Karla Houghtalin is the program manager in early childhood business management at Southwest Human Development in Phoenix. She holds a master’s degree in early childhood education, curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University.
In this podcast, she shares what’s happening with shared services, a topic that is incredibly relevant in the child care industry today.
Karla describes the genesis of the business initiative that began her organization's work in shared services, including the early pieces of putting it together.
She talks about "the four pillars" of how child care providers can create a strong foundation to be a sustainable program.
She says providers must know their worth, which includes making sure they're being paid promptly and fairly by parents.
Karla says that automating child care businesses saves providers time and money, and has tips for how to help beyond automation. She also describes the role of business coaching in running a successful program, and shares advice for providers who live in places where a shared-services option isn't available.
Karla Houghtalin is the program manager in early childhood business management at Southwest Human Development in Phoenix. She holds a master’s degree in early childhood education, curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University.
In this podcast, she shares what’s happening with shared services, a topic that is incredibly relevant in the child care industry today.
Karla describes the genesis of the business initiative that began her organization's work in shared services, including the early pieces of putting it together.
She talks about "the four pillars" of how child care providers can create a strong foundation to be a sustainable program.
She says providers must know their worth, which includes making sure they're being paid promptly and fairly by parents.
Karla says that automating child care businesses saves providers time and money, and has tips for how to help beyond automation. She also describes the role of business coaching in running a successful program, and shares advice for providers who live in places where a shared-services option isn't available.
Welcome to the childcare business podcast brought to you by pro care solutions. This podcast is all about giving childcare, preschool, daycare after school and other education professionals, a fun and upbeat way to learn about strategies and inspiration you can use to thrive. You'll hear from a variety of childcare thought leaders, including educators, owners, and industry experts on ways to innovate, to meet the needs of the children you serve from practical tips for managing operations, to uplifting stories, transformation, and triumph. This podcast will be chalk full in insights. You can use to fully realize the potential of your childcare business. Let's jump in
Speaker 2:Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the childcare business podcast, you know, uh, really looking forward to today's show. I'm gonna let you introduce yourself if you can, and I'm gonna make sure I'm gonna take a stab, cuz I do this all the time at pronouncing your last name correctly. It's Carla Howlin. Is that correct?
Speaker 3:It is not. It is H talent and that's you probably think that because, um, pronounce it correctly. Yes.
Speaker 2:All right, so let's get this let's let's flesh this out a little bit. It make sure. So it is not how to lend and you've been so kind to me cuz you and I have talked many times over the past, you know, year plus mm-hmm<affirmative> so the correct pronunciation of your last name, I'm gonna have you say it one last time is what
Speaker 3:H
Speaker 2:H town. So how often would you say when people are pronouncing your last name, you have to correct them.
Speaker 3:If I correct them, it would be a hundred percent of the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a, well, my last name as you know is gualt and so it's similar. It's very often I have to, like people will ask how do you pronounce it? Do you know the, the origin of your last name? Like what?
Speaker 3:So I, I believe it has some Polish ancestry, but
Speaker 2:Okay. But
Speaker 3:It's, I'd have to ask my husband more about that.
Speaker 2:<laugh> yeah. Where that come? Oh, you married into the last name. That's the same as that's the same as my wife. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I did. Got it.
Speaker 2:And, and then Carla, can you talk a little bit about, you know, one of the reasons I wanted to have you on our show and we'll dive into this a little bit is around your word in, in the shared services world and, and some of the things that you guys are doing there in Arizona, but I, what I wanted to start with maybe is to talk a little bit about the organization that you work with Southwest human development, and maybe even pre some of the work you're doing in, in the shared service world. Like what is the, what is the mission initiative of Southwest human development? What do they do there in the Phoenix area? And then maybe you could talk a little bit about when you join the organization and, and your role with them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love it. So Southwest human development is the largest nonprofit in the state of Arizona that works for and with children and their families, um, birth to five. So the focus is early childhood education, whether that be disability services, whether that be, um, in-home and help, whether that be working with childcare providers, just like we are, um, quality, first assessments, quality, first coaching. So we have a whole screening department Southwest right now has over 40 programs that assist children, families, and their providers, and over a thousand and employees. And I believe we've been inception since 1984. So
Speaker 2:Wow. A thousand employees, is that statewide across the state of Arizona or is it mostly focused on like the greater Phoenix area? What, where what's the reach?
