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The Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Program addresses the crisis of recruitment and retention of skilled workers in the profession of child care. The crisis in child care affects the lives of thousands of children and families every day. Without a qualified, well-paid workforce providing care to the children of Vermont’s workers, our entire economic base is threatened. This innovative program has been designed by and for the child care industry in keeping with the tradition of registered apprenticeship known well by many other industries. It is an important step in the field of child care here in our Green Mountain State.
Plans for the Apprenticeship Program began in September, 1998. A series of monthly meetings were held, spearheaded by representatives from the Child Care Services Division and United States Dept of Labor and Vermont Department of Employment & Training. The meetings also included representatives from the Vermont Department of Education, labor and business groups, vocational and higher education, licensed child care centers, registered family child care homes and others. These meetings continue with many of the original participants. The group is now known as the Vermont Child Care Industry & Careers Council, formally incorporated in November 2000.
This project received an initial grant from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training to implement a child care apprentice program. While 10 other grants were awarded, Vermont is special in its request. It is the only state to tie college-level classes and on-the-job training to a statewide effort to ensure significantly higher wages for participants.
Apprentices and mentors begin classes in January, 2001. Apprentices receive a minimum of 144 hours per year of classroom instruction, receiving credit for these classes. The curricula for these classes has been developed by qualified instructors in collaboration with representatives of the child care industry.
The structure and timing of these classes will allow apprentices to apply for their Child Development Associate credential (CDA) after 1 year in the Apprenticeship program. Over the two year program, Apprentices will become exceptionally competent in child care skills understanding how theory turns into good practice. They will also understand issues of program management and relationships with parents, and coworkers and the community.
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The apprentices will be working full-time under the supervision of a qualified child care professional. They must work a minimum of 2000 hours per year and be assessed by their mentor for advancement in the process. This combination of class time and on-the-job training has strong roots in the construction and manufacturing industries in the United States, and we are excited to expand this opportunity to the child care industry in Vermont.
Recruitment of workers into the field of child care is one of the largest issues facing the industry today. Due to low wages, many quickly leave the field. Some leave child care for the public school system after receiving a Bachelor?s Degree. In the Vermont Child Care Industry and Careers Council model, all apprentices will be working daily with a qualified mentor who is likely to have a Bachelors Degree. Mentors will be required to take a course to enhance their leadership and supervision skills and will be rewarded with scholorships to enhance their child care salaries. This combination of education and compensation will support the retention of these highly trained professionals during the program.
At the end of the 2-year program, apprentices will receive a Certificate of Completion. This certificate, coupled with their CDA credential, will assure placement in the field as these credentials are acknowledged in Vermont and on a national level as meeting quality standards for early childhood professionals. The additional scholorships received by apprentices and mentors will continue for the length of their stay in the field of child care in Vermont, providing there is funding available. To train and then lose these professionals is not the intent of the Vermont Apprenticeship Program, thus the capacity to develop resources to continue to enhance compensation is vital.
The federal grant provides the opportunity for Vermont to get started on this program immediately. To address the need for continued funding, the Vermont Child Care Industry and Careers Council will seek additional resources to sustain and expand the initial pilot and establish the Child Care Apprenticeship Endowment Fund. Funds raised will support course work, supervised mentoring, and educational scholorships tied to education and performance. The Endowment Fund will solidify the long-term sustainable commitment needed to provide on-going financial support. The Council has received 501 c3 status, and the Endowment Fund is housed at the Vermont Community Foundation.
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The Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Program results, in part, from President Clinton’s 1998 Child Care Initiative and the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, which has formally recognized the “Child Development Specialist” (child care worker) as an apprenticeship position. The U.S. Department of Labor and Vermont’s Department of Employment and Training apprenticeship programs are structured to include on the job training and supervision, related course work and increases in compensation.
In order to consider implementing a child care apprenticeship program in Vermont a large collaborative group met in 1998. It quickly became clear that compensation was the biggest barrier to implementing the program. To address this issue the group developed the concept of the Child Care Apprenticeship Endowment Fund. The interest from the Endowment Fund would be used to train and retain apprentices and their mentors. Increased compensation linked with training and demonstrated on the job skills contributes to stable, high quality child care programs that support children, working families and the economy.
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Initial funding for increasing compensation for apprentices and their mentors has come from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. These funds will be used beginning in 2000. A combination of endowment and other resource development activities will take over from the initial U.S. Department of Labor grant in 2002. While there may be some federal or state participation in the Child Care Apprenticeship Endowment Fund, the majority of contributions will be a mix of individual, foundation, union, business and other private sources. The initial collaborative group, working closely with the Vermont Child Care Services Division, US Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, Vermont Department of Employment and Training and the Vermont Apprenticeship Council, continues to play a key role in overseeing the implementation of the Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Program and in resource development for the Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Endowment Fund.
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