WAGES Plus, WAGES Plus Quality+, and WAGES+ Family Child Care

WAGES Plus provides hourly wage supplements to child care teachers and support staff working in participating centers. The lowest WAGES Plus rate begins at $9.00 per hour for eligible entry level teachers and support staff to a maximum of $17.05 for eligible Site Supervisors. The hourly supplement is the difference between the center’s pay and the qualifying wage floor, which is based on a combination of the teacher’s education and responsibilities within the center. There are currently 30 centers with 61 sites currently participating in WAGES Plus. The average hourly increase for staff is $1.69, an increase of $3,515 per year, based on a 40-hour work week. Nearly 3,000 children are served in participating WAGES Plus centers.

WAGES Plus Quality+ provides enhanced wages, recognizing tenure and requires an external assessment using the Harms, Clifford and Cryer Environment Rating scales. The Quality+ enhanced wage floors ($9.00 - $17.25) provide $.10 annual increases based on the length of service in the center for a maximum of 5 years. Participating centers are required to participate in a one-unit course at City College of San Francisco and a quality assessment by the assessment team from Partners for Quality Child Care. Currently 27 out of the 30 WAGES Plus centers are participating in the Quality+ component of the program. The average hourly increase for eligible staff is $2.09, an increase of $4,347 per year, based on a 40-hour work week.

WAGES+ Family Child Care began in April 2002 to support family child care providers serving low-income children. To be eligible for WAGES+ FCC family child care providers must care for at least one subsidy-eligible child, who is currently not receiving a child care subsidy due to lack of adequate funding. Participating family child care providers receive a $200 per month scholarship to support the subsidy-eligible child. Eligible teachers employed by participating family child providers receive the Quality+ wage floors based on their education and responsibilities. WAGES+ FCC participants are required to complete the one-unit course at City College of San Francisco and be externally assessed by the Partners for Quality Child Care project. There are currently 134 providers participating in WAGES+ FCC with 38 eligible staff. The average hourly increase for eligible staff is $2.19, an increase of $3,303 per year, based on a 29-hour work week. Currently 828 children are served by participating WAGES+ Family Child Care providers.

For more information contact Elise Crane, Program Analyst for WAGES Plus at (415) 557-5671 or Elise_Crane@ci.sf.ca.us or Natalie Brutto, Program Consultant for WAGES+ Family Child Care at (415) 863-4642 or Nbrutto@aol.com.