Speaker 3:So Southwest is housed in Phoenix. Many of our programs are statewide. So for example, our program is statewide. So we serve, um, statewide providers, our assessment, um, we're contracted to do all the quality first assessments. That's a statewide program. Training is statewide. We, so we have some just Maricopa county programs, which is the, of Phoenix, but we also have a lot of programs statewide.
Speaker 2:Got it. And, and then Southwest, originally, even in their original charter, it was always focused on that birth to five year old. You know, segment's always been kind of the same mission in terms of approach.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Always, always to assist and to have best outcomes for, or children and their families.
Speaker 2:Excellent. And then, and then in particular like your role, cause I know mm-hmm,<affirmative>, you know, a lot of those outreaches work directly with families and connecting families with resources, but then there's this channel that focuses on partnering with the childcare providers throughout the state. And obviously that's really important because those providers have to erect contact and relationships with the families and the students is the partnership or the work you guys are doing in the early ECE field with providers mm-hmm<affirmative> is, is that fairly new or does that also go back many years with what Southwest is doing
Speaker 3:So that, not the business piece, but the work with Southwest for many years, because they have been in doing quality improvement programs in with providers for decades. And so that has just been an extension. And that's also how this program got started as an extension program to one of the quality programs that they were operating at the time.
Speaker 2:Okay. Got it. And so let's, let's talk about, I mean, it's, it's been, you, you know, this, you know, Monique Reynolds, who we had with, you know, quality care for children in Georgia. And I know you worked really closely with the group at opportunities exchange and Louise and Sharon, this theme around shared services continues to come up more and more in our world. And so, you know, as a disclaimer, uh, you know, for our audience listening, I, I work pretty closely with Carla. My team works with Carla and her team. They do utilize our software and aspects of their program and that's kind of where our conversation have always, um, originated. But based on that, Carla, you know, and our ability and opportunities to talk with you over time, it's been interesting to watch how your Alliance and project has unfolded. And so I thought it would be really helpful for others to hear how it all started with at Southwest human development around these business outcomes and the funding that came forward and then how you guys started the project. So maybe, uh, if you could, could you speak to how, like the very Genesis of the actual, like this business initiative that you guys had, how that started and what the early pieces were to put it together?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. And I'm even gonna go step back and tell you even how I got started Southwest and this program. So I'm a third generation Arizona, and I've been passionate about system changes in this community, my community for children and families for over 20 years. So I've been creating programs for children and with disabilities, um, early care and education programs, programs for foster children and families. And so having this opportunity to work with Southwest human development in this way was such an exciting venture. So in 2019, Southwest human development partner was in partner was first things first. And they were doing a small pilot extension, um, of a quality improvement program that they were working on. And that the idea at the time was to see if adding business coaching to those few childcare providers would show improvements in their practices. And so I was chosen by Southwest to work with 13 sites and provide some basic business coaching to them. And that really was an immediate success in collection of tuition and increasing in enrollment. And then the COVID 19 pandemic with shortly after we started. And so that need right for business acumen came front and center. And so that's really where we started. Could we take these 13 providers? Could we see improvements? And, and we did. And then we had to tweak, right, because the COVID 19 happened and then, and everyone wanted business practices. Everyone wanted to talk about it and, and start doing that.
