Childcare Workforce Development

In which borough should your idea take place? Queens

Do you have a specific neighborhood(s) in mind?

Child Care Deserts - Communities with limited affordable childcare options

Which audience(s) does your idea help? Select as many as apply.

Youth

Parents

Limited English proficient individuals

Low income individuals

Black, Indigenous, and POC

Unemployed individuals

LGBTQ+ community

Immigrants and/or migrants

Public housing residents

People with disabilities

Describe the challenge you want to address:

I'm seeking to address the workforce challenges negatively impacting the childcare industry and many working parents. Since February 2020, the childcare workforce has lost 88,000 jobs, or 8.4 percent of its pre-pandemic workforce. Over the course of the past 2 1/2 years, the childcare workforce has struggled to keep up with the job growth taking place in other sectors. While childcare job growth has occurred in 2022, it has been slow to make up for the large deficit and remains slower than job growth in other sectors. In June 2022, the childcare industry only reached more than 10% below pre-pandemic employment. This trend has detrimental implications for children, families’ earnings, and state economies. The most significantly impacted are women of color and marginalized communities. (Center for American Progress-CAP, Sept. 2022).

Describe your idea and approach to address the challenge:

Implement a Child Care Workforce Development Program which includes but is not limited to: Conducting community outreach to educate community members about the value of career opportunities as an early childhood professional and/or licensed family-based business owner.
Facilitate an Early Childhood Educator training series to prepare those seeking to work in the childcare field; Coordinate paid internships for those seeking early education and childcare work experience with licensed providers in need of additional workforce support; and Provide job coaching including resume writing, work readiness skills development, and job search assistance.

Write the zipcode that best represents your New York City community:

11368