Manitoba Case Study on Retention and Recruitment

Transcription

1 Child Care Connections Attracting and Keeping Qualified Staff in Child Care Project Manitoba Case Study on Retention and Recruitment Debra Mayer Teachable Moments January, 2003

2 Acknowledgement Key information in this case study has been abridged from Manitoba Child Care Association s Building the Career Corridor: Manitoba s Early Childhood Labour Market Strategy Project Report, 2001 and is used with their kind permission. The entire report or its executive summary can be accessed at Child Care Connections gratefully acknowledges the funding support of Child, Family and Community of Social Development Partnerships of Human Resources Development Canada. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Human Resources Development Canada. 2./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

3 Child Care Connections Attracting and Keeping Qualified Staff in Child Care Project Manitoba Case Study on Retention and Recruitment By Debra Mayer Scope of Manitoba s Retention & Recruitment Problem Over the past twenty-five years, Manitoba s childcare workforce shortage has continued to escalate. Despite low wages and loss of real dollars over that decade, in the You Bet I Care! Study, Manitoba child care centres reported a staff-turnover rate lower than the national average: 17 percent annually compared to a Canadian mean of 22 percent. According to Manitoba s Community Child Day Care Standards Act, 2/3 of staff in preschool or infant/toddler programs must be Early Childhood Educator (ECE) II s or III s. In 1989, only 5% of centers were unable to meet the comparable training standard of that day. Currently, approximately 34% of Manitoba centres operate without the required number of trained staff, through an exemption process. Exemptions to licenses are, in theory, of a temporary nature; for example, they might be granted when no suitable trained candidate has applied for an advertised position, and on condition that untrained child care assistants are enrolled in training. In reality, exemptions have become status quo for many programs. Government and professional association figures suggest at least 200 ECEs are required to meet the needs of the current system. Notwithstanding salary increases, and recent government and community efforts, Manitoba continues to face a significant workforce crisis that negatively impacts the quality of the licensed childcare system. The growth of the childcare workforce crisis sabotages Manitoba s ability to respond to the needs of families and young children and is especially poignant in rural and northern Manitoba. The low wages of Manitoba s early childhood staff is clearly the cornerstone of the recruitment and retention issues facing the field. In Manitoba approximately 196,000 children under the age of ,000 of them have mothers in the paid labour force 24,422 spaces in licensed child care centres and family child care homes only about 1 in 8 children under the age of 12 has access to the licensed system Inaccessibility is especially problematic for parents in rural and northern Manitoba who parent a child with special needs have infants and toddlers, school age children who require flexible childcare hours Prentice, Dr. Susan: October 2002, Childcare in Manitoba: Social Liberalism in Flux Presented at "Wanted: a Child Care Policy for Canadians" co-sponsored by Carleton University Institute of Political Economy and the Family Network of Canadian Policy Research Networks, Ottawa, ON Projections for Manitoba s early childhood sector also takes into account the 3./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

4 growth in Manitoba s Aboriginal Head Start programs, First Nations childcare programs, Manitoba Healthy Child parent-child support initiatives, etc. Data suggests as many as 700 early childhood educators are needed by 2004, in order to meet current and projected demand across all sectors of the child-caring community. Policy: Childcare policy in Manitoba has been fairly progressive since the provincially licensed and funded program first began in Training standards, group size and adult:child ratios were outlined for all licensed infant, preschool and school age centers and nursery schools in the Community Child Day Care Standards Act. Anyone working in licensed group care or family childcare has to be at least 18 years of age. All child care providers are now required to have current emergency first aid and infant-child CPR training. Directors of full time programs for children 0-6 years are ECE III s; while at least 2/3 of the staff of infant or preschool centers are ECE II s or III s. At least half the child care practitioners in nursery schools or school age centers are ECE s. Directors of these settings can also be ECE II s. The particular kind of post secondary training that meets the ECE II or III accreditation has bumped upwards several times over the years. Through grand-parenting clauses, the field has been helped to move from being basically untrained to having among the highest minimum training requirements in North America. Today, an ECE II has completed, at minimum, a diploma in Early Childhood Education from a recognized community college or its equivalent. An ECE III has a diploma in ECE plus a post diploma certificate in child care management, special needs, infant care or Aboriginal Child Care; or a recognized university degree, with a specialization in Special Needs or Child Care Administration. While no specific specialized training is required in order to care for children with special needs, the Children with Disabilities grant does allow centers to hire additional childcare staff in order to provide individualized care or enriched ratios when children with special needs are being included. Two significant policies targeted to improving the wages of child care staff in Manitoba have been tried by the New Democratic Party while in Government. Manitoba was the first province in Canada to introduce operating grants to child care services in 1974, in addition to paying childcare costs on behalf of low income families. 1 The NDP s Salary Enhancement Grant (SEG) was introduced in At its height, it paid an additional $4350 to fully funded non-profit centres for each CCW II and CCW III (terminology used at that time) employed, tied directly to salaries. Partially funded non-profit centers received $1300 for each CCW II or III they employed, again targeted directly to salaries. In another progressive move, in 1990 the SEG was extended to licensed family child care providers who were II s and III s, in the amount of $500 annually. Some centres, as a matter of principle, employed 100% trained staff, and the SEG made that feasible. Manitoba s childcare system operates with a ceiling on daily fees charged by licensed programs eligible for operating grants, set by government. From parent fees did not change, while the Conservative Government froze operating grants during this same period. This meant that despite cost of living increases, centers had less and less income to work with. 1 Friendly, Martha Child Care Policy in Canada: Putting the Pieces Together (Addison Wesley Publishers Ltd. Don Mills, ON, 1994) p / Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

