Catch up quick: To celebrate the start of Week of the Young Child, we hosted our first-ever Family Celebration & Resource Fair with food, fun, and lots of resources for families on April 6!
Why it matters: Workforce Solutions Capital Area supports eligible families in Travis County with affordable, high-quality child care options with child care scholarships.
What happened: 63 families attended to learn about community resources, enjoy a story time reading with their children, practice CPR for infants and children, and more!
What they’re saying: We surveyed the families and 100% said they would attend next year!
“Thank you for inviting us! “
“This was a great event! We loved story time!”
“I enjoyed myself as did my children.”
“Everything was great, super informative and helpful and not painful experience either. Glad we came.”
“It was awesome, informative!
Workforce Solutions Capital Area Child Care Services helps families and providers through scholarships to afford quality care, partnership to increase the quality of early childhood education, and support with job search and business services. Learn more about how we promote positive child outcomes.
Childcare options are set to be incorporated in an infrastructure academy which will train skilled workforce members.
The City of Austin has partnered with Austin Community College and several others to create the infrastructure academy, where they are training the next generation of the construction workforce to help with major projects across the city such as the I-35 expansion and Project Connect.
Representatives from one of the partners, Workforce Solutions, said they are researching what people need as they plan what the program will look like.
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has awarded a total of $175,000 to Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area through Child Care Employment Connections Awards. This performance-based award recognizes local workforce development boards (Boards) for their work in connecting at-risk parents with sufficient employment.
The Child Care Employment Connections Awards recognize boards that were the most successful in helping make employment connections for unemployed parents whose children are receiving child care assistance.
“We’re honored to be recognized for this critical support to help Austin-Travis County parents,” said Tamara Atkinson, Chief Executive Officer at WSCA. “We help parents gain and keep employment, and also increase earning potential. Parents who receive child care assistance through us see an annual wage increase of over $6,300.”
With a rapidly expanding economy, Texas leads the nation in job growth, but faces higher unemployment and poverty rates than the U.S. as a whole. The state’s workforce development leaders say connecting employees to training programs, child care services and continuing education are crucial to keeping pace with growth.
Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, a nonprofit organization that helps Travis County residents find career training and job opportunities, said Texas needs to act fast to prepare workers for the future.
“If our job is to find and prepare and support the workers, we need to recognize the additional thing — the support that they need to be successful in their skill training and on the job,” Atkinson said at a Texas Tribune event Wednesday morning.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is seeking nominations from interested and qualified individuals to serve on its Board of Directors as a Child Care Workforce Representative. We will interview qualified applicants whose nominations are received by the deadline of October 18, 2023 at 5:00pm CT. The final appointment decision will be made by Travis County Judge Andy Brown.
Growing the future skilled workforce of Central Texas involves providing quality child care to eligible parents living and working in our community. To achieve this essential goal, Workforce Solutions Capital Area hosts the annual Child Care Symposium for child care directors, owners and workers in Central Texas.
This year, we held the symposium on August 4 and 5 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. The theme was Walk the Red Carpet.
ICYMI: Attendees enjoyed a full day of training opportunities and heard from speakers representing state and local governments and a fellow child care provider.
On August 5, 138 directors participated.
On August 6, 333 teachers participated.
Our grand total was 471 early learning professionals who each received 6.5 hours of training at the Child Care Symposium.
Why it matters: At the free symposium, attendees learned and grew in their fields, and heard from local organizations and leaders in the child care industry, including Austin Public Health, Conscious Discipline, United Way for Greater Austin, childhood education professionals and more.
Speaking on the first day was Tamara Atkinson, Chief Executive Officer for WFS Capital Area.
“We invest in our child care partners to make sure that they have access to valuable learning opportunities and are continuing to positively impact children’s lives through their important work,” Tamara said.
What they’re saying
For the directors and teachers who participated, the Child Care Symposium provided valuable learning opportunities and moments to connect with one another.
“Thank you for all the hard work that I know each of you contributed into making the Symposium such a success last weekend. You guys were amazing!” Irma Arrambide, owner/director at A New Day Child Development Center, said.
“My teachers were so grateful to be acknowledged for all the hard work that they have put in to make our little preschool a 4-Star school. I feel so truly blessed to call you all not only mentors but I feel like more of a close friend. We are all so blessed to have each of you on our side as we help the children in our communities thrive to be the future of the world. Thanks again for your dedication and your support,” said Irma.
“I really appreciate Workforce Solutions. There are so many things you guys help us with and so many mentors that go above and beyond to help our centers be successful. Thank you for all you do,” said one provider.
Another attendee said, “I’m grateful to have had the privileges to be a part of this event. To meet new people and the interactions with one another was a pleasure.”
Workforce Solutions Capital Area works with 400-plus providers across Central Texas to provide care for over 5,000 children.
Child care in Travis County is more expensive than anywhere else in the state, according to the National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP), a new data source released this year by the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau.
Families can check if they qualify for child care financial assistance in Travis County on the Workforce Solutions Capital Area website.
A pilot program at Austin Community College is aiming to help parents in marginalized communities go to college and grow their careers.
The pilot program is a partnership between ACC and nonprofit AVANCE-Austin, which helps low-income families, predominately Latino, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area.
Several funding measures approved by Austin officials May 18 will send around $2 million toward workforce development, child care and early childhood education in Central Texas.
Three contracts totaling $1.85 million will go toward education for aspiring medical workers and training and supporting local child care staff. The items include:
$1 million to Workforce Solutions Capital Area for child care worker stipends centered on employees in programs serving children on financial scholarships
$500,000 to Capital IDEA for workforce development services for low-income health care students, including eight pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing and five seeking to become licensed dental hygienists
$351,270 to Together4Children for workforce development training for child care workers
Mother’s Day isn’t the only day in May that we celebrate those individuals who nurture and develop children. Child care providers also deserve recognition, which is why today is National Provider Appreciation Day.
In 2022, we contracted with 341 providers in Travis County to provide quality, nurturing care to 5,470 children.
$6,326: that’s the average annual wage increase of parents who received child care assistance.
271 early childhood professionals received wage supplements to help them continue to work in a field where wages are not commensurate with other skilled positions.
Our services related to child care are not just for Austin’s parents, however, but child care providers as well.
To celebrate the providers caring for Austin’s children—our community’s future workforce—we’re joining the national observance of National Provider Appreciation Day!
This event began in 1996 with a single group of volunteers in New Jersey.
The drive to recognize the dedicated efforts of child care providers has grown year by year, and today Provider Appreciation Day is a national event.
We understand the value that child care providers create for their community. By guiding the growth and development of children today, they help positively shape our community tomorrow.
As part of our commitment to quality child care, Workforce Solutions Child Care Services offers quality rated programs, quality initiative activities and other community resources to child care providers who strive for quality.
One of our largest offerings is the annual Child Care Symposium. This two-day event features keynote speakers and workshops to inform and inspire the leadership of our community’s child care providers and provide professional development opportunities for staff.
The 2022 symposium was held August 5 – 6 with 319 early learning professionals in attendance.
The speakers and workshops motivated participants to strengthen their centers’ programs for the benefit of staff and children alike.
To support our providers, we partnered with Austin Public Health to host curbside pickup events for providers to receive cleaning supplies and at-home testing kits. At our last event in December 2022, we distributed 20 pallets’ worth of supplies to 134 providers.
Use the hashtag #ProviderAppreciationDay on social media to follow the Provider Appreciation Day momentum. How will you celebrate? Tell us in a comment below!
We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze our traffic. By clicking “Accept All” you consent to our use of cookies. Privacy Policy
