Action 5 Questions

Delegates will vote on Actions 5 and 6 separately, but in the implementation phase, Montrose could consider where action administration could be effectively combined.

Action 5 relies on volunteers, but also people who would be willing to work for minimum wage, class credit or other forms of compensation. Action 5 also calls for every one of those folks (volunteer or otherwise) to participate in about 20 hours of childcare training in order to be licensed caregivers by the State of Colorado. Training people who are interested is central to the Action.

No, there has not been a formal survey on this question. The viability of Care Corps is premised on three concepts:

First, it does not assume all Care Corps members will be volunteers. The budget calls for 25% of Corps members to be volunteers and 75% to be paid minimum wage (with 70% of the wages paid by the Provider and 30% by the Corps). The hope is that, over time, a higher percentage of Care Corps members can be recruited as volunteers.

Second, while it is not reasonable to assume any volunteer program will work (volunteers can be unreliable), professionally run volunteer organizations have a good track record recruiting and retaining volunteers. These tend to be larger organizations, like hospitals, public botanical gardens, food banks, and youth sports programs. So, the budget assumes full-time staff to run the Care Corps volunteer program at that level of professionalism.

Finally, there are over 30,000 adults in Montrose. Using numbers from the budget, the program will achieve its target if 15 volunteers, on average, can be recruited and retained, and 45 individuals, on average, can be recruited to work for minimum wage or another form of compensation. At an average of 8 volunteer hours a week, that would yield almost 25,000 hours of childcare for Montrose annually.

Obviously, the Care Corps will be looking for Montrose residents to recruit who enjoy spending time with and teaching little kids.

The Montrose Recreation District has a large number of volunteer opportunities available. The majority of our volunteers are youth sports coaches (baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc.). Other opportunities within the sports realm are scorekeepers, officials (refs, umpires), field maintenance, and pickleball instructor or tournament helper. Outside of the sports realm, there are volunteer opportunities in the after school programs, climbing wall instruction, landscaping, senior center activity leaders, 50+ tour drivers, and many more! There is a formal (but simple) onboarding process for volunteers, there is no public access portal for people to see our volunteer opportunities. If you have a passion to spread to the community, the Montrose Recreation Department wants to hear from you For now, interested volunteers should contact Debby Zarkis, Business Operations and Project Coordinator at debby@montroserec.com, 970-249-7705.

Colorado Mesa University offers classes in early childhood education. Students complete observations and field work at places like Maslow Academy, Bright Beginnings, Sonshine Patch, the school district and others in the surrounding area. In the past two years, Maslow and Bright Beginnings has hired 3-5 teachers who completed Early Childhood Education coursework at CMU.

The 20 hours of training is the same as what is required for regular childcare employees, at least the lowest level employees. The bulk of that training happens online through Colorado Shines, the state’s portal for all-things childcare.

It is important that the volunteers are licensed. Childcare centers and licensed homecare need a certain number of licensed childcare teachers depending on how many kids in their program. So volunteers (like parents) who are not licensed can provide helping hands in a classroom, but do not reduce the number of licensed staff that needs to be available. Care Corps could reduce the staff hours needed, and shift the savings to pay their career early childhood educators a better wage, and hopefully, benefits.

The Early Childhood Service Corps is a Denver-based organization that works in Colorado to “integrate older adults into the early childhood field.” This organization provides training to cohorts of adults over the age of 50 to fill roles at early learning sites as either classroom volunteers, substitute teachers, or business advisors. As of April 2023, there were 56 substitute teachers (called Encore Subs) and 14 volunteers providing classroom, operations, or office support. Placements were across 19 different counties at early learning sites partnered with the nonprofit, according to an article from The Colorado Sun.

That depends if there is a licensed substitute available to step in (another licensed volunteer or career early childhood educator). If there is no substitute and a Childcare Center is counting on a volunteer, there is an emergency protocol that allows the provider to temporarily use a Teacher’s Aide. A Teacher’s Aide needs a background check and to have taken the Pre-Service courses on the Colorado Shines online training site. Normally, they are only allowed to help licensed teachers, not act as a teacher themselves (for purposes of having an adequate number of teachers based on the number of students). Chrissy Simmons, head of Maslow Academy, notes that in situations like these, sometimes it is hard to even find a Teacher’s Aide

Your question brings up a potential benefit of Care Corps: creating a larger pool of licensed volunteers who could substitute on a last minute basis anywhere in Montrose.

We believe it is as straightforward as telling the volunteer that they have been kicked out of the Care Corps program. In practice, it is probably a good idea to clearly set expectations for volunteers, and also be clear about what volunteers can expect from the organization. So, if there is a problem, the organization knows what to do and how to do it, and the volunteer isn’t surprised.