5 The practice in Manitoba s licensed system has been to issue a license to anyone (individual or board of directors) who meets the requirements in the Act, although grant support might not have been made available. During these years, many pilot spaces, infill spaces, and unfounded program expansions occurred, without full attention being paid to who would staff these spaces from a broad policy and planning perspective. In addition, the SEG (salary enhancement grant) was cancelled at the beginning of fiscal year 91/92, once the Progressive Conservative party formed a majority Government. Wages were cut at many centres, and most were financially unable to employ more trained staff than the minimum licensing standard required. As described elsewhere, more and more centres began to require exemptions to this standard. These policies had a profound effect on early childhood educators salaries, resulting in a decline of about 9-13% over this decade. These were the worst losses in income felt across the country; no other province witnessed such severe declines in wages for child care staff. Due to these policy shifts, child care advocates in Manitoba realized the dangers inherent in a stand alone grant for salaries, which could be so easily cut away. Over the next years, consideration was given to a model that would provide sustainable funding sufficient to cover the true costs of quality, based on the fair wages for the staff. The very recent unit funding model, (introduced by the Conservative government just before the election, but actualized by the NDP), recognizes the differential costs of providing care for different age groups, and harmonizes the provincial operating grant to create a uniform revenue for each unit of children. It is founded solidly on the numbers of trained staff required per unit, according to Manitoba s regulations. This was a recommendation to government by their appointed Regulation Review Committee, which saw it as a way to improve staff salaries by accounting for ratio differences between infant, preschool and school age care settings, in the funding model. The Annual Report of the Department of Family Services and Housing explains the budget included fully implementing the unit funding model to increase revenue to centres, enabling boards of directors to pay increased salaries to ECEs. The province s Director of Child Day Care wrote personally to boards of directors of child care centres to encourage their use of any enhanced funding to support salary increases. Government policies developed in Manitoba have, by and large, helped the system to grow and have supported the link between trained staff and quality of care children receive. Funding shortfalls, however, have meant that low childcare salaries significantly contributed to the recruitment and retention issues in the field. Professional Workforce Issues: The Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA) is the largest provincial child care organization in Canada. Its membership currently stands at 2900, and includes early childhood educators, centre directors, licensed family child care providers, academics and students, parent boards of directors of children s programs, and other advocates for children. Founded in 1974, the MCCA has continued to flag the issue of workforce shortages and inadequate salaries for its entire history. In fact, turnover in childcare was already a problem when The Community Child Day Care Standards Act was drafted in the early 1980 s. 5./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

