With the ongoing staffing crisis, many child care providers are struggling to find and hire qualified child care professionals to work in their child care facilities. Despite challenges facing the industry, adjustments to hiring practices and processes may help providers find the staff they need.
If you’re struggling to staff a child care facility, join Early Childhood Investigations Webinars and Brightwheel for this webinar presented by Lauren Small and Virginia Marsh, and learn strategies to enhance online recruitment efforts and uncover more qualified applicants.
Session Details
Wednesday, April 19 | 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Virtual
Register
Learn More
Attendees will learn:
- marketing strategies
- tips for creating job ads and career pages
- tips for attracting qualified candidates
- how search engine algorithms work
Can’t participate in the webinar at the appointed time? Don’t worry. It will be recorded. To view the recording, simply register for the event and you will receive an email with a link to the recording when it is ready to be viewed.
You can earn .2 CEUs for this webinar. They cost $15 from the University of Oklahoma when you apply.
To learn more, visit the Early Childhood Investigations website.
The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce will host this half-day summit to discuss the current state of child care for working families in Westmoreland County.
Panel discussions will highlight the current challenges facing the child care sector and the implications for working families trying to find and afford care; the impact of limited child care options on area businesses; and potential solutions to increase the availability of high-quality care and stabilize the child care sector.
Breakfast will be provided.
Event Details
Thursday, April 20 | 8 – 11 a.m.
Westmoreland Community College
145 Pavilion Lane
Youngwood, PA 15697
Register
Learn More
This event is being held in partnership with:
To learn more, visit the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce website or view the event flyer.
Are you interested in enhancing the health and wellbeing of staff who are serving young children and families? Join the Pennsylvania Head Start Association on February 11 for their Train the Trainer event, “Move2bFree: How Moving Inspires Staff Wellbeing and Social-Emotional Health.”
About
This two-part session is designed to enhance the health and well-being of dedicated, hard-working staff who are serving young children and families. This session will address common issues of overweight and dental disease using concepts from I Am Moving, I Am Learning, the childhood obesity prevention initiative, while incorporating lively music with health messaging from Choosy Kids.
This session is best suited for Head Start and Early Head Start program staff, Early Childhood Education staff, Home Visiting staff, and community-based professionals (health providers, family support, etc.).
Learning Objectives
By attending, professionals will learn strategies for self-care and engage in movement, self-reflection, peer-to-peer learning, and setting individual goals to improve health. Professionals will also complete the following learning objectives:
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- Rekindle personal joy by reconnecting to self-care through increased movement and physical activity.
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- Describe how increasing movement and responding to music can energize and transform brain health, supporting self-confidence to model positive attitudes and healthy behaviors for children.
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- Apply health messaging strategies and activities for stress reduction, healthy nutrition, and oral health in daily routines.
Registration
To register for this event, complete the online registration form. Registration will close on Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Space is limited. For questions, contact Professional Development Director Kayle Richardson at 717.831.8375 or kayle@paheadstart.org.
Are you interested in translating research into action to create green and healthy schools? Join Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE) on Thursday, December 3 for the Fifth Annual Healthy Schools Summit.
About
During this virtual conference, national, state, and local experts will tackle the following questions:
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- How are school stakeholders coming together to realize their shared goal for green, safe, and healthy schools for students and staff to return to?
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- How are school leaders translating public health research into action to prevent the spread of COVID-19?
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- What resources are available for educators, nurses, parents, and students to respond to existing and emerging school health needs?
For information on the Summit sessions, please see the list below or view the full Summit Agenda.
Morning Sessions
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- “From Research to Action and Knowledge to Practice”: Keynote Address
by Tracy Enger, Program Manager, U.S Environmental Protection Agency
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- “Public Health Decision Making for School Leaders: A Panel Discussion”
with panelists Dr. Farhad Ahmed (PA Dept of Health), Aimee Eckmann (Perkins + Will), Dr. Megan Freeman (Children’s Hospital), and Dr. Robert Scherrer (Allegheny Intermediate Unit
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- “Clearing the Air: Indoor Air Quality in the Time of COVID-19”: Expert Panel
with panelists Nina Hwang (Green Seal), Al Pater (Riverview School District), Lynn Rose (Environmental Health Consultant), and Raj Setty (Setty & Associates)
Afternoon Sessions
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- “The Future of Green and Healthy Schools” Afternoon Address
by Anisa Heming, Director, Center for Green Schools, US Green Building Council
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- Celebrating Five Years of Success through Our Healthy Schools Recognition Program: Virtual Awards Ceremony
- Option A – Learning Through Pandemics Past: Bringing Public Health and Civics into the Classroom
- Option B – “It’s Just a Cold” Navigating Student Health During COVID-19: Panel Discussion
- Option C – Civic Engagement Through Climate Literacy
Registration
To register for the Summit, visit the Eventbrite page. For questions, please email Kara Rubio, Healthy Schools Manager at kara@womenforahealthyenvironment.org.
Are you interested in making a difference in the lives of young children? Join the Homewood Child Care Alliance on August 8 and August 11 for their Virtual Job Fair!
About
The Homewood Child Care Alliance (HCCA) includes individual child care programs (family, group, and center). Many of the programs, located in Homewood and its surrounding areas, are seeking applicants for early care and education positions that work Monday through Friday in various shifts between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Registration
Interviews are open on Saturday, August 8 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Tuesday, August 11 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Schedule your interview by registering today! All registrations must be submitted by August 5 at 9 a.m.
More Information
For more information or for assistance, please call 724.333.5213.
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On July 16, Governor Tom Wolf announced that $50 million in grant funding is available to help employers provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hazard pay is intended to keep front-line employees working in vital industry sectors across Pennsylvania.
About the Grant
Created through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, this reimbursement-based grant is available to employers offering hazard pay during the eligible program period and will be administered by the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Within the guidelines, child care is identified as an eligible industry (Health and Social Assistance).
Hazard pay is defined as additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship, in each case that is related to COVID-19. Employers can apply for up to $3 million in funding. Grant funds can be used for hazard pay for direct, full-time, and part-time employees earning less than $20 per hour, excluding fringe benefits and overtime.
Funds can only be used to pay hazard pay for eligible employees for the 10-week period from August 16 through October 24, 2020.
Submit an Application
Applicants can apply for up to $1,200 per eligible full-time equivalent employee. The hazard pay must be paid to the eligible employee over the 10-week period of August 16 through October 24, 2020 as a $3 per hour hazard pay increase to their regular pay rate.
Employers can apply for a grant to provide hazard pay for up to 500 eligible full-time equivalent employees per location ($600,000 maximum grant per location). Applications will be received from July 16 through July 31, 2020. To apply for funding, submit an application through the Electronic Single Application.
More Information
For more information or questions, contact 717.787.6245 or ra-dcedcbf@pa.gov.
As of this week, we are excited to announce that we have expanded the Allegheny Child Care search tool to include: after-school; out-of-school; and summer programs! If you provide one or more of these services and have not already confirmed your information, we ask that you update your listing as soon as possible at providers.alleghenychildcare.org.
Promote Your Out of School & Summer Programs Now
If your program re-opened as part of Allegheny County’s move to the “green phase” last week, we hope that your first week back has been a welcomed return for you and your children, families, and staff.
By updating your information, the Allegheny Child Care tool will assist you in promoting and marketing your program(s) to families. In turn, this will allow you to expedite the process for getting children enrolled, thus making an often stressful task less burdensome for families especially at this time. If you have any questions or issues please:
Thank you for your assistance.
Updating Your Information
In order to add the after-school, out-of-school, and summer-time programs to the platform, we pulled public data currently available from our partners at Allegheny Partners for Out of School Time (APOST) and United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
As information may have changed due to COVID-19, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to review the information listed for your program(s) on the platform and then updating it accordingly at providers.alleghenychildcare.org.
In particular, please update your:
- current operational status (open/closed and availability);
- age group(s) served; and
- basic profile information.
You will receive regular email reminders to update your vacancy information so parents searching for care can find your program.
More Information
From the COVID-19 crisis, Allegheny Child Care is a unique pilot project that has been developed to support the child care needs of families. Caregivers and parents of young children can now search available child care spots at Allegheny County early learning programs in real-time with the Allegheny Child Care tool.
Join APOST, Connections 4 Success, and Davis & Associates from June to August 2020 for a six-part Executive Roundtable Series.
About
The Executive Roundtable Series features next-steps and best practices to respond appropriately to recent industry disruptions due to COVID-19. The primary focus is to engage in meaningful dialog and share tips that help executive leaders to adapt and modify their business operations to recover and progress their organizations from survival to recovery to growth.
Available Sessions
More Information
For more information, please contact APOST at 412.456.6876.
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