Durham's Partnership for Children releases child care workforce studyFirst exclusive local report on the Durham County child care workforce compares compensation, employment benefits, professional development and turnoverDurham, NC—Durham's Partnership for Children, a Smart Start Initiative, announced Wednesday the release of its 2009 Child Care Workforce Study, Working in Child Care in Durham County.The report highlights improvements in the child care workforce and also identifies areas that the Partnership and its collaborating partners can continue to focus on, such as examining strategies to support retention among child care teachers.Among other key findings, the survey found that the number of degreed early childhood educators has risen along with earnings. More than half (51 percent) of child care teachers in Durham have at least an Associate Degree in any field and earn on average $11.08 per hour. While there has been progress made, the survey also indicates that many child care professionals still struggle to make ends meet with 32 percent of teachers and 48 percent of family child care providers reporting no health insurance coverage and 40 percent of teachers reporting they had received some type of public assistance in the last three years.The Partnership contracted with Child Care Services Association (CCSA) to conduct the study. The Durham Results-Based Accountability (RBA) Initiative, The City of Durham Workforce Development Board and Time Warner Cable provided funding for the report. This was the first time the data was released showcasing Durham County exclusively. In 2003, CCSA conducted a statewide child care workforce study that included Durham County."Child care is often an under-represented, albeit important piece to the economic development of our county," said Marsha Basloe, Durham's Partnership for Children Executive Director. "The RBA Initiative, The City of Durham Workforce Development Board and Time Warner Cable also recognized the importance of supporting our effort in Durham to examine systemic improvements and changes in the child care industry comparing current results to data collected six years ago."Basloe added that the child care workforce supplies $65 million to the Durham economy in annual gross receipts and supports more than 7,000 families.Durham's Partnership for Children has been working to support quality early childhood education in Durham since 1994. Over the past 15 years, the Partnership has focused on strategies to create systemic change in the child care industry, such as improving the quality of child care, increasing access to child care for low-income working families, and supporting early childhood teacher education.The report can be viewed at http://www.dpfc.net/Reports.aspxAbout Durham's Partnership for Children Durham's Partnership for Children celebrates 15 years making young children a priority. Founded in 1994 and first funded in 1995 to administer the Smart Start grant in Durham County, the Partnership works as an independent, local nonprofit that serves young children birth to age 5 and their families under North Carolina's nationally recognized initiative to ensure all children enter school healthy and ready to succeed. For 15 years, the Partnership has helped working parents pay for child care, improve the quality of child care and provided health and family support services to thousands of Durham County families with young children. The Partnership works to achieve its mission: To mobilize and unify the Durham community to create and support innovative and successful approaches to serving the needs of children birth to age 5 and their families, by working with funded partners and mobilizing groups and organizations in Durham County to support and coordinate efforts impacting young children and their families. The Partnership also administers the More at Four Program in Durham County serving more than 400 children. For more information about Durham's Partnership for Children, visit www.dpfc.net or call 919-403-6960, ext 221. -###-

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1. http://dpfc.net/Admin/uploads/photos/Documents/newsreleases/PR110409.pdf