The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) aims to build an early childhood system that attracts, prepares, supports, and retains a qualified workforce across settings and programs that serves all children and families effectively. This includes compensation and benefits, pathways for career advancement and working conditions that demonstrate the value of the early childhood workforce to our communities.
- ACF’s National Early Care and Education Workforce Center supports research and technical assistance for states, territories, tribal nations, and local communities to improve the recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce across early care and education programs.
- ACF awards Preschool Development Birth through Five Planning and Renewal Grants to states and territories, which are accelerating state and local efforts to build systems to recruit, retain, and support the ECE workforce.
Strategies to support the ECE workforce include the following.
- Increase staff compensation or provide hiring or retention incentives.
- Provide benefits including paid leave, health insurance, child care, and retirement benefits.
- Fund scholarships and time off for training or educational programs including practice-based learning that leads towards a credential or degree, such as registered apprenticeships.
- Improve ECE career and higher education pathways including through career and technical education, offering credit for prior learning, more accessible coursework, and academic supports.
- Strengthen compensation and career supports for early childhood educators with high-need skills (special education, etc.) and those from traditionally underserved populations, communities, or parts of the ECE system.
- Expand family child care networks, shared services models, and substitute pools.
- Provide staff wellness supports improve the working environment, such as breaks during the work day, mental health consultation, etc.
Click on a tile to find content-specific resources for states, tribes, territories, and local programs.

Compensation and Fiscal Stability
Explore resources and learn how some states and local programs are increasing ECE wages, benefits, and incentives.

National ECE Workforce Center
Learn more about ACF’s National Early Care and Education Workforce Center .
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