Building an Early Childhood Workforce Pipeline

It’s no secret that there is a major child care workforce shortage in the United States, one that will likely worsen when federal funding soon expires. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) works to ensure all income-eligible children and families have access to the Head Start model. Well aware of the cascading effects that result from staff shortages and program closures, NHSA has developed pathways into the early childhood profession and opportunities for career advancement.

I interviewed Dr. Deborah Bergeron, Deputy Director for Community Engagement and Innovation, at NHSA via email to learn more. Dr. Bergeron is the former director of both the Office of Early Childhood Development and the Office of Head Start. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

To start, it seems like there are many components to this workforce initiative - from earning a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential in high school to earning a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in partnership with National University. Is “workforce initiative” the right way to refer to this? What are the different components?

Yes! We call the initiative our Workforce Development Hub. It is a one-stop-shop for creating an early childhood education workforce pipeline—specifically an Early Head Start and Head Start pipeline. The program itself focuses on Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms, programs, and curriculum. The Hub considers all audiences from high school students and parents of enrolled children, to other untapped populations like refugees and immigrants. The components include:

• The CDA Training Pathway, which meets all of the requirements put forth by The Council for Professional Recognition. The CDA Training Pathway addresses specific Early Head Start and Head Start factors, like serving families in poverty, experiencing homelessness, or navigating substance misuse or children in foster care, who unfortunately may have experienced significant trauma as very young children. We really believe all early childhood education professionals should have this understanding as it is the cornerstone of our nation’s early education system.
• The Head Start Promise Program, which is a collaboration with National University where we are able to award college credits, discounted tuition, and a program that focuses on early childhood education from the get-go. Candidates stack certificates until they earn the BA and, with Pell Grants, the cost is close to $0. This piece of the puzzle will result in greater matriculation rates and empower students, who often come into this field non-traditionally, to own their professional pathways.

We are also tapping high schools and creating interest in early childhood education by starting with our teenagers. The Academy at NHSA is offering our self-paced curriculum to high school systems. And, in partnership with each state’s Head Start Collaboration Director, we are also helping to place high schoolers in Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms. In this way, school systems can offer early childhood education (ECE) in their Career Technical Education (CTE) programs without having to carve out physical space or hire a full-time teacher (unless demand justifies it!). Students take the course online, typically in a lab at school or sometimes even on their own time. Then, they fulfill the contract hours in Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms. The school provides a teacher of record to support students writing their portfolio. The mentor teacher also helps the student register for the CDA.

Here's the truth: we’ve seen a huge decline in CTE programs offering education-related courses. We have to both address our current workforce crisis and meet interested students where they are. NHSA’s program allows schools to do this with no minimum student requirement. They can have one student, 10 students, 100 students, which provides greater access and more affordability. All together, it is a 360 degrees solution. It directly connects our high schools and students with Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms, creating a real synergy in the school system.

Can you tell me about how the work came to be?

Head Start classrooms are closed because we simply cannot find enough staff. In every community, every unfilled Head Start position equals dozens and dozens of parents who lack any sort of high-quality child care alternative. In order to make sure our children, our families, and our economy can thrive, we must address this issue. This is where our work comes in. We aren’t going to wake up one day and find a line of folks waiting to work for Early Head Start and Head Start. We have to intentionally create that pipeline by providing promising early childhood educators with career development training and advocating for professional salaries.

What is NHSA’s role in supporting states?

Our vision at the tippy top is to inspire growth in this space and see more ECE-focused CTE programs. We would also like schools to use our curriculum. In a world where the early childhood education landscape and market is changing, Head Start has so much to teach folks! We have a rich history. We are rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our program standards are built on empathy and family. It would be a big win to see schools build on our foundation.

What plans does NHSA have moving forward?

So much to look forward to! In our South Dakota pilot with Harrisburg Schools, 28 high school students will be using our curriculum this year. We are starting to see other systems look to us for support and we’re happy to provide it. Additionally, I think there is a great deal of potential to use youth apprenticeship programming to support this effort. As momentum builds there, I am sure we will see even more interest.

The Head Start Promise Program was launched earlier this April. We have enrollment streamlined and are ready to start seeing our CDA completers begin their BA journeys.

How can interested parties learn more?

They can visit our website to find all of our workforce development resources. They can also email me at dbergeron@nhsa.org.

To learn more about youth apprenticeship, visit New America’s page on Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship.