Take Action: Child Care Teacher Shortage in Cabarrus County
23% - That's how much of the birth to five population in Cabarrus County is being served in child care slots; that's 3,823 children.
9,146 - That's how many slots child care facilities are licensed to serve in Cabarrus County.
Why are there 5,323 slots open?
Child care facilities are struggling to find qualifying staff and retain them while still keeping tuition affordable for families.
Stabilization Grants for child care facilities were put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic to help offset the costs of staying open to serve essential employees, however these stabilization grants are going to be ending in the not so distant future.
Cabarrus Teachers On Call
In 2024, the Cabarrus County Partnership for Children was awarded State Directed Grant Funds that enabled it to begin a program called Cabarrus Teachers On Call.
Implemented by P.U.R.E. Excellence, an organization that specializes in providing early childhood education training, modeling, and coaching, Cabarrus Teachers On Call is working to recruit, train, and equip a job-ready pool of qualified early educators for substitute teaching roles in child care centers in Cabarrus County.
Cabarrus Teachers On Call removes the barriers preventing many individuals from pursuing careers in early childhood education by providing a free training cohort that fully equips them for taking on effective substitute teaching roles inside of local child care centers. The program partners with child care centers throughout the county, connecting trained early education substitute teachers with centers that are struggling to keep classrooms open due to staff shortages.
Why does this program matter?
Cabarrus Teachers On Call recruits, trains, orients, coaches, and observes Early Childhood Educators in Cabarrus County.
The program:
- Provides fully funded training and coaching for individuals pursuing careers in early childhood education, but have barriers preventing them from receiving the appropriate training to become employed in a child care centers.
- Ensures these teachers have everything they need to walk into a child care center with the credentials required by DCDEE to be a substitute teacher in an early education setting.
- Connects teachers to on-call substitute teaching positions inside Cabarrus County child care centers, providing them with the experience they need to seek permanent positions within the industry.
- Offers a job-ready pool of substitute teachers specifically trained in early childhood education so that child care centers can remain fully staffed and open when they experience staff shortages
- Provides stability for families in Cabarrus County who rely on child care centers and family homes to care for their children when they are working
- Provides stability for employers in Cabarrus County who have staff depending on child care in order to come to work each day
Grant funding for Cabarrus Teachers On Call will be depleted before the needs are fully met in Cabarrus County.
State Directed Grant Funds have enabled us to start one cohort of ten individuals, but it is only the beginning.
Let’s continue to bridge the gap and get child care facilities and willing individuals trained and connected.
Your donation will go towards continuing to support child care facilities and early educators when they need it the most. It will assist them in nurturing children and preparing them for success in life.
Let’s write more early education stories with happy endings!
Please donate to support Cabarrus Teachers on Call.
If you would like to learn more about participating in the Cabarrus Teachers On Call program, please contact Waynett Taylor with P.U.R.E. Excellence at 336-588-7833.