Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/actionable-strategies-for-recruitment/5026956/
Child care and early childhood staff recruitment, training, and retention have a long history of being complex issues, which have only been magnified following the pandemic. A recent survey conducted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children indicated that 56 percent of child care centers are losing money each day they can remain open (Bohlen, 2020). NAEYC also reported the following alarming findings:
“Four out of every five child care centers said that they had a staffing shortage, and 78 percent of respondents identified low wages as the main obstacle to recruitment of educators, while 81 percent said it is the reason they leave.”
More than one in every three respondents said they were considering leaving or shutting down their child care programs this year, and over half of minority-owned programs are reckoning with the possibility of permanent closure” (NAEYC, 2021).
This is not solely due to staffing concerns. Lack of staffing consistency, training, and retention are large contributors to the state of child care in the United States. Without appropriately trained and supported staff, programs are struggling to not only stay open, but to provide the kind of high-quality care needed for young children.
Many centers and owners are going to extremes to stay open, including using personal funds and credit cards, using their own savings or other financial resources, and ...