Enhanced Child Care Support and Teacher Retention Award (ECSTRA) Retention Bonus Program

Purpose

Young children thrive when they have stable and engaging relationships with their caregivers. Yet child care providers struggle to pay their staff a living wage, which contributes to the alarmingly high turnover rates in child care settings. The Enhanced Child Care Support and Teacher Retention Award (ECSTRA) Program seeks to help stabilize the early childhood educator workforce by directing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds directly to educators who remain in key child care roles, in the form of additional retention bonuses.

The ECSTRA program is inspired by a similar program in Virginia, the Teacher Recognition Program, which reduced teacher turnover rates by 50% in child care centers. Across the United States, many state and local governments are seeking to support the early childhood education workforce through increasing compensation. A major challenge facing policymakers is, given constrained funding and a need to balance bonus sizes with reaching a larger population of early childhood educators, whether offering larger bonuses indeed leads to greater impacts on retention and other outcomes. Findings from the ECSTRA program will help to inform these and other questions, both for MSDE and for other policy contexts. 

Maryland early educators may apply for the program and provide the Maryland State Department of Education with up-to-date and accurate information about their employment status. To participate in the ECSTRA program, individual early educators must apply for the program, meet certain eligibility criteria, and agree to participate in a lottery to determine the size of the retention bonus they will be eligible to receive. Applicants will be notified if they are in the ECSTRA program in October 2023. ECSTRA participants will receive their ECSTRA retention bonuses if they remain employed in the same program in an eligible role from the start of the ECSTRA program for at least 5 months to receive the first half of the retention bonus, and at least 8 months to receive the second half of the bonus.



When will the application be open?

This Program Information Guide was released on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.


Application Submission Date

MSDE early educators must apply no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, October 3, 2023



Customer Service Support Sessions

The MSDE will hold six customer service support sessions for providers. During these sessions, MSDE personnel will review the application form submission process and answer any questions about the program or process. Click on the dates and times below to attend a session:

Customer Service Support Session 1

Wednesday, August 23, 2023
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
View the Recording

Customer Service Support Session 2

Thursday, August 24, 2023
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Join video call

Customer Service Support Session 3

Wednesday, August 30, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
View the Recording

Customer Service Support Session 4

Wednesday,  September 6, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
View the Recording

Customer Service Support Session 5

Wednesday,  September 13, 2023
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.  (Office Hours)
View the Recording

Customer Service Support Session 6

Thursday, September 14, 2023
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.  (Office Hours)
View the Recording

Customer Service Support Session 7

Wednesday,  September 20, 2023
11:00 a.m. (Office Hours)
Join video call

Customer Service Support Session 8

Monday, October 2, 2023
11:00 a.m. (Office Hours)
Join video call


Questions
If you have questions about the application or the process, please contact the Program Monitor: 

Dr. Shayna Cook
Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Early Childhood 
410-767-0342
ecstra.msde@maryland.gov 

A list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers is here, and the customer service support sessions will be available on the MSDE Grants office website.


Program Contacts
Dr. Shayna Cook
Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Early Childhood 
Maryland State Department of Education 
(410) 767-0342
ecstra.msde@maryland.gov

Justin Dayhoff
Assistant State Superintendent, Financial Planning, Operations, and Strategy
Maryland State Department of Education 
(410) 767-0439
justin.dayhoff@maryland.gov

 
Resources
Program Information Guide (PDF)