USDOL Quality Child Care Initiative

www.doleta.gov

In an effort to provide a professional career ladder for childcare workers, the U.S. Department of Labor has invested in a groundbreaking apprenticeship project. Personnel turnover in the childcare industry is high, with a 30 percent rate between 1999 and 2000. Pay is generally low, but it depends on the educational attainment of the worker and the type of establishment—more education usually means higher earnings.

Led by the Department of Labor (DOL), the Quality Child Care Initiative is built on the premise that high quality training can change the childcare industry from one dominated by low pay and high turnover to one of respected professional service, stability and career advancement. Over a three-year period, DOL provided 31 states and the District of Columbia more than $12 million to develop and implement a self-sustaining statewide system to educate child development providers using the registered apprenticeship model.

The model has drawn private industry participation as well. One example is the partnership between the UAW and two of the big three automobile makers, which have created training programs at their daycare centers using the apprenticeship system.

The first round of programs has just graduated their first apprentices. While it is still too early to draw conclusions, some interesting trends have emerged – including use of strategies well known to unions, such as training trusts and connections with community colleges and professional development programs.

We are encouraged by this progress toward an empowered and increasingly professional childcare system for our nation’s children and providers. For more information about the Quality Child Care Initiative contact: www.doleta.gov/atels_bat or 202/693-2796.

–Anthony Swoope, Administrator , U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services

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