South Carolina bonus program aims to help ease child-care crisis

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - For many families, parents can’t work if they don’t have child care – and that can have a major effect on their employers and the economy.

But early learning centers say they’re facing increased challenges in hiring and retaining the workers who are essential to keep operations going.

This past February – the South Carolina Department of Social Services launched a new program called S.C. Boost, and it’s similar to efforts in other states that aim to child-care workers.

“It’s just really hard for teachers who care so much about children and are highly qualified to work in early child care and to have a financially stable life,” said Mary Dell Hayes with St. Michael and All Angels Early Learning Center.

The challenge is faced at child-care centers across South Carolina.

“We face a really tight labor market, where we are competing with McDonald’s, with Target, large corporations who can continually increase their hourly rate and offer a great benefits package, where most small church day cares just don’t have that capacity,” Hayes said.

S.C. Boost offers one-time bonuses to eligible child-care employees.

The South Carolina Department of Social Services reports more than 7,400 workers across the state have received a total of $8.4 million since the program started in February.

Officials are working hard to incentivize child-care employees “because we know child care can’t operate and can’t function without folks in the classroom,” said Connelly-Anne Ragley with the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

If there aren’t enough workers, centers legally cannot accept new families – and sometimes are not allowed to be open.

“Which means children can’t come to school and parents can’t go to work,” Hayes said. “It’s an extraordinary trickle-down effect between the connection of child care and families being able to continue to participate in the economy.”

To qualify, workers have to be in a direct-care position for at least six months in a state-regulated child-care program – and earn less than a certain income threshold.

“We’re really trying to strengthen child-care workers in South Carolina,” Ragley said. “They are educators, and we know sometimes that the pay can be low for taking care of one of South Carolina’s most treasured possessions, and that’s our children.”

All the money that’s been given out through S.C. Boost so far comes from federal pandemic relief dollars.

Once that runs out, DSS says it hopes to receive some state dollars to keep the program going.

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