Speaker 2:And, and when you say like how it came front and center, when the pandemic hit, because I know it's, it's actually been refreshing like for so long. So many of our conversations were around the pandemic and it does feel like there's this, um, focus of, of a lot of people feeling like maybe we're, we're moving past that, but I do rewinding back to March of 2020 in, in terms of what you guys saw happen, where all these providers were like really hungry business coaching, like what caused that? Wasn't the fact that now they realize like, Hey, we can't just rely on a waiting list. And, and our schools are busting at the seams. We've gotta have tight business practices cuz we're trying to hang on. Is that a fair like assessment?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think for me, what I saw was providers just didn't, they were already didn't have much wiggle room and they couldn't be prepared cuz the system didn't allow them to be prepared. So we couldn't have large emergency funds because the funds weren't there to do it. And so there was kind of a scramble of, can I stay open? How do I stay open? How do I serve families and children? And I think all also a realization I need some help and guidance and now I'm ready to hear I'm really, I have the time because a lot of people were closed, you know, help helped me do this. And so we saw that providers were interested and the state partners were interested and other organizations were interested and it just really became all front center. And so we had to really improve our program. We had to create it and tighten it and be ready for that expansion. It wasn't just gonna be this 13. It was gonna be really bigger. And so we had to develop that program further.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's amazing. And so going back to that time, Carla, where you were working with those 13 early providers, cause I kind of wanna maybe walk through a little bit about how things have changed over time and what some of your learnings were from those early days with those original providers. So with those original 13, do you remember as a business coach, were you given like an outline at that point of like, Hey Carla, these are the things we want you to go into these centers and focus on or was it more of a discovery process for you? And if so, any takeaways that you can remember as like the early learnings of like, Hey, these are things that are consistent across these providers that they need help with.
Speaker 3:So I love, I love that question because, um, I didn't have an outline. It really was a discovery process. We were working with opportunities to exchange and I had been introduced to the iron triangle. And so, you know, I had this business formula, but I think it was really listening and hearing what they were going through and, and then creating a assess so that we could get data. But you know, it was helping build capacity. Cause a lot of these providers didn't have budgets and so it was helping them create budgets. It was helping them understand their financial reports, create financial reports. And so when I really look back at that time and honestly Ryan even bringing it today, it's building that capacity and then also showing them ways, such as automation to save, save them time and money. So it was really hearing them what were their, what were their struggles and then creating a program that would work for them. And, and since then now we, our program has four pillars that we use. And so those first 13, I think they were, um, authors to help create this program.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I like the word authors I was, as you were saying that I was saying like maybe they were a little bit of like the Guinea pigs and the testing, but I like authors. That's a really like, they helped you guys build these pillars. I'm gonna come back to those four pillars cuz I would love to talk a little bit about like, you know, how you've built your program and some of the systems and processes since then. But I, I do wanna ask because opportunities exchange comes up a lot. Like for me personally, as we talk and engage with providers across the country and we're talking with different organizations that are, you know, looking into shared service alliances, you know, opportunities exchange obviously plays a pretty critical role. Uh, can you talk about how you were introduced to that group and maybe like what role does opportunities exchange, play? Maybe you can speak specifically with your group and Southwest human development. Like what role did they play in helping you guys, you know, kind of launch your initiative?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So our, um, CEO gender award had been, um, connected with, with Louis Stoney for, for many years. And so when this idea of shared services and business practices came up, um, we began consulting with them, I think more formally or I began consulting with them more formally. And it really was one of the best resources that we, you know, we have had. And, and that, that relationship with our opportunities exchange, it has driven and guided this program work right from the beginning. And it helps has helped people connect me to other alliances and other people in this field, um, which I've been able to learn from their learning experiences. And then I've been able to share my learning experiences for others who are interested. So, you know, we work with them quite intimately opportunities exchange. They have helped, um, guide us and really share their knowledge, their resources, um, their best practices. And then we have