Today, Best Starts for Kids within the King County Department of Community and Human Services launched applications for the Best Starts Child Care Worker Wage Boost Pilot for child care providers in King County. The Wage Boost Pilot is a $25 million investment made possible through the Best Starts for Kids levy and is estimated to reach 1,400 child care workers in the region.  

Child care workers provide essential care and early education with skill and expertise and remain some of the lowest paid workers. In King County, child care workers would need to see their salaries almost doubled to reach the living wage floor. These low wages contribute to high turnover, lack of economic stability for workers and their families, as well as uncertainty for the child care sector and community.   

“Child care is a basic need, critical infrastructure, and a public good. Not only is child care essential for a thriving economy, it also supports the well-being of children, families, and community. But it is not funded like other vital infrastructure,” said Best Starts for Kids Co-Lead and Child Care Policy Lead, Jessica Tollenaar Cafferty. “Child care workers are experts in their field, providing essential and nurturing care to our children, but they are some of our region’s lowest paid workers. The Best Starts Wage Boost Pilot was born from input and feedback from the community and is an opportunity for King County to respond directly with funding and research to inform future policy decisions and investments.” 

Input from child care workers, child care facilities, families, and the community helped shape the development of the Best Starts Wage Boost Pilot. Families and child care workers shared feedback directly with King County about the costs of care and the chronic underfunding of providers. In its second levy, Best Starts introduced the child care investment, directing more than $163 million toward the Best Starts for Kids Child Care Subsidy to help families afford child care and $25 million to the Best Starts Wage Boost Pilot to study the benefit of government investments in the child care workforce. 

“I have been an early childhood development and education professional for over 35 years.  In the many different roles I have taken on --  as a family home provider, center director, and through supporting programs and policy efforts at the state and federal level -- I have worked alongside dedicated professionals who care deeply about their work and the children they provide care for. I believe that securing the future of humanity is accomplished when we have the social vision to pay an adequate wage to the caregivers and educators of our children and value their contribution to family stability and social economic sustainability.” said Carolyn Johnson Davis a Child & Family Services Consultant and member of the workgroup for the Best Starts Child Care Worker Wage Boost Pilot. 

Best Starts for Kids is partnering with organizations to facilitate a workgroup and lead evaluation of the pilot. Cardea and the Urban Institiute will evaluate the impact of the pilot and report findings. Uncommon Bridges will lead the workgroup, which will provide community- and provider-led oversight of the pilot and research. The pilot will study how government funding to increase worker pay impacts retention, worker well-being, facility stability, continuity in care, and sustainability in the sector. This research will be shared with the public with the intention to inform policy decisions. 

Eligible facilities will be selected by lottery, and workers at selected facilities will enroll to receive a quarterly payment to increase their income through 2027. Full-time workers will receive $2,080 quarterly and part-time workers will receive $1,040 quarterly. Applications close March 7. 

To apply, and to find information about the application, worker and site eligibility, check out the pilot website: bskwageboost.imaginewa.org