It’d be great to hear any thoughts you have on this (e.g. what Care Corps should expect of volunteers and what volunteers should expect of Care Corps)

For what it’s worth: Although we couldn’t easily find specific rules that apply to volunteers, Colorado is an At-Will Employment State. That means employees can be terminated by their employer at any time for (nearly) any reason, and employees can quit at any time for any reason. So, if there is some rule governing volunteers out there, it seems likely that standard for employees applies to volunteers also. (There are, however, some rules governing volunteer firefighters!)

By law, you have to be at least 16 years old to get licensed by the state of Colorado as an early childhood provider and to work in a childcare center. And you need to be at least 18 years old to work in a room serving infants.

Currently, Bright Futures has grants that providers can apply for when they want to get licensed or go through the rating process. That money can be used for coaching (technical assistance), training hours, or purchasing things like training materials. Provider start-up grants can also be used for capital improvements (like fencing or remodeling) that are needed to meet licensing requirements. Bright Futures also has coaching for some early childhood sites that are completely free to the provider.

There will be a line item in the budget for the marketing, based on an estimate. Once the improvements are voted upon, the budgets will be prepared for Delegate review.

If you have thoughts on funding for Care Corp marketing, please pass it along!

The source of funding for any Actions will need to be determined at an implementation phase, if there is one.

Please see the Question, “If two-thirds of the Assembly agree on a Plan of Action, who would fund the solution and what are the limitations of that funding?” in Process Questions.

That’s true. It could be a fantastic opportunity for the right person, and finding the right person would be important.

That’s right. A volunteer is not paid. If the entire program could be entirely volunteer-based, that’d be great. But students might be motivated if it allowed them to earn class credit, or earn money toward a scholarship. In some cases, volunteers who need it, can get a stipend to cover transportation and other expenses.

But more to your question, if Care Corps could not attract enough volunteers, but it could attract people if they were paid minimum-wage, this would still be helpful to childcare centers and licensed homecare as long as the Care Corps member is licensed, good at the work, and shows up reliably. That should still allow the provider to shift at least some dollars around, and pay higher wages to career staff. That would especially be the case if the Care Corps program itself had a fund so it could split the cost with the provider.

Do you have any thoughts on attracting volunteers or paying members?

Great question. It’s hard to know. We know of stories of well-run volunteer organizations that give their volunteers a sense of belonging, purpose, and camaraderie and recognize and reward volunteer efforts. And these organizations can have volunteers who stay active for years. But clearly that won’t be everybody. Given the 20 hours of training, and the value of adults building longer-term relationships with children, it’s probably best to recruit fewer people who are more likely to stick with it. But that does make recruiting harder.

What ideas do you have on making recruiting for Care Corps successful?

Well, let us imagine that, once it is up and running and has figured out how to recruit and retain volunteers, that at any one time there are 50 Care Corps members working 6 hours a week. That works out to be more than 15,000 hours of volunteer time each year. That should have a significant impact on the childcare situation in Montrose. It is unlikely that volunteers alone, even with a very successful program, could completely turn around the childcare problem, but it could make a significant contribution to achieving the shared goal.

Well, it would likely be easier to recruit people. Seniors on fixed incomes who desire or need a little extra money might be easier to recruit if there was at least some pay. One idea from a Solutions Team member was to provide seniors who volunteer with a discount card they could use at local businesses, including from the internet providers, grocery stores and gas stations. Of course, those businesses would have to agree to participate in a discount program.

This is an implementation question, but it may make sense to start off trying strictly on a volunteer basis, and see how it goes before resorting to paying minimum wage or other forms of remuneration.

To become a volunteer with the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club, an inquiring person must fill out a volunteer application, which explicitly asks for two references, if they are legally allowed to work with children, and for consent to conduct a federal background check. The application also asks the inquiring person to list what skill sets they would like to volunteer to the organization. Upon approval of the application, an orientation must be completed. The time commitment for volunteers (6-8 hrs per month) is a mandatory requirement.

Below is a comprehensive list of the activities that volunteers can assist with at the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club:

• Program Volunteer: Helps with day-to-day activities by teaching:

  • Dance

  • Woodworking

  • Acting

  • Science

  • Help with homework

• Expert Volunteer: Helps with special projects for the youth by teaching:

  • Computer Programming

  • Business

  • Law Enforcement

• Special Event Volunteer: Helps coordinate, organize, and run fundraising and charity events

• Interns

  • College students who can transfer volunteer hours to “college credit”.

  • Requires a larger time commitment: 8-15 hours per week.

  • Must complete and adhere to employment requirements, as an employee would.

This is an important question to consider during your deliberation with your Trust. Based on your experiences in Montrose or the experiences of folks in your Trust, do you think those in need would take advantage of that specific Action idea?

This question will also be important to consider for any Actions that move on to the implementation phase. How much education in the community would be needed to ensure it's taken advantage of?