been able to take that, tweak it for the state of Arizona and then share that with our providers, which you know, has been amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. I love how you articulated that because one of the things I was gonna ask you and I asked this to Monique too, a few weeks ago when, when we spent some time talking about what they're doing in Georgia is to articulate, like if I'm a provider in Arizona and, and you come to me or I get connected with you and your group Carla, around, you know, the, the initiative that you guys are running with your Alliance, like how do you guys message to providers? The benefits that they're gonna receive from being part of the Alliance? Like I know they're are some funding benefits. Obviously you hit on some of the coaching benefits, but if you were talking to a provider, as your coaches has talked to providers, like, what is that, what is that value proposition or that pitch sound like what's in it for me as a provider to come partner with with the work that you guys are doing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I love that. So yes, there are some freebies, right? So we provide their prepare software for them. That's a benefit. We give them the hardware tablet to utilize. That's a benefit. They get, um, a subscription to our Arizona tool kit, which is the CCCA for good here in Arizona. So there, there are those Freed's and that, and that's a really cool piece, but also talk to them about how now they have a partner to walk beside them, um, with that individualized coaching and training to really help them with the things that they're struggling with. And I think it's the individualized piece that makes it special because sure we have some curriculum, some trainings we use, but it's the one on one that enforces that. And it really is having a partner and then learning these skills and U full utilization of these tools. Cuz a lot of people have these tools, a lot of providers, but they're not fully utilizing them, but now they have a partner that walks with them for full utilization, understanding terms, understanding best business practices can answer their questions, can reinforce those skills and risk, be a support to them. And so to me, that's time and money saved. It's that upfront investment of time that will save them time and energy in the long run, it will preventative, right? Just like medical. I wanna go to my doctor and I wanna do those preventative things. I need to do that in my business as well. I need to put in those preventative practices, but this time it's all about, I also have a relationship partner to walk alongside. I, I always call it like soft touch consulting, cuz I'm gonna gimme you advice. And I'm gonna give you suggestions of what I think you should do to improve your business. But I'm not gonna just leave you hanging. I am going to support you and walk with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I like how you described that because there are a lot of like consultants, I mean not just in our industry, but in all industries that provide similar type of resources, but for providers to be able to happen to, like you said, the coaching opportunities as well as like a community. I that's one of the, the questions I wanted to ask you too, like as a provider in, and I think I use the term Alliance. I don't know if that's how you guys refer to, you know, the group of providers that are part of, um, this initiative, but as a, as a childcare owner in this Alliance, what does that relationship look like on a practical level? I know the concept or the initiative is to have coaching and to drive better outcomes, but you mentioned there's one-on-one coaching as well as is there also like community environments where as a provider, I'm also interacting with all of the other providers that are part of the, the program. Is that accurate?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. So in this project right now, we call them a cohort. So we have a cohort right now that we're working with with the state of Arizona that has 80 provider, family care and centers and they also get, so they get there twice a month, um, individualized coaching, but then they also get to come together at least once a month to hear from a professional in the field. So that might be an accountant that might be someone, a pro care trainer that might be a mark specialists where they, um, the DS, um, through the state of Arizona has come to talk to them. And those are opportunities. These providers would never have to hear from business professionals to help them in their business. They get to come together as a group, they get to listen, they get to ask questions, they get to collaborate to get other. And that's actually, when we survey them some of their favorite parts is they just get this two hours once a month to come together and just talk and share experiences and ask questions and learn new skills and, and have connections.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's huge. I know we, we do that ourselves with our customer base sometimes, you know, we, we pull these trainings together and sometimes the feedback that's the most valuable for our customers is, oh, I got to talk with other pro care customers. And just to interact in that community is really valuable. Are there for you guys, in terms of providers that participate, they get the access to all these amazing benefits. Are there requirements that they have in order to participate initially and also to continue in the cohort or in the initiative that you guys measure them by and expect as a provider to participate in?
