Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) and the Council for Professional Recognition are launching a new pilot to address a critical driver of the nation’s child care crisis – a shortage of early childhood educators. Florida, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio have been selected to participate in CDA: The Best First Step, a two-year pilot to strengthen the Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™ as the entry point into the child care profession. The pilot is a partnership initiative of CCAoA, the Council for Professional Recognition, and the Child Care Trust.
Unlike many essential professions, child care does not have a clear, consistent entry point into the field, making it harder to recruit, prepare and retain the skilled educators children need. This contributes to the national gap in child care coverage. Nearly 4.2 million children in the U.S. do not have access to child care within a reasonable distance. The gap is even greater in rural communities.
The five selected states will receive funding and support to expand access to the CDA®, strengthen career pathways and help advance a national goal of having at least one CDA-credentialed educator in every child care classroom. Research shows that educators with early childhood credentials were significantly more likely to stay in the field (65% retention) compared to those with only a high school diploma (46%).
The CDA offers states a solution they can put to work now. The nationally recognized, competency-based credential prepares educators for the realities of the classroom, is portable across programs and state lines and can serve as a bridge to continued education and career growth. The U.S. Department of Defense child care system already uses the CDA as a foundational credential for its workforce.
“Child care needs a clear starting line, and we don’t have to invent one,” said Susan Gale Perry, CEO of Child Care Aware® of America. “The CDA is a practical, proven way to better prepare and retain the skilled educators children need, while giving educators a pathway to grow. These five states will help show how we can make that strong first step available nationwide.”
Through CDA: The Best First Step, CCAoA and the Council will work with the five states to expand access to the credential and strengthen the pathways around it. The pilot will test what works in different state contexts and identify the policies, partnerships and supports needed to make the CDA a consistent entry point for the child care profession nationwide.
“The CDA recognizes something fundamental. Great early educators need more than knowledge. They need to know how to put that knowledge into practice with children every day,” said Dr. Calvin E. Moore, Jr., CEO, Council for Professional Recognition. “These five states are helping us build a pathway that gives more educators the preparation they need to succeed from day one and the opportunity to keep growing throughout their careers.”
Each state will identify practical ways to make the CDA accessible and help educators leverage the credential as they advance their careers. This could include making training and coaching easier to obtain and afford, helping educators earn college credit for the CDA, ensuring the credential counts toward state child care qualifications and career advancement and removing barriers that make it harder to earn. States will also explore policy changes that can sustain these improvements after the pilot ends. Throughout the two-year pilot, states will receive ongoing support from CCAoA and the Council, learn from one another and track what works so those lessons can inform efforts in other states.
“I saw firsthand at the Department of Defense how the CDA provides a practical foundation for building a skilled, stable child care workforce. We don’t need to start from scratch to strengthen the early childhood workforce. We can build on what works and create clearer, more accessible pathways for educators nationwide,” said Linda Smith, Executive Director, Child Care Trust.
The five selected states will bring distinct opportunities and priorities to the pilot:
Florida: Led by the Early Childhood Policy Research Group at the University of Florida Anita Zucker Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Studies, Florida will strengthen the alignment between the CDA® and its existing Florida Child Care Professional Credential, expand competency-based training and coaching, and provide local grants focused on rural communities and family child care providers. The state aims to increase the number of educators earning a CDA each year by more than 10% by 2027 while making lasting changes that support career advancement.
Kansas: The Kansas Office of Early Childhood and Child Care Aware of Kansas will create a more coordinated path to the CDA®, helping navigate training and higher education and providing financial assistance and incentives along the way. Kansas aims to support 200 educators in earning a CDA by 2028, with a focus on rural, family child care, bilingual and underrepresented educators.
Michigan: Michigan AEYC and MiLEAP will offer preschool educators a structured six-month path to earning a CDA®, including personalized coaching, scholarships and credentialing support. The initiative aims to support 250 preschool associate teachers while developing a statewide model that can meet rising workforce needs over time.
North Dakota: Child Care Aware of North Dakota and the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services will expand scholarships, mentorship and training and help educators earn a CDA®. With an emphasis on rural communities, family child care providers and other underserved educators, the state aims to increase the number of educators earning CDAs and strengthen long-term workforce retention.
Ohio: The Ohio Department of Children and Youth and the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association will build on the state’s more than 8,000 active CDA® credentials by expanding coaching, creating pathways for high school students, supporting family child care providers and helping educators renew expired credentials. Ohio plans to recruit more than 400 early childhood professionals and support at least 288 in earning a new CDA credential over the next two years.
The pilot is expected to run from October 2026 through May 2028. CCAoA will bring together lessons from the five states to identify what works across different settings and use those insights to support broader adoption of the CDA as a consistent entry point for the child care profession nationwide.
The initiative is funded by the Council for Professional Recognition, which has administered the national CDA credentialing program for more than 40 years and has credentialed over one million individuals. Together, CCAoA and the Council are supporting states in testing approaches that can strengthen CDA access and integration while generating lessons to inform a national strategy for a stronger, more professional early childhood workforce.
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Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is the country’s leading voice for child care, championing equitable access to affordable, high-quality care.
CCAoA engages with partners at the local, state and federal levels, including the United States Military and the Department of Defense, to make child care programs, policies and funding work better for children, families, child care providers and communities.
About the Council for Professional Recognition:
The Council for Professional Recognition advances career pathways for early childhood educators through high-quality, competency-based credentialing. The Council recognizes and credentials professionals who work in all types of early care and education settings including Head Start, pre-k, infant-toddler, family child care, and home visitor programs. As a nonprofit organization, the Council sets policies and procedures for assessment and credentialing. To date, over 1 million Child Development Associate® (CDA) credentials have been issued around the world. For more information, visit www.cdacouncil.org.