• Please note that a WDB may not need to make significant changes to high-level descriptions of your work, such as how it is presented in your introductory presentations on workforce services. It may be appropriate to instead talk about how FCE approaches have been incorporated as examples of how services are provided in those documents/presentations. Maricopa has provided an example of a flier that describes how FCE works when more detailed discussions are needed

 

Leverage The Prosperity Agenda’s checklist for “assessing your organizational readiness for coaching” and the ingredients for success checklist. Please recognize that the wording in current Family-center Coaching documents is geared towards Human Services organizations, rather than WDBs. This can be addressed by identifying examples, such as the ones in this toolkit, of how these concepts show up in a workforce environment and discussions.

Child care must be available. Initial success in training and a job both depend on stable child care, long-term success of the job seeker, and their family, requires quality child care that is trusted by the job seeker

 

• A Montgomery County survey identified that parents’ most important concern was finding child care that was reliable and matched their working hours

• If the child care is not consistently available, does not effectively support the health of the children, is not safe, and/or does not prepare children for success in school, the parent will be negatively impacted at work. This will take the form of missing work days and, through increased distractions and stress, decreased work outcomes, possibly leading to failure at work. The toolkit provides a summary of why access to child care is so important for employment success

• Both Maricopa and El Paso had initial child care wait lists, and both changed local policy to obtain prioritization for child care slots for job seekers in their programs. The wait list now either doesn’t exist or is short. Both also cover gaps in child care, including school holidays, with WIOA funds. Maricopa created an internal policy for the use of support services which included prioritized child care funding for FCE participants that didn’t qualify for other options or experienced gaps

• Head Start and Early Head Start are important partners to leverage funds and prioritize open slots. A policy change may be needed to prioritize their slots for those receiving WIOA support. It is also important to prioritize all children in the family. Before siblings of those in care were part of the prioritization process, the pilot sites had some family members getting child care services and some not, keeping the parent from working. Also, these services have a break over the holidays, so planning is needed to avoid a disruption in service

• Community Colleges can be an important partner for training, if they provide child care for students

• TANF recipients are eligible for child care. The pilot sites assisted TANF clients to obtain short term child care assistance, aided by a strong relationship with TANF staff. Similar programs often exist for other groups, such as the homeless, veterans, or those with disabilities. An important policy to understand related to TANF is whether or not they allow for training/education to be supported by their services (as opposed to work only). If they do not, it will not be possible to use their funding while the jobseeker is in training

• Understand the length of time the various programs provide support for child care. Some of the programs provide 90 days of child care, but that can be extended to a year if they are working. Some eligibility depends on income, so understanding how much the family will make with their new job and how that relates to eligibility is important. It is also important to understand how eligibility is impacted if a job ends. There should be some period of time where child care continues and part-time work while finding a permanent job could extend coverage. Understanding these extensive rules is complex, but important. El Paso recommends quick communication, brainstorming, and flexibility of solutions when a situation arises that places a job seeker in a situation where they are unable to get child care because they fall outside of these rules – this is an example of the need for flexibility to make things work

• Quality child care it is a foundation for the future success of the children and the family. When children are ready for a successful start in Kindergarten, they will likely succeed in school and in their future work. When children aren’t ready, significant interventions are usually needed to achieve success in school and work. The toolkit provides a summary of the importance of quality child care    (see  Zero to Three Initiative ) . In El Paso, they leverage the Texas Rising Star certification to identify quality providers, with that information being explained and provided to parents. They have a high percentage of families that choose a Texas Rising Star certified option.

• Many of the job seekers prefer to use family members, friends, or neighbors for child care. An understanding of the quality and reliability of this care is important to gaining a view of the long-term success of the family and evaluating the possible outcomes of WDB investments in that job seeker. Some job seekers that had child care through family and friends in the pilot sites were able to complete training and gain employment. Programs such as Parents as Teachers (used in El Paso) and Nurse Family Partnerships (used in Maricopa) can support parents as they understand the importance of quality child care and some can also provide training to the person providing care to help improve quality
• Some home-based child care options are eligible for reimbursement. WDBs should understand their State’s guidelines for instances where the family, friend, or neighbor care could become licensed/certified and receive reimbursements
• Consistent child care is the best option for quality outcomes for the children. However, short-term options are required when care is starting or to cover short training programs

 

• When a family has school age children, understanding which of the programs cover after school care and which don’t is important. Covering child care during school breaks is also important

• Some child care providers allow parents to suspend payments for a certain number of days (such as a plant shut down over the holidays), extending the timeframe of support

• If navigating the child care process is complicated and time consuming, a strong relationship with a specialist in this process can be helpful 

• Employers can be recruited to provide support for their employees to obtain child care. This can be very important as support for child care is ending. Examples are employers subsidizing a portion of the child care, working with a good nearby child care to guarantee to fill a number of slots if they reduce cost, and supporting the development of child care providers that support shift work. It may necessary to help businesses understand what quality child care is and why it is so important

• It could be important to understand available child care options for shift work. El Paso maintains a list of child care options and it includes options that support multiple shifts. It is the parents’ choice, but they help make sure the options exist



• You may need to work with the training programs valued by employers to make sure they work with available child care options

 

Stable housing and transportation are also consistently identified as significant barriers. Financial literacy is also identified as a consistent need. Leadership from organizations that address these barriers and needs will be important for FCE implementation success. El Paso has financial literacy workshops with a course curriculum that can be shared if requested. Understanding a person’s health care coverage can also be important