In 2020, about 9,000 Pennsylvania childcare workers qualified for the Education and Retention Award (ERA), which offered up to $3,000 for workers (and $4,000 for directors) who enrolled in higher education programs.
However, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning recently announced that ERA funding will be repurposed to provide a one-time award of $600 to 33,000 workers.
Childcare experts have expressed concern that this change may complicate the retention of educated workers.