Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement System; Dec. 4, 2023 Deadline
Maine Department of Health & Human Services sent this bulletin at 11/30/2023 03:53 PM EST
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Child Care Providers and Child Care Staff
FROM: Office of Child and Family Services
DATE: November 30, 2023
SUBJECT: Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement System; Dec. 4, 2023 Deadline
____________________________________________________________________________________
The Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement System is funded and administered by Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services. The purpose of the Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement System is to develop and implement a system to provide salary supplements to child care providers and early childhood educators who provide direct services to children in licensed child care facilities and licensed family child care programs, incentivize continuing education of the early childhood workforce, and raise the overall quality of care for young children.
22 M.R.S. § 3737-A provides the department rulemaking authority to establish a tiered payment system. The tiered system must provide, at a minimum, 3 tiers based on the education and experience levels of child care providers and early childhood educators. The 2nd tier must provide a salary supplement that is at least 50% greater than the first tier and the 3rd tier must provide a salary supplement that is at least 50% greater than the 2nd tier.
With the passage of P.L. 2023 Ch. 412, the appropriation for the Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement System was doubled, allowing for increased salary supplemental payments. With the increased funding, which became available on October 25, 2023, the tiers will be the following through June 30, 2024:
|
Tier Level |
Maine Roads to Quality Registry Levels |
Monthly Supplement Amount |
|
1 |
Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 |
$275 |
|
2 |
Level 5, Level 6 |
$415 |
|
3 |
Level 7, Level 8 |
$625 |
Important reminder: child care staff presently in the Maine Roads to Quality (MRTQ) registry as Level 0 are not eligible for the salary supplement payments. To move from a Level 0 to a Level 1, staff are required to complete the free, on-demand health and safety training, be properly registered in the MRTQ registry, and have 30 days of experience to be eligible. Additionally, child care providers need to update staff levels in the Wage Supplement portal prior to December 4, 2023 for staff to be eligible for November’s payment.
In the future, the Department will determine tier amounts based on current annual budget and total number of educators enrolled in the salary supplement program. Salary supplement amounts and any changes to amounts will posted on the Early Childhood Educator Workforce Salary Supplement Program website: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/provider-resources/early-childhood-educator-workforce-salary-supplement-program.