Stabilizing the Future of Childcare Professionals and the Children They Serve
By Heather Wells, M.Ed.
“Aaaaaaah!” I heard the screams of 5-year-old Sam before I saw him, his father attempting to wrangle him and his two other children across the street and safely into the front door of our childcare facility. Sam’s father was desperate and exhausted because he could not find a facility in their school district that would take his children without wrap-around services from outside agencies for Sam. Sam arrived at our door with a diagnosis of Tier 3 Autism, no self regulation skills, and not using the bathroom. Sam’s first week was a disaster — screaming, crying, and hiding from children and staff alike. A colleague and I switched out supporting Sam to maintain our mental stability. I tried to work with him one-on-one; I tried to diminish the amount of stimuli; I tried, I tried, I tried until my bag of tricks was empty and my creativity depleted. I tasted failure.
I finally reached out for help from the Rapid Response team, which was set up to provide immediate support for children who are at risk of suspension or expulsion from a childcare program, to transition Sam into the group, but its members were only in our facility for one day. In the absence of long-term support, my colleague and I developed a comprehensive plan to acclimate Sam which included having me always in the room, using longer warnings for transitions, transitioning Sam earlier than others, and teaching him to take deep breaths to self regulate, while hoping he would become the best version of himself.
Brain science is clear: stable, nurturing caregivers inside and outside the home are critical to a child’s development, from the womb through early adulthood. Yet, the professionals who provide this care earn an average of just $15 per hour — below a livable wage in all 29 counties in Pennsylvania. Livable wages and lack of benefits are the top two reasons professionals leave or decide not to enter the early childhood field, especially when they can get a better-paying job elsewhere and start working sooner.
Yet, with rising childcare costs and most families with young children relying on dual incomes, the demand for qualified childcare professionals has never been greater. Providers face significant challenges in hiring and retaining skilled, nurturing caregivers — people who play a vital role in both child development and family stability. To address this crisis, we must invest in solutions that support both childcare professionals and the families we serve.
Providing staff with wholly funded programming focused on child development and education support through the expansion of apprenticeships and certifications will increase educator confidence and comfort to assist and support all families that enroll in childcare programs. Learning to observe behaviors and understand the “why” allows professionals like me to implement strategies that support the growth of all young minds, regardless of how they arrive at the facility. Our staff members have success with children like Sam who are unsuccessful in any other environment because we have learned strategies to effectively integrate all children into an inclusive classroom and individualize support. This lowers the mental and emotional toll on the staff and makes for an overall more comfortable environment for children, while creating a system in which educators help educators learn best practices from the first day of work.
In addition, Governor Shapiro’s proposed budget, which includes $55 million to retain the workforce, is a future-focused approach to better compensate the professionals who build the roots for our children’s future. Adding more money to this budget line item, which provides a place to add funding for the early learning and childcare workforce recruitment and retention grants, over the coming years will ensure programs are expanded to support the personal stability of each employee and increase their skill level to create more inclusive environments in which these children can grow. This industry must be considered as “too big to fail.” Our families, many of whom are like Sam’s, struggle to find a place where there are enough skilled, stable staff to delve into what makes a child who they are and support them with the necessary attention to guide them into a successful future.
Sam, who often could be heard laughing and snuggling with staff, spent two years at my facility, only leaving because he, his brother, and sister would all be in public school the following year outside our service area. He left fully potty trained and using the self-regulation skills I taught him, in addition to a love for building. He is a magnificent, happy, unique child who will find success because he had us standing by him, telling him that everything that made him so unique was okay. Imagine the communities of the future full of children exposed to early education and childcare programs full of stable, nurturing, skilled adults who love and support them through their growing years. Every child in Pennsylvania deserves nothing less.
Heather Wells, M.Ed., is the Owner/Director of The Growing Garden Child Care Center, LLC, an Eco Healthy, Healthy Childcare Certified, Champion in Equity Gold Award, Keystone STARS 4 facility that serves children ages 1 to 15, located in Tarentum. She is a 2024–2025 Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellow.