6 A sample of MCCA s work in this area includes participation in and presentations to working groups and task forces and development of papers to inform the field, tools such as job descriptions and contracts, and ongoing study and research of this long standing issue. Some of these key publications include: Mansis Development Corporation: Comparative Worth Study (MCCA, 1987) The MCCA submission to the Manitoba Child Care Task Force (1988) The Province of Manitoba Working Group Final Report (1991) National Caring for a Living Study (1991) Beyond Minimum Standards: Staff Working Conditions & Benefits (1993) The Health of Manitoba s Children Report (1995) Minimum Salary Guideline Scale for Child Care Centres, Phases I, II and III Our Child Care Workforce, From Recognition to Remuneration, Human Resource Development Canada (1998) MCCA Submission to the Child Care Regulation Review Committee (1998) MCCA Response to the Regulation Review Committee s A Vision for Child Care and Development in Manitoba. (2001) Through the late 1980 s and 1990 s the MCCA sponsored training and organized various events and campaigns to lobby for higher salaries and promote public recognition for the profession. In 1987 and again in 1988, the MCCA put together training initiatives with Red River College and the University of Winnipeg, securing federal funding support to help meet the growing field s need for trained staff. MCCA developed various tools to help centers manage their human resource functions more equitably, and worked towards standardization of personnel policies and job descriptions. Job descriptions, interview questions, sample personnel policies, contracts, and a crisis response manual are some examples of these. Regular salary surveys provided current information, and the MCCA provincial salary scale guidelines (phase I, II, and III) have helped inched salaries higher over the years. Phase IV is currently under development. MCCA also engaged in all kinds of advocacy on behalf of the field, such as organizing the famous Day of Demonstration in 1989, when dozens of centers around the province closed to protest the lack of action on salary demands by the Conservative government. Other highly public advocacy campaigns included organizing centers to ship peanuts to the Legislature, to protest low wages. In the early 1990 s, the association s worthy wage campaign saw members invoicing government for the difference between the grants their centers were receiving, and what it would take to pay according to MCCA s salary scale-a $14 million shortfall! Rallies at the legislature were a regular part of activity at this time. In the second term of the Conservative majority government, the MCCA s advocacy strategies became more sophisticated, and the education of potential allies and the forging of new collaborations became key. MCCA nurtured many alliances with women s groups, labour, anti-poverty and other social justice groups, all of whom began addressing the issue of low wages in the child care field as part of their respective platforms on child care. MCCA became a key partner in the Conservative Government appointed Regulation Review Committee and was able to influence the kinds of recommendations to government from this broad based group. (The NDP kept this highly regarded committee operational even after they took office.) 6./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

7 Concurrently, the MCCA began to systematically document workforce shortages. It monitored the numbers of member centres with exemptions on their licenses due to insufficient trained staff; counted the ECE (early childhood educator) and CCA (child care assistant) advertisements in the classified sections of major newspapers, and regularly surveyed the field in a variety of ways, such as fax-backs from centres. It surveyed training institutions about their enrollment and graduate numbers, recruited annual classification numbers from the Child Day Care Branch, and collected anecdotal information and correspondence from volunteer boards of directors and managers of children s centers, province wide. In its 1998 Submission to the Child Care Regulation Review Committee, the MCCA was already aware of the increasing demand for ECE graduates to staff Head Start programs, family resource programs, and new spaces being developed within the existing system (without supportive funding); and warned of the further depletion of the available labour pool. MCCA predicted: an impending crisis that will continue to weaken and erode our foundation of quality. The 24 year history of poor wages and working conditions has contributed to a decline in interest in this field as a profession, resulting in dwindling enrolment at the diploma, degree, and post diploma training levels, at a time when early childhood care and education is being recognized as a key component of healthy child outcomes. 2 Throughout the decade that the Conservative Government was in power in Manitoba, the MCCA continued to lobby the Opposition too, keeping all MLA s apprised of the crisis situation in the field. When the NDP government came into power, they prioritized labour force issues in direct response to the steady advocacy of MCCA on behalf of its members. The MCCA s provincial guidelines for recommended salaries have now become industry standard for the field and are the reference point for government in its funding documents. Recent government funding increases have been directed at staff wages, and in return, wages have risen modestly since the NDP was elected. In addition to the work of the MCCA around salaries, recruitment and retention, other stakeholder groups are also addressing these issues. Currently there are several campaigns to unionize early childhood staff underway in Manitoba. The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU) has hired an organizer from the childcare field to explain their position and to sign up new members. Their publicly stated belief is that the best way to make significant and ongoing improvements to the salaries, benefits and working conditions of early childhood educators is for a union to negotiate with the Provincial government around a common table on behalf of all those working in the profession. 3 To date, 39 centres have signed on with the MGEU. The president of the union recently met with the Minister of Family Services and indicated that the concept of the common table approach was favourably received. 4 The Child Care Coalition of Manitoba is a broad based organization of labour, women s, anti-poverty, child care and social justice groups. It states that: In order to plan for sustainable and expanded high quality child care services, the multi-faceted workforce crisis must be addressed. A separate Labour Market Planning Group will work with the 2 Manitoba Child Care Association: Submission to the Child Care Regulation Review Committee, September letter from MGEU to board members, directors, ECEs and Child Care Assistants working within Manitoba s child care system, dated September Personal conversation with Gay Pagan Verhaeghe, MGEU organizer, November / Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

