is trying to help a staff member who is a new mother find child care so she can return to work and fears she might lose the staffer due to the challenges in finding child care. Another employer said that child care is a barrier to effectively covering shift work and has had to change the schedule to meet the needs of employees who cannot find child care. Of the 1,140 child care providers who took the survey statewide, 92% reported recruitment challenges and 85% said they were struggling with teacher shortages that are leaving more than 3,000 positions unfilled statewide. A total of 25,320 additional children could be served if those positions were filled. Teacher Shortage Driven by Low Wages Eva Wood, executive director of Ligonier Valley Learning Center, said that low wages is the primary reason why it is challenging to retain and recruit new teachers. “The wages for child care teachers are so low that they fail to meet the cost of living in every single county in Pennsylvania,” Wood said. “They are doing some of the most important work in our society – nurturing the next generation. But the reality is that many teachers can find other jobs that require far less specialized skills and pay more an hour, often with benefits. Our Ligonier location had to close the infant and toddler child care program and the Latrobe location just lost six teachers who are moving on to higher paying jobs, some outside of the field.” The event also spotlighted the “A Day in the Life” project, a partnership between Trying Together, Start Strong PA, and Pre-K for PA. The project shares photos and stories to help the public and lawmakers gain a deeper understanding of the realities facing children, families, and early childhood educators in Pennsylvania. Speakers during the press conference also highlighted a March poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research that found that 98% of voters agreed that early childhood education plays an important role in what it takes to lead a healthy and productive life. The poll also found that 83% of respondents supported increasing state funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention. “New polling data from a March 2025 statewide poll showed overwhelming Pennsylvania voter support for early childhood care and education programs and increased state funding to strengthen and grow these services,” said Hailee B. Roye, Trying Together’s policy and practice manager. Looking to Take Action? Sign the petition to tell the PA General Assembly to prioritize child care in the final 2025-2026 PA budget!
September 14, 2022 Participate in Early Childhood Wage Survey Trying Together’s statewide partners — Children First and Reinvestment Fund with Start Strong PA — are conducting a survey to determine the wages of early childhood educators across Pennsylvania. Child Wage Survey Providers of early childhood education have struggled with low wages for some time. These unlivable wages have contributed to the current staffing shortages affecting the entire profession. In order to effectively advocate on behalf of educators, legislators need to know the current wages that early childhood professionals are being paid in real time. To effectively gather this information, teachers in early childhood classrooms are encouraged to participate in this ongoing wage survey. Information will be confidential and any data collected will only be reported in the aggregate. Participants will also have the option to enter a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card. Please direct all questions to Mai Miksic, maim@childrenfirstpa.org, early childhood education policy director at Children First.
April 14, 2022 March 2022 Child Care Staffing Survey Results A survey conducted by partners of the Start Strong PA Campaign quantifies Pennsylvania’s current child care staffing crisis — caused by low wages. Survey Results The survey — conducted between March 8, 2022 and April 3, 2022 — details the current child care staffing crisis in 1,163 Pennsylvania child care programs across 63 counties and its effects on working families’ ability to access care. According to the survey: Nearly 32,500 children currently sit on waiting lists. More than 30,000 additional children could be served at respondents’ sites if they were fully staffed. 91% of respondents reported staffing shortages. Programs need to fill nearly 7,000 open child care positions. 48% of respondents have closed at least one classroom. In September 2021, Start Strong PA released a similar survey showing that Pennsylvania’s child care centers were experiencing a staffing shortage resulting in more than 25,000 children sitting on waiting lists. In just six months, the waiting list numbers have increased by nearly 10,000 children with 169 fewer providers reporting. The following fact sheets are available with statewide and county results: Statewide results Allegheny Armstrong Beaver Butler Fayette Indiana Lawrence Washington Westmoreland Petition Advocates are calling on the General Assembly and the Wolf Administration to “Raise Child Care” by allocating $115 million in sustainable state and/or federal funds as part of the final state budget to provide a $2 per hour wage supplement for child care teachers and staff. Start Strong PA is asking for your signature in support the investment to child care providers. More Information To learn more about the survey and petition, visit the Start Strong PA website.
