Back in 2018, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the Birth-to-Three for All DC law. The law calls for compensation for early educators equivalent to public school teachers with similar education and experience. In 2021, the DC Council raised public funds to make it happen by increasing the personal income tax rate on residents of the District with the highest incomes. In 2022, the first phase of increased compensation is underway with pay supplements of up to $14,000 paid directly to educators. And then the permanent compensation increases will be paid through employers as part of teachers’ regular paychecks starting in FY 2024.
After years of operating on unstable, one-time dollars, DC home visiting programs funded by the District’s child welfare agency, Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), secured a $70,500 recurring investment. Recurring funding will allow these programs, which serve fathers, expecting teens, and returning citizens, to continue to serve families without the tumult of annual losses in funding.
The DC Council increased investment in DC Health’s Healthy Steps program by $300,000, which will fund a new site in Ward 5, 7, or 8 that integrates a licensed child-development health professional in pediatric primary care settings. It also provided an additional $700,000 to the Department of Behavioral Health’s Healthy Futures to expand its behavioral health counseling services to more child care programs participating in the District’s subsidy program.
Effective October 2022, DC expecting parents can access doula services through Medicaid for the duration of a pregnancy and up to 6 months postpartum. Medicaid covers nearly 40 percent of DC births, meaning that this policy will enable the District to support a significant portion of the births with the greatest need for Doula services.
New OSSE regulations will soon take effect that raise the minimum educational requirements for the early childhood education workforce. By December 2022, Center Directors will be required to hold a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in early childhood education. By December 2023, Teachers and Expanded Home Caregivers will be required to have at least an Associate degree (AA) in early childhood education, and Assistant Teachers, Home Caregivers, and Associate Home Caregivers will be required to have at least a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. To support the workforce in earning these credentials, OSSE has launched the DC Leading Educators Toward Advanced Degrees (DC LEAD) grant program that provides scholarships to early childhood educators for coursework in Associate and Bachelor degree programs.