8 government to prepare a Supplementary Green paper on ECE Labour Market Issues. Training and accreditation, remuneration and benefits, professional development, career progress, pensions and other labour market matters must be addressed.. 5 With a more supportive government in power, the MCCA called a meeting in December of 2000 to identify what action ought to be taken. Out of that first meeting, the Labour Market Strategy concept emerged, and the association applied for funding in the spring of Manitoba Education, Training & Youth agreed to fund a Project Coordinator whose role was to guide a steering committee of key stakeholders; to identify the necessary components of a labour market strategy for the child care workforce; to investigate the availability of funding to implement the strategy; and make recommendations for next steps. The steering committee brought together key parties within provincial and federal departments, the various sectors that employ, train, organize and support early childhood staff, and child care community members all those most affected by the workforce crisis and who agreed that a new policy or program to address the issue had to be developed quickly. MCCA s Labour Market Strategy Report recommendations, described later in this Case Study, form a systematic plan for the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators to the childcare system. They are based on successful models and best practices identified in the literature review. Several focus groups and interviews with key informants and the visioning work of the project s advisory committee helped to select out the recommendations that went forward to government. Specific yearly targets for the licensed system were identified within the report. The package was premised upon the understanding that properly resourced, immediate actions were the only way to meet the recommendations of the Government s Five Year Action Plan for Child Care. Standards & Recognition: While childcare is still an emerging profession in Manitoba, as in the rest of the country, the professionalization of the field has been a long time goal of the association. MCCA s mission statement includes to promote childcare as a profession. To this end, it offers year round workshops in Winnipeg and supports its regional branches to organize at least two professional development events per year. In addition, it hosts a huge annual provincial childcare conference. Over the three days, as many as 1000 delegates attend. Most people who work in the childcare system are members of the MCCA by choice, thus supporting their own infrastructure. In fact, many boards of directors of childcare centers make membership in the association a condition of employment. Full time professionals (ECE II s or III s) pay just under $200 annually to belong, while family childcare providers and paraprofessionals (CCAs) pay about half. Membership offers the field direct service such as reduced fees for training, access to a resource centre, a group benefit plan, employee assistance program, group registered retirement savings plan, quarterly journal and affiliate membership in the Canadian Child Care Federation. Strong network groups and committees, and well developed regional branch and board structures encourages volunteerism and involvement by the field in the work of the association. The MCCA typically employs 7 or 8 full time staff to provide services to members. 5 Child Care Coalition of Manitoba: Blueprint for Action: A Five Year Plan for Manitoba Child Care Policy Redesign February 2001 ( 8./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

9 Yet it is the provincial government that actually controls entry to the field. The Act grants the Child Day Care Branch the mandate to classify anyone who is employed in a licensed centre, including those who are cooks, books, or maintenance staff, substitute staff and volunteers, based on the educational standards articulated in regulation. However, once initial classification as an ECE or CCA is granted, there is no relicensing requirement and classification is rarely revoked. The Manitoba Child Care Association has committed to further exploration of legislative recognition and this is reflected in the recommendations of the Labour Market Strategy. EDUCATION The educational milieu of the field is very healthy in Manitoba and still reflects the initial vision for the licensed sector as first imagined in the 1970 s. The government appointed Child Care Education Program Approval Committee (CCEPAC) meets year round, on a monthly basis, to monitor, review and accredit university and college ECE training programs. Thirteen specific competencies and program outcomes have been identified and college or university ECE training programs are vetted against these criteria to ensure the caliber of ECE graduates and their readiness to care for and educate young children. CCEPAC works to ensure equivalency, portability and articulation between programs of study, monitors student and employer satisfaction, and ensures education programs stay current with best practices. In Manitoba, there are four community colleges that offer the 2-year diploma in early childhood education, the entry-level requirement to the field (graduates are eligible for classification as ECE II s). This includes Red River College and a francophone program, Éducation de la jeune enfance, at Saint Boniface College in Winnipeg. Assiniboine Community College services Brandon and rural Manitoba, and Keewatin Community College serves Manitoba s north. Both Red River College and Assiniboine Community College offer their complete two-year diplomas via distance education programs that include teleconferencing and mentoring in addition to print based study. In addition, Red River and Assiniboine Colleges both offer a range of post-diploma certificates on site and via distance so that students can specialize in Infant Care, Child Care Administration, Special Needs, or Aboriginal Child Care. Graduates are eligible for classification as ECE III s. Manitoba has also been a leader in the development of experiential learning and prior learning assessment models that have supported the child care field. The Province of Manitoba has operated their Competency Based Assessment program since the mid-80 s. Through this non-traditional educational option, candidates are mentored right at their centre over approximately two years while they undergo a series of observations and complete a portfolio that demonstrates their competency along the same 13 areas mentioned above. An adaptation of this program, (CBA/PLA Program), addresses classification needs of early childhood staff with post secondary credentials from foreign countries or non-ccepac accredited programs, who also have substantial experience working with children and families. Successful candidates are eligible for classification as ECE II s. Red River College and the University of Winnipeg have prior learning options for their diploma and degree programs that ensure that those with previous formal or informal education are not repeating learning they already possess. Expansion of prior learning models was another key recommendation in MCCA s Labour Market Strategy Report. 9./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

