Department of Early Learning and Care outlines workforce crisis, professional learning investments

The Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) told the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education on Feb. 5 that Oregon’s regulated early childhood workforce faces sustained low wages, high turnover and elevated rates of anxiety and depression, and that DELC is directing federal and state funds toward professional learning, higher-education pathways and regional technical assistance.

DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee opened the session and John Reeves, DELC professional learning system director, told the committee that “professional learning is 1 of the, foundational services that the department offers to the early childhood educator workforce.” Reeves and DELC staff described the size and shape of Oregon’s mixed-delivery early learning system, workforce demographics and a set of investments aligned to a four-pillar framework: prepare, grow the workforce, strengthen specialized supports, and retain.

DELC officials summarized labor-market measures and a November–December report DELC commissioned (titled in the presentation as A Path Forward: Examining and Overcoming Barriers for Oregon’s Early Childhood Workforce), noting that roughly 24,000 people work in regulated early learning and care (centers and family childcare) and that median wages and benefits are substantially below state averages. DELC cited the state’s Child Care Desert measure and federal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) rules as central context for workforce investments.

DELC presented data and findings the agency described as follows: 69% of children under 5 have both parents in the workforce; an employer survey cited 42.5% of respondents naming child care shortages as an employee-retention challenge; an estimated $1.4 billion annual economic impact associated with lack of infant–toddler care; 60% of children live in a child-care desert (defined as roughly 1 slot per 3 children); and approximately 26% of early childhood educators screened above cutoff levels for clinical anxiety while 15.9% screened above cutoff for clinical depression (DELC cited the workforce barriers report for mental-health figures).

DELC described workforce barriers identified in the report—insufficient compensation, limited benefits, taxed and time-limited incentive payments—and said those factors drive turnover and reduce new entrants. The agency emphasized that short-term incentives alone are insufficient and that a more comprehensive, long-term strategy will be required to address compensation at scale.

DELC outlined investments targeted at each pillar. Examples given in the presentation included: - Prepare: an Early Childhood Higher Education Consortium (eight institutions) providing cohort-based, tuition-free or supported degree pathways and navigators; a $500,000 Early Learning Degree Pathway Scholarship fund administered by Portland State University’s Oregon Center for Career Development (DELC reported the $500,000 was fully used in the first eight months and supported 102 students). - Grow the workforce / business supports: Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) network (15 regional organizations), central coordination at Western Oregon University’s Research Institute and the Find Child Care Oregon database used for referrals. - Strengthen specialized supports: Every Child Belongs (statewide early childhood suspension/expulsion prevention and infant–early-childhood mental health consultation) with regional providers and newly funded inclusion specialists embedded in most CCR&Rs. - Retain: Mentoring grants, induction supports and regional communities of practice to reduce isolation and promote job satisfaction.

DELC noted federal CCDF funds comprise roughly half of the professional learning investments the department administers and that those funds must be used for quality-improvement activities (training, technical assistance, quality rating systems, incentives and resource-and-referral services). The agency said total investments for the “prepare” pillar in the presentation amounted to $13,700,000 in state and federal funding, with about half for the higher-education consortium and 44% for Oregon Registry and Career Pathways administration.

Committee members asked about referral liability and community relevance of national data. DELC staff said the CCR&R referral role is to match family needs to program characteristics and to educate families on what to ask and look for; staff said the referrals are not program endorsements. DELC also offered to share Oregon-specific research and data cited in the workforce barriers report.

DELC officials said the workforce barriers report (commissioned under House Bill 2991, 2023) provides recommendations covering compensation, professional learning, licensure pathways and classification systems. DELC emphasized that compensation and benefits reforms will require broader policy solutions beyond one-time incentives and highlighted the need for sustained funding to scale higher-education scholarships and employer-facing supports.

Ending: DELC requested follow-up conversations and said the agency could return to complete a longer presentation; committee co-chairs offered virtual follow-up options and thanked DELC staff for the overview.