CDA® Investor Impact Series

November 20, 2024
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Judith Santmire: On Dollars and Ideals

Judith’s background is in finance, and she’s used her business skills at organizations ranging from Ohio Energy Project to Sofa Express. Now for the past 20 years, she’s been working at Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association (OCCRRA), where she serves as COO and invests in the most crucial resource that we have: our youngest children. “I enjoy making a difference by helping the early learning workforce that supports our children,” Judith says. She improves the quality of early childhood education by partnering with state stakeholders and institutions of higher education to help educators earn a degree or Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™.

The CDA® is a hallmark of quality child care, and Judith realized the importance of skilled teachers after having her son, RJ. “He was born in 2007, three years after I came to work at OCCRRA,” Judith recalls. And she paid attention when she heard her colleagues talk about the programs that OCCRRA was running to help teachers ramp up their skills. “Soon, I began asking our early learning specialists what I should be doing as a parent to help RJ develop at home,” Judith says. “Then, when he got a little older, I asked my colleagues what I should be looking for in child care. So, I began to gain insights on what quality child care means.”

Since then, Judith has seen OCCRRA’s work through the lens of parents, and that has increased her commitment to help Ohio’s educators develop as professionals in ECE. As OCCRRA’s COO, Judith administers TEACH Early Childhood® Ohio Scholarships for over 1,000 people each year. “These TEACH scholars, as we call them, include 800 CDA candidates,” Judith says, “and we give them both coaching and financial support to ensure they complete the credentialing process and earn a CDA.”

The CDA is “a wonderful first step,” Judith says. “Once the TEACH scholars complete their CDA, OCCRRA encourages them to go on with their education,” Judith says, “and we’ve made great strides in connecting them with institutions of higher education. In Toledo, for example, the YWCA of Northwest Ohio, one of OCCRRA’s member agencies, has had an agreement for some years with Owens Community College in Toledo. So, educators who earn their CDA at the YWCA are dual enrolled at Owens and can complete their associate degree at the college.”

And the CDA has opened more doors since July 2023 when Ohio included the credential in its ITAG, or industry recognized credential transfer assurance guide. “As a result, anyone who has an active CDA can go to any associate degree program in the state and receive up to nine hours of college credit,” Judith explains. “This recognition honors the value of the CDA and also builds bridges for early childhood teachers to step toward future goals in employment.”

Another way that OCCRRA is helping early childhood teachers move ahead is by launching an apprenticeship program to help educators earn their associate degree “We just completed the work to have the apprenticeship program registered with the state department of labor,’” Judith says. “We’ve begun sending out marketing publications to child care employers, so we can get their buy-in and attract mentors to spur rising teachers ahead. We’ll be piloting the associate degree apprenticeship early in 2025 and expect to start a CDA-based apprenticeship program later in the year.” Once the apprenticeship programs begin, Judith will be using her business skills to ensure the programs are properly staffed, managed and funded.

That will entail dealing with a lot of data and dollars, an activity that makes up a large part of Judith’s job. “I do a lot of reporting,” Judith says, “and I partner with our member child care resource and referral agencies to make sure they’re getting the word out about TEACH scholarships statewide. I also make sure they’re on track for the number of scholarships we’re supposed to give out and that they’re able to get candidates to completion. So, it’s a lot of numbers tracking and crunching,” Judith admits.

Still, Judith knows the faces behind the figures she puts on a report or balance sheet. And one of them belonged to Tina, a TEACH scholar who came to OCCRRA as a child care aide. “Tina started by earning her CDA, then went on to earn her associate and bachelor’s degrees with TEACH funding. She became an administrator at a child care program, earned her master’s degree and now works as a technical advisor for a child care resource and referral agency that is among OCCRRA’s members statewide.”

Tina is helping to get the word out about the programs OCCRRA provides, and center directors have already seen the value of encouraging staff to earn their CDA, Judith says. “They tell me that the CDA holders have better connections with families, a better understanding of how to implement lesson plans and a better command of classroom management. Center directors can see a difference, so they’re excited to have these new CDA holders in their classrooms,” Judith says. And educators also talk about the benefits of the TEACH program in the feedback they provide to OCCRRA every year.

Some recent accolades for the program came from Barbara, a seasoned family child care provider and grandmom who recently earned her bachelor’s degree. “Some people become discouraged when I suggest that they take advantage of TEACH scholarships,” Barbara wrote. And she admitted to also being hesitant at first. But Barbara changed her mind when she learned that she would have college credit after earning her CDA. “TEACH helped me enroll in college and answered any questions I had along the way,” Barbara recalls. “Now I encourage all my colleagues to take advantage of this great opportunity to gain knowledge and degrees. I never thought I’d have this chance and it’ s helped me be a better ECE professional for the children and families I serve.”

That’s the return on investment that Judith is looking for, as she explains. “Giving children and families quality child care has been my goal for 20 years and I still remember all the questions I had about child care when my son RJ was young. So, OCCRRA and its member agencies work hard to get information out to parents statewide about what to look for in programs for their children,” Judith says.

And supporting educators in Ohio advances a broader goal, as Judith explains. “My organization is part of the Alliance for Early Education in our state, and we do some policy efforts to improve access to child care. Besides that, we’re working on budget initiatives with the new Ohio Department of Children and Youth (ODCY) on budget initiatives. Recently, Ohio brought together five departments to form ODCY, and the department’s main goals are to reduce infant mortality, ramp up school readiness, and cut down on the number of children in foster care. And we’re now working with ODCY on budget initiatives to achieve these goals,” as Judith explains.

Her finance skills should help. So should the sense of passion she’s always felt for her work at OCCRRA. Sure, Judith spends much of her day thinking about budgets and dollars, but she holds fast to higher ideals. “Helping Ohio’s children and families has been a driver for me,” Judith says. She knows that investing in teachers who serve the state’s children and families is one of the best investments you can make.

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