10 The University of Winnipeg and Red River College offer a partnership whereby in four years, students graduate with both a diploma in ECE and a Bachelor of Arts in Developmental Studies (Stream C, Special Needs or Child Care Administration). Graduates are eligible for classification as ECE III s. The University of Manitoba, until fairly recently, offered both a four year degree (Human Ecology) and a Certificate in Day Care Management that were recognized at the ECE III levels. All educational institutions have been reporting a significant drop in student enrollment and this reflects a major limitation of the relatively high educational standards in our field. Higher compensation and progressive roles have not necessarily been linked to the completion of ongoing training, and this has been identified as a key recommendation within the Labour Market Strategy. Societal Attitudes: When the original childcare regulations were developed in Manitoba, the term child care worker was chosen to describe the adults who would care for children in centre based care. Child Care Assistants (CCAs) were individuals without grade 12; Child Care Worker I s (CCW I s) had grade 12 or any one childcare course at the postsecondary level; Child Care Worker II s and III s were graduates of recognized training programs. Caring for a Living (1991) noted that Manitoba child care employees were particularly hurt by the lack of public respect for their work. In response, the MCCA launched the Week of the ECE, to raise awareness of the professional role of early childhood educators and their value to Manitoba s communities and economy. The Week of the ECE was proclaimed formally by the Province of Manitoba and by many mayors and reeves around the province, and still celebrated annually after 10 years. Each year, special communication from the MCCA goes out to centre boards of directors, with suggestions for how to show appreciation for staff. In response, many are treated to special meals, flowers, and small tokens from parents and children. In rural and northern Manitoba, MCCA regional branches organize ECE Pizza Nights, place small ads in community papers, and meet with local politicians. Winnipeg has seen various city-wide events such ECE/MLA Challenge baseball games, ECE Appreciation dinners at a popular comedy club, and signing of the Proclamation by the Minister during the opening of the Provincial Conference. MCCA worked within the field to slowly change the term used to describe the child care practitioner from child care worker to early childhood educator, beginning with all of its own publications and correspondence. The changing terminology was first reflected in the classified sections of the daily papers where Early Childhood Educator vacancies are advertised. Next, some child care centres changed their own names from Day Care or Day Nursery to Early Childhood Centre, and began to call their own trained staff early childhood educators. Community college programs changed their diploma program titles from Child Care Services to Early Childhood Education. In response, the Government changed its own legislation and classification process to refer to the Early Childhood Educator II or III, or the Child Care Assistant (CCA: a person without the recognized training for an ECE). 10./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

11 Despite all these efforts, anecdotal stories confirmed that the public recognized the low salaries and woes of the field all too well. Guidance counselors and parents steered high school students with an affection for children towards other professions and away from the childcare ghetto. Demand for post secondary training plummeted, and where Red River College had once accepted 70 students each year and had a huge wait list to choose from, more recent graduating classes were of 30. At the same time, early childhood staff were leaving the field to take jobs as teaching assistants, work in retail, or open licensed family child care homes while their own children were young. Addressing the issue of public attitude to the field became one of the key recom-mendations in the MCCA s Labour Market Strategy. MCCA s Labour Market Strategy The recommendations put forward by the Manitoba Child Care Association in November, 2001 rest solidly upon these core principles: 1) Accessibility -Training initiatives must be focused upon programs that will be accessible across the province, especially for rural and northern candidates. 2) Affordability -Training costs must be affordable to the candidate as well as to government; ie: the costs for participation for particular target groups in pilot programs must not supersede the costs to take the same program through conventional training routes, to be considered a part of our labour market strategy. 3) Realistic -Training initiatives must accommodate mature students who will likely need to continue to work at least part time while pursuing their education; ie: workplace models of learning. 4) Goal directed - Every child care assistant (cca) currently employed in childcare is a potential early childhood educator (ece) if the proper supports are put into place. every licensed family child care provider is a potential ece if the proper supports are put into place. recruitment for training initiatives should focus first on those who have already demonstrated commitment to the profession, before recruiting outwards to other target groups. 5) Strategic recruitment - There are several other groups identified for upgrading/training/employment recruitment. (i) younger ece ii s who can be encouraged to continue their training to the ece iii level, preparing to move into leadership and specialist positions (child care centre managers, inclusion specialists, infant-toddler specialists, etc.) (ii) caregivers within the system who completed non recognized training (canada or overseas). manitoba child day care data confirms there are as many as 127 people currently working within the licensed system, eg. montessori training, bachelor of education, etc.) who are classed as cca s. (iii) early childhood educators within other provinces who can be recruited to relocate to manitoba. (iv) high school students in the process of making career choices. 6) Financial incentives -As milestones towards completion of approved credentials are achieved, candidates must be rewarded with regular incentives (raises or bonuses) that help keep them committed to the upgrading process. therefore, such milestones should be built into the system (see recommendation two). 11./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