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're they, they do have some requirements. Um, and so we call of them assignments, but they're not grade, it's not graded homework. Um, what we would be talking about would be assessments. Like we do a pre-assessment and a post assessment. We do an intake where we get to know them and find out more about their business. Um, we have iron triangle assignments that they might have. So we like to look at it as every assignment is just for their, to help their business. If they don't have a budget, we're gonna help them build one. So they're gonna have to gather some data and do that. So every requirement, assignment, survey is all to help their business. And so, and that's how we've created it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's amazing. Not, not really any downside to being able to participate. Now you mentioned, I wanna go back to the four pillars that you guys have identified. Cause you know, I, I, I love getting into the weeds around the outcomes, the iron triangle, you've referenced a few times. So I wanna talk a little bit about how you guys view that and maybe some of the common themes that you see, but when you guys have identified these pillars, can you talk about what those are and then how that goes into your, like your coaching with your providers and, and how you use that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. That, yeah. I, I love to talk about the four pillars because I really believe just like our providers need to have a strong foundation to be a sustainable program. Our program has to have a, a, a strong foundation to be successful. And so we do have these four pillars. The first really is that opportunity exchange iron triangle, um, that this, this formula, we believe that just as they do that full enrollment to staff capacity and full fee collection and understanding that cost per child, whether I have a gap or I have an excess is essential to understanding the health of their business. So that is a huge piece. And we try to through out in the year that providers are with us, we try to bring that into the conversation every time. And then it is really that individualized coaching that retraining and keeping, maybe they learn something in a cohort meeting, but they might need some extra guidance. So let's reteach it. Or we have a career curriculum could be budgeting, could be financial reports, could be marketing, could be staffing and retention. And so we might give them that one-on-one training, but we're also in that individualized coaching, listening to their needs and tailoring those coaching sessions to what is the leveling up for them as well. And then we have what we, the vetted policies and procedures, because we don't want providers just pulling from anywhere. And so we give them mostly the resources from that toolkit that Arizona toolkit, but any other vetted policies and procedures, cause we want them to have those practices. Um, and then the fourth is automation. We believe that automation is tied to all of that work in a way to save providers, time and money, but just having automation isn't enough. So as part of that individualized coaching, we are walking hand in hand with them through that automation to full utilization. And those are our pillars.
Speaker 2:I like that. You've bucketed all for'em. Are you when it, when it comes to that iron triangle? Cause I know we we've talked a lot about this. I've talked a lot about it in the industry. When you guys initially do assessments with providers, is there any of those items, those three items in the iron triangle that stand out like as you know, what every single provider struggles with this particular area? Or is it, is it different it when you go into each center or are there some things that stand out, like at least when for our audience who's listening for a provider, who's trying to look at, maybe I don't have access to a shared service Alliance and maybe I don't have access to personalized coaching, but I'm trying to figure out how to look at my business a little more strategically. Are there some things that you guys have found to be consistent patterns that you would direct a provider to look at first, maybe from your experience?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's really, really interesting. I love that. So pre COVID, I would say being fully enrolled to staff capacity was huge because providers felt like they weren't fully enrolled or didn't understand what full enrollment to staff capacity meant. Um, for your family, child providers. I would say universally because sometimes the full enrollment to staff capacity is doesn't apply to them in the way that they sta cause it's them in their house with their four to 10 children. Um, but it's understanding that cost for child or they paying them or do they, they have, you know, are they making money? Are they losing money that cost per child for family childcare has been a huge eye opener for our participants. And so that has stood out. And then I would say for our centers really, um, is understanding, um, that full fee collection on time, every time. Um, because often what I've seen with providers here in Arizona is they don't know their worth, that they have a value that they are providing, that they, as providers have value and that they also have a valuable service that they're providing and they deserve to get paid on time. Every, their teachers deserve that they deserve that. And so we've done a lot of coaching on how to have difficult conversations with families about money, how to have those internal and external policies about how you collect those fees and then ways like automation to make easier for them. So it's doing the work for them so that they're not happy to stand at the door collecting because the parents are getting a reminder to pay and then they can just do a little click and make the payment or automatically have those, um, tuitions paid. So I would say really post pandemic for family childcare at the at cost trials stands out as a really important team and for our centers really understanding that they should and can collect that within on time every time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Do you guys find like Carla, when you talk with providers, do you find that that fear of collecting tuition or having those conversations? Is it more like an unrealistic fear that people are just uncomfortable with that once you put process and policy in place? Yeah. Parents will pay you on time, but oftentimes they, they, the path of least resistance is as a parent, if there's not really a policy and I can pay you when I'd like, that's kind of what I default to. Right. And is it so for providers, it's more the fear of it more than the reality of it, right?