March 9, 2022 March 2022 PA Child Care Staffing Crisis Survey The Start Strong PA campaign is collecting information from child care program owners and directors via a brief survey to help tell the story of Pennsylvania’s on-going child care staffing crisis. (This article was updated on March 31, 2022 to reflect a deadline extension). Take the Survey The campaign will use survey results to demonstrate the urgent need for increased child care funding in the 2022-2023 state budget and to urge congressional delegation to support long-term, substantial investments in the early care and education sector to strengthen and secure the industry. Directors and owners who complete the survey by Sunday, April 3, 2022 will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card. Start Strong PA will award two gift cards. Take the March 2022 PA Child Care Staffing Crisis Survey. Start Strong PA conducted a similar survey between August 30, 2021 and September 8, 2021. View the results of that survey.
October 1, 2021 One-Year Extension for Keystone STARS Designations Beginning October 1, 2021 and through Sept. 30, 2022, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) will grant one-year extensions to current Keystone STAR designations. Designation Extensions Pennsylvania’s ECE programs are struggling and facing concerns of losing their Keystone STARS rating due to the difficulty in finding and maintaining a strong, qualified work force. The one-year extension is meant to alleviate the stress on programs in completing full Keystone STAR designation renewals and annual paperwork renewals. Extensions will allow programs additional time to engage in thoughtful discussions with their current staff, the Early Learning Resource Center, and their Professional Development Organization, to plan for future staff professional development (PD) and education needs. Designation extensions will also allow programs to focus on COVID-19 mitigation efforts and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Stabilization Grant applications. OCDEL will use the additional time to analyze data and trends related to the ECE staffing crisis and better prepare for the field’s future needs. Expectations for Programs Keystone STARS programs will be expected to maintain all quality activities related to the STAR level at which they are currently designated during their one-year extensions. The following expectations will be in place for STAR programs: STAR 2, 3, and 4 programs must maintain all required STAR 2 quality activities STAR 3 and 4 programs must also maintain the two STAR 3 and 4 required quality activities The three-year cycle associated with Internal Assessment Processes will not be affected by the one-year STAR extensions. STAR 3 and 4 programs should continue to work with their Quality Coach and member of the Program Quality Assessment team to ensure they are completing their IAP. Any lapses in maintenance of the required quality activities could result in an appropriate action to a program’s STAR designation including a Status Review, Reduction, Suspension, or Removal. During the extensions, ELRC Quality Staff will continue to respond to complaints from parents and/or other community stakeholders regarding programs. Subsequent actions may include those outlined in the Keystone STARS Status Review, Reduction, Suspension, and Removal Process. During the one-year STAR Designation extensions, programs are encouraged to engage in quality improvement activities with the ELRC, which will ensure they are continually pursuing excellence and will be fully prepared to resume all designation activities following the extension period. Certificate of Compliance Programs that have been placed on a provisional certificate of compliance (CoC) through the Department of Human Services (DHS) due to certification violations will continue to have their STAR designation suspended while on a provisional CoC. When the program regains their regular CoC, their STAR level will be restored to their previous STAR level (providing the STAR did not expire while on the provisional CoC) with the previous STAR designation expiration date and will not be granted a one-year Keystone STARS extension. These programs will be required to meet all applicable 2020 Keystone STARS Performance Standards for their STAR level at time of designation. If a program’s current STAR expired while on a provisional CoC, the program will be moved down to a STAR 1 when a regular CoC is granted. To move up in STAR levels, the program will be required to meet all applicable 2020 Keystone STARS Performance Standards and, if successful in moving up, will not receive a Keystone STARS extension of the new STAR level. Opting in for Normal Renewals Programs that want to renew their STAR level as scheduled should reach out to the ELRC Region 5 at least 30 days, and up to 90 days, prior to their current STAR expiration date and communicate their desire to complete their designation renewal as normal. Programs who choose to forego the one-year extension will not be able to request a one-year extension at a later date. Moving Up a STAR Level Programs that want to move up in STAR levels will be able to do so using the current 2020 Keystone STARS Performance Standards. In order to move up in STAR levels, programs will be required to meet all quality indicators at the respective STAR level to which they are attempting to move. These programs should reach out to the ELRC Region 5 for guidance and next steps in moving up. More Information For more information, read the policy announcement here: ELRC Policy Announcement 21 #08 Keystone STARS Designation Extensions.