12 7) Integrity - The integrity of our legislation surrounding trained staff component and adult/child ratios must be upheld; furthermore, enabling legislation will strengthen the value of life long learning through a requirement of ongoing training/professional development (24 hrs for centre based personnel, 12 hrs for family childcare providers). 8) Build on success -Manitoba s labour market strategy must build on what we already know works well in our province and the successful strategies identified through the literature review. 9) Prior learning assessment - Training initiative must have a prior learning assessment mechanism. 10) Outcomes for graduates - Graduates of our training initiatives will be employed in a variety of early childhood programs funded and operated by various systems after graduation; we anticipate that our strategy will strengthen all programs ability to offer high quality early childhood care and education to manitoba s children. 11) Equitable remuneration - Implementation of the labour market strategy is in addition to (not in lieu of) commitment by the province of manitoba to provide operating grants to childcare centres that enable staff to be paid according to mcca s provincial salary scale guidelines and equitable remuneration for licensed family child care providers. child care wages must be commensurate with education and experience in order to attract and retain our workforce. The Report prioritized those recommendations that were seen as being most realistic, most timely, most likely to produce outcomes to meet our need quickly, and most likely to be received favourably by government and Manitoba s child care community. Recommendation One: Establish an ECE RECRUITMENT & RETENTION COMMITTEE The Province of Manitoba will strike an ECE Recruitment and Retention Committee to be made up of representatives of a variety of sectors relevant to the work of the committee. The Province will ensure that the committee is supported by a paid staff person who can serve as the facilitator for the committee, and respond to child care staff and community members who contact the ECE Recruitment and Retention designated phone line. The Committee will develop a projections model to better predict the appropriate supply of early childhood professionals across all early childhood sectors. The Committee will ensure specific annual recruitment targets are achieved, based on the provincial and federal government s planned growth of the system and inclusive of licensed care, Aboriginal Head Start Projects, family resource initiatives, and First Nations childcare programs in Manitoba. The ECE Recruitment and Retention Committee will establish mechanisms to regularly survey demographics of the field that impact training decisions, such as age and diversity of faculty at colleges and universities, ages of centre directors, number of hours currently spent on professional development annually, demographics of the CCA workforce, etc. The Committee will ensure articulation between the various training programs and advise government of best use of public dollars that flow to ECE training. The Committee will ensure the recommendations of the Labour Market Strategy are publicized within the child care community and will liase with various branches of governments and other sectors. The Committee will oversee the Forgivable Loan program detailed in recommendation three. The Committee will ensure the actualization of the Labour Market Strategy recommendations. 12./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

13 Recommendation Two: Establish systems that support PROGRESSIVE QUALIFICATIONS & ROLE PROGRESSION for early childhood personnel The government will consider and cost out the implications of enabling regulatory changes or legislation that would finally create a career path in our field. This may include progressive qualifications and a classification system with a more clearly differentiated role for the untrained assistant, and the trained early childhood educator. The Government of Manitoba will tie wages to education levels via a provincially mandated and resourced wage scale. There is a critical need to integrate various pilot training and continuing education programs into coherent training packages that allow early childhood practitioners to work towards a recognized diploma, degree or specialized training credential over time. Training must be offered via a variety of flexible options, such as Distance Education, Workplace Models, apprenticeships, part time studies, clustered learning, prior learning assessment, equivalency assessments, and others. Post secondary institutions may require specific grants to be able to adapt their programs, hire additional faculty or practicum supervisors, expand library holdings, etc. Colleges and universities will scaffold learning by CCAs and ECEs and ensure that pieces of their program can be taught in blocks that are articulated directly into the diploma, degree and post-diploma certificates. Employment practices at the centre level can also promote this role progression model, through careful consideration of how to best utilize CCAs and ECEs in the centre, how to foster their continuing education, and how to nurture a culture of learning for staff as well as children. Recommendation Three: Develop a financial incentive system that includes FORGIVABLE LOANS Currently, the cost of higher education (financial and time) is not perceived as justifiable by a field as poorly paid as ours. This is significantly impacting on the establishment of a career path and long term workforce attachment to our profession. Therefore, we recommend that the government develop and cost out a forgivable loan/scholarship model that is open and accessible to all members of the child caring communities. While the Province of Manitoba will be the lead funder of this recommendation, the advisory committee agreed that there was a significant role to be played by the federal government too. The proposed model, with its contract signed by the candidate and the clause that requires commitment to stay in the field as a precondition for the loan s forgiveness, is an essential component of the recommendation. Literature confirms that through forgivable loans, child care practitioners who have their training paid and are asked for a commitment to the field as their part of the deal comply, and in fact, continue with their training and are retained in the field. Recommendation Four: Develop a framework of support to early childhood personnel through APPRENTICESHIPS & MENTORSHIPS A two pronged approach to workplace learning will include elements of apprenticeship by the entry level caregiver as s/he works towards the first set of credentials defined within our progressive qualifications model, and regular mentorship by experienced, trained ECEs who take a personal stake in the success of the apprentice, and are remunerated accordingly. The mentorship model should be extended throughout the field, so that licensed family child care providers working towards their credentials are also mentored, and so that new directors can receive mentorship from more experienced directors, etc. Mechanisms may include the Partners in Practice mentoring model and recruitment of mentors who have previously served as Peer Assessors (in the ECE:CBA-PLAR Project), field placement supervisors, Competency Based Assessment advisors, and others who are interested. The workplace training model 13./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

