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Child Care Staffing Strategies

Child Care Provider
Business & Employer Resources Caregiving Approaches Opening a Child Care Business

Skilled and caring child care professionals: the heart of your child care business

Whether you own a family child care home with one other caregiver or manage a staff of dozens in a child care center, it’s important to consider how staffing affects your program, and ultimately, the children you serve. These resources will help you consider everything from finding the right staff, to hiring, to onboarding, and then retaining the staff you currently have.

workforce coordinator

Support for your workforce

Indiana AEYC's workforce coordinators are available to help you with a range of free supports, including guidance on improving your organization's culture, one-on-one career development with staff, and assistance with accrediting your program.
Learn More
job fair
Get started by

Finding and attracting staff

As you identify the need for additional staff, the easiest way to attract applicants is to advertise. In addition to general hiring sites like Indeed or LinkedIn, connect with some of these local resources:

  • Colleges and universities with early childhood programs
  • Early childhood job boards like those on Child Care Aware of America and Indiana AEYC‘s websites (may require membership)
  • Social media or your website

You can also ask for personal referrals from teachers, employees, parents–even friends and neighbors. Always be on the lookout and recruiting staff for your child care program, even if you don’t have any current job openings. It’s always a good idea to have a running file of talented child care professionals to draw from.

interview
Tips for

Interviewing and hiring

Interviewing candidates who work closely with children is a much different process from your typical, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” conversation. Surely, you’ll want to make sure to get a clear understanding of a candidate’s background, experience, and education. You’ll also want to ask deeper questions to understand their educational philosophies, teaching strategies, and approach to working with families.

As you narrow down your candidates, verify all certifications and licenses as part of the reference-checking process. Ask professional references about the candidate’s absenteeism, attitude, and flexibility. When making your final decision, consider the soft skills as much as the candidate’s resume. The children in your care thrive on relationships and routine, so it’s especially important to hire someone you can rely on to be consistent, flexible, positive, and creative in handling problems and challenges.

Interview Questions
New hire process for

Onboarding staff

Once you find the perfect hire, take the necessary steps to set them up for success leading up to the first day and beyond.

Indiana Learning Paths now features course collections that allow new staff to register once for all mandatory training. To register, new staff will:

Log in to Indiana Learning Paths through I-LEADindiana learning paths login

 

Under Training Catalog, choose Course Collections.

ilp course collection

Click the green Start button under the SPARK! Education Onboarding Course Collection Part 1.

The educator can then complete all courses listed as a part of the course collection to fulfill their mandatory requirements. You may choose to assign additional course collections based on the new hire’s role.

In Indiana, staff in licensed or registered child care programs are required to complete and submit documentation for the following:

  • Consent form
  • Fingerprinting
  • Criminal history check for adults
  • Fingerprinting and consent forms for minors

Provider admins should ensure that new hires are set up as a part of their program in I-LEAD. To do this, invite the new hire as an educator in I-LEAD. If you manage multiple child care sites, use the manage educators button.

It may be helpful to share the Brighter Futures Indiana how-to on how to accept a provider admin invitation with your new hire.

retain staff
Take steps for

Retaining your staff

With more and more child care professionals leaving the industry or retiring early, it is more important than ever to lean on strategies and tactics that can help retain your staff and ensure they continue to contribute to your proram. Things to think about:

  • How do you currently recognize and reward staff?
  • Would you consider your company culture and nurturing and welcoming?
  • How do your program’s wages and benefits compare to others in your area?
  • How do you support professional development and career growth?
Learn More

Jen. (n.d.). Child care hiring: Tips for hiring Quality Teachers. Brightwheel blog. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://blog.mybrightwheel.com/hiring-childcare-workers

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