How can childcare improve in Oneida County? Taskforce releases report with recommendations

Findings have been released by the Oneida County Childcare Taskforce, including several recommendations to improve childcare worker employment, training, and retention; expand capacity; and identify and eliminate access barriers.

“Oneida County is devoted to the belief that quality childcare should be accessible to all residents,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. said in a statement. “The current lack of childcare staff, certified and state-approved facilities and awareness of existing resources are among our greatest challenges. We will execute the Childcare Taskforce’s recommendations to improve those conditions by working closely with our public, private and non-profit partners through a comprehensive and collaborative approach.”

Improve childcare worker employment, training and retention outcomes

The findings call for creation of a Child Development Associate (CDA) educational pipeline and certificate subsidization program.

To do this, Mohawk Valley Community College will review its existing early childhood education fast track programming to focus on students interested in working in childcare settings and investigate how its course listing can be adjusted to fulfill CDA certification requirements.

Oneida County also will conduct a demand and cost review associated with subsidizing and obtaining CDA certification for local childcare providers.

The county also plan on developing ways to highlight childcare.

Oneida County will develop targeted advertisements to graduating students, technical career students and new and expecting parents to highlight the benefits of working in childcare. The county will work with BOCES to develop a childcare technical program capable of offering CDA certification to qualified students.

Expand childcare capacity in Oneida County

The results also call for the hiring of childcare community navigators.

In conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Oneida County will fund community navigator positions that will be tasked with raising awareness of the Childcare Assistance program (CCAP), opportunities to start at-home registered family daycare, avenues for obtaining childcare and opportunities for employment in childcare.

The county also will look to subsidize family daycare startup costs.

Oneida County will provide funding to registered family daycare startup costs and to existing childcare providers seeking to expand capacity. It also will establish an online procurement portal from which approved startup items can be purchased directly.

The county also will research public infrastructure grant opportunities and provide data collection and analysis assistance to support childcare providers applying for them. If appropriate, Oneida County may serve as the principal applicant.

Identify and eliminate barriers to accessing childcare

The county will create a childcare subsidy marketing campaign.

It will invest in rebranding the local CCAP program and make all forms, applications and resources available on its website.

The county also will engage with childcare providers to better understand their hesitation towards accepting clients participating in CCAP and help them to identify strategies for reducing administrative burdens.

Oneida County will create a planning committee and execute a childcare program management simulator that will develop a list of program outcomes, activities and other team-based exercises.

The planning committee will identify a location for the event and invite local and state elected officials, business leaders and prominent community members.

The county also will review of New York State Office of Children & Family Services (NYS OFCS) regulations.

Oneida County will develop a comprehensive list of burdensome NYS OFCS regulations identified by the childcare management simulator. It also will collaborate with NYS OCFS to develop waivers, exceptions and reconsideration of existing childcare regulations.

About the task force

Picente announced the creation of the Childcare Taskforce during his 2022 State of the County Address, highlighting the inadequate supply of childcare as one of several major hurdles that families, employers, and others experienced more intensely since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several steps had already been taken by the county to make childcare more affordable and accessible, including raising the income limits for families enrolled in CCAP, reducing parent share of subsidized childcare costs and expanding CCAP assistance to those actively searching for a job.

The Childcare Taskforce convened on Nov. 17, 2022. The kick-off meeting welcomed professionals from the public and private sector, as well as school administrators, childcare providers, business owners, state and local elected officials and others.

The organizational structure of the over 40-member Childcare Taskforce consisted of a steering committee and five subcommittees, including outreach, educational engagement, business liaison, policy, and program development subcommittees. Each subcommittee met separately last year in March and April and for a joint meeting in June. One final joint meeting took place in the first quarter of 2024.

Represented organizations and agencies include Oneida County Government, Quality Stars NY, Workforce Development Board, Resource for Independent Living, Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency, Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Masonic Childcare, Upstate Cerebral Palsy, Mohawk Valley Community College, Thea Bowman House, First Source, Court Street Children’s Center, Utica Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Office of General Services, Perch Place and the Rome Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Oneida County Childcare Taskforce Report can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: How can childcare improve in Oneida County? Taskforce releases report with recommendations