14 developed by Red River College should be expanded and offered through all college training programs, allowing apprentices to work, take courses, and receive on site mentoring as they proceed. They would qualify for forgivable loans as they work towards each credential. Recommendation Five: Expand the GAP TRAINING Assessment Model Building on the successes of the ECE: Competency Based Assessment/Prior Learning Assessment project, the report recommended an expanded, systematic and equitable individualized assessment of candidates educational equivalency to Manitoba s own legislated requirements. The first target should be the people with a non recognized post secondary credential, who are already employed within the field as CCA s or licensed family child care providers, who may be able to achieve the ECE II credential through a quick, effective and culturally fair means. A second group which may benefit from this option are individuals with old CCW II s who have been unable to proceed to the ECE III credential due to datedness of their original classification. Once gaps are identified, candidates must be able to access particular courses or workshops that will fill in the gaps, and will qualify for forgivable loans to do so. Recommendation Six: Launch a PUBLIC EDUCATION initiative, specific to our workforce issues The Government of Manitoba will initiate a major public education drive to improve public understanding of the value of the profession and to help us in recruitment efforts. A priority target is to recruit back to our field the many ECE II s and III s we have lost to other sectors over the years. A concerted PR campaign should be targeted to gatekeepers such as parents of high school students and guidance counsellors in every high school in Manitoba, so that they are fully aware of the great job potential we offer. Partnerships with the ECE training institutions and the Child Day Care Branch to reach out to parents and teachers seem indicated. Specific recruitment efforts should also be directed towards the diversification of our workforce to more closely reflect the diversity of children and families in Manitoba. One target should be ESL and visible minority caregivers. To that end, partnerships within branches of government such as Manitoba Labour & Immigration will aid in recruitment of immigrant women as CCAs/ECEs; and between Manitoba Family Services, the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs to support recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Métis caregivers to the field. Mechanisms will include web page development for the Province of Manitoba and MCCA, brochures and outreach, participation in career symposiums, targeted mail outs, paid advertising in major and ethnic media, etc. Recommendation Seven: Establish an ENTRY LEVEL REQUIREMENT for our field As part of our move to legislated progressive qualifications, and as a beginning point for the apprenticeship model, develop an entry level universal course with set learning outcomes as the pre-requisite for all centre staff and licensed family child care providers (such as Foundations in Child Care). It is a clear statement of the importance of particular skills and the knowledge base specific to our field. As soon as this course is complete, individuals employed in the sector would receive the first progression on the salary scale. Recommendation Eight: Explore the feasibility of an ONGOING & ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT requirement The MCCA will explore the feasibility of legislation, accreditation and personnel processes that require ongoing development in order to keep one s credential current; 24 hours annually for ECE II s and III s 14./ Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

15 (including directors) and at least 12 for licensed family child care providers. This recommendation should be considered within its relationship to recommendation nine. MCCA will promote a commitment by the profession to this best practice and will encourage child care centre boards of directors and advisory committees to make ongoing professional development a condition of employment at their particular centres. The focus of this particular recommendation is on the specialized shared knowledge base of our field and the value of life long learning to our ability to offer quality early childhood education. Recommendation Nine: Establish a COLLEGE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS in Manitoba The Manitoba Child Care Association, through its Advocacy & Professionalism Committee, continues to explore the process of legislative recognition of the early childhood profession as a longer-term strategy to professionalize the field and improve the wages, status and working conditions of early childhood educators. At its recent Strategic Planning Retreat with the Board of Directors, staff and key stakeholders from within the child care community, the MCCA selected the year 2004 to begin key work to this end goal. ANALYSIS The Labour Market Strategy was shared by the MCCA with key government Ministers in November It received a community debut shortly afterwards, at an event that brought together teams from various constituencies (which optimally included a centre director, CCA, board member and Member of Legislative Assembly), representatives of the various educational institutions, federal and provincial jurisdictions, and other opinion leaders. MCCA has shared the strategy widely with its own membership via workshops, talks to gatherings of centre directors, in member bulletins and articles in its journal, and via its webpage. In the year since the release of the Labour Market Strategy Report, some (but not all) of its recommendations are beginning to be implemented. In April 2002, the Manitoba government announced a five-year plan for child care. 6 The plan identifies three major areas to be addressed over the next five years: quality, accessibility and affordability. The first year has a continued emphasis on supporting increased salaries for child care workers, and a funding increase of $2.35 million designed for improved childcare worker supports and additional spaces. Effective July 1, 2002, grant increases for service providers enable the first level of Phase III salaries to be paid to early childhood educators (ECEs) in all licensed child care centres. Equivalent grant increases are being provided for family child care homes and nursery schools. To begin addressing the shortfall of ECE II s, the Province of Manitoba has expanded their Competency- Based Assessment and Competency-Based Assessment/Prior Learning Assessment programs. They have already recruited and completed training of new Mentors from the field (including rural and northern mentors), and are targeting old CCW II s and non-recognized degree/diploma holders as per the report s recommendations. Colleges have received funding to expand their enrollment of new students in ECE training programs and to adapt their programs of study. For example, Red River College s Early Childhood Education Workplace Diploma Program will have two additional enrollments in January 2003, and April In just two years, / Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003

16 participants complete the ECE program on an accelerated basis while continuing to work three days per week. Prior learning assessment, gap training and regular seminars are all part of this intensive program. Assiniboine Community College is in the process of developing their program for the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition process and will begin implementing it in early The hybrid model at St.Boniface College accommodates the francophone workplace student. The University of Winnipeg launched its Advanced Diploma in Leadership in ECCE in September, 2002 and is targeting the advanced practitioner at the mid-point of her career who is looking for additional skill in leadership, mentorship, and management of complex organizations. This is a unique partnership between the university s faculty of arts and science, and their division of continuing education, and allows the scaffolding of training as an entry into the university milieu. It has a strong prior learning recognition component. The government has indicated its support for mandatory training of new family child care providers, and will provide incentives for existing providers and child care assistants to begin their training. New family child care providers who are being licensed will soon be required to complete a minimum 40 hours of training, and training institutions were recently invited to submit proposals to offer this training to the field. Further details about these incentives are not yet available. The Child Day Care Branch is about to launch a modest public education and recruitment campaign, to help attract more students to the field. With a small budget of $25,000 the department is purchasing a display to use at career fairs, producing brochures, and updating their webpage to include recruitment information. Their own staff will promote the field at career fairs. At the community level, centre boards are starting to approve the MCCA recommendation for 24 hr annual minimum professional development as a condition of employment at the centre. Analysis of centre budgets confirms that the average amount allocated by centres to staff development has increased from $1500 year in 2000/01 to $2200 year in 2001/02 7. This includes payment for workshops and conferences as well as interest free loans to pay for tuition at college or university or direct payment for tuition. Anecdotal information shared by some directors indicates university/college budgets of as much as $6000 annually at their own centres. Child care centres are developing progressive role policies and are beginning to put these into place (specialist positions, assistant-in-training). Most centres are paying phase III of the MCCA recommended guidelines, and many are doing significantly better. Centres are advertising their support for professional development and salary ranges in their classified advertisements. The Manitoba Child Care Association is currently developing phase IV of its recommended guidelines for salaries, with incremental progressions based on completion of additional training. It has begun the initial exploration of the process of legislative recognition. MCCA is regularly running complimentary banner ads in major papers promoting the profession. The MCCA continues to inform and influence the provincial government s funding and policy decisions through regular meetings with the Minister, the Assistant Deputy Minister, Director of Child Day Care and representation on the Regulation Review Committee. MCCA helps ensure bureaucrats and committee 7 according to Child Day Care s accountant, and based on Winnipeg preschool centres, in a conversation November 14/ / Mayer, D/ Review of the issue of retention and recruitment in Manitoba/ 2003