Speaker 3:Oh, a hundred percent because parents know that they are, are getting a service and that service has to be paid for, but as providers, most of us did not get into this business. Um, because we were business people, we got into this business cuz we loved children. We loved families. We wanted to do good things for them. And so I see it more, not as we need to teach parents to pay us, we need to teach providers that their business leaders and that they can act as such that they can have those policies in place and they can have a handbook and they can have to tell parents, this is when your tuition is due. And, and they'll be a late fee if you don't pay that. And once they get that over that hurdle and that confidence, it is so exciting to see these providers really become business leaders.
Speaker 2:I love that you how they're empowered and they understand their worth. And you know, actually I don't know if it was Monique or Louise or maybe even yourself that had articulated this way to me, but I thought it was really insightful that you know, the best way that you can be a great service to your community as a childcare provider is to run a sustainable business, meaning get to a spot where your businesses sound that not any small economic shift could disrupt your ability to provide your service. And you know, part of that is collecting fees on time and making sure that you're requiring parents to pay you, like you said, when payment is due because as a community member being in a sustainable business is the best way for you to be, be, you know, steward, so to speak. And I thought that was, you know, sometimes providers think of it as, oh, I'm just being a bill collector or that's a difficult conversation with somebody that I really have a friendship with. Um, but when you flip it around a little bit from a standpoint of what's the best way for me to be a resource for these families, it's it's to run a tight business. So I like how you said that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. Because if you think about it, what we want more than anything, and I think this is what Southwest wants more than anything is quality childcare programs for children and their families. Right? And so there's nothing worse than a quality for early care and education program that isn't sustainable and goes way. And so what our program hopes to do and wants to do, and I think is doing, is helping those quality programs stay, stay sustainable. And so that they are spaces for those children and families. I think that's just essential.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's amazing. And is that, is that an outcome that you guys track Carly? Because like you just said at the end of the day, obviously providing better environments for the providers is a really critical initiative of your program. But if you play that all the way out, it's focused on making sure that these families and these children particular are being set up for success in these early years as part of your program, like maybe it's through enrollment capacities, maybe it's through like testing into like the public school system, once kids reach kindergarten. Is there that type of data available yet where you're able to start seeing the impact of quality care to outcomes for children? Or is, is it, do you think that's still a work in progress getting to that point?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think some of that data is still a work in progress for us because we're still really small, but we do track their enrollment to staff capacity. We attract their fee collections and we also track their patient and call quality improvement programs and, and we collaborate with, so if they have a quality first coach, we collaborate with that coach. So we are tracking their participation and are we seeing improvements in their collection, in their enrollment and, and really even small things, did they have a, a budget at start? Do they have a budget now? And so I really see this as capacity building, but I think we will get there as we get bigger as we expand. And as we're able to collect more data on more providers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That that's really exciting. I know that's kind of a theme of conversations. You and I have often, or at least our twos organizations around, like how can we help your team have visibility to some of this data so that you can track, like, what was the baseline where this provider started when they started participating and what are the, you know, the fancy KPIs, you know, um, key performance indicators that show the success that we're having with providers. Cause that's only gonna help everybody as you guys move forward. What do you think the go forward is for you guys in terms of these initiatives in Arizona? Because I, I know there's been lots of conversation, especially over the past couple years, post COVID with government funding and, and money coming from the federal government to the state level. Do, do you see shared services in Arizona continuing to build momentum? Is it staying steady? Is it continuing to be a fight to get funding? What's what's the, the current, uh, I guess temperature.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I see for us and our program just expanding and we have a great relationship with the state of Arizona, the department of economic security childcare administration. So I see us expanding. I think that the funding is there currently, um, so that we will be able to expand to more providers in the state with our current model of this traditional, that four pillars that I talked about. I also think that there is an opportunity to, um, expand more in as far as automation and technology and being able to ready providers for future technology in the state. And so I think that is coming in that side. And then we have plans to, um, pilot, some small, uh, shared service Alliance hubs throughout Maricopa county, so that we can give that back office, the support that of often other alliances are doing. And then we're also working on something really cool. Ryan is also, we wanna help tackle these staffing issues that are affecting all of the providers, right? And so we're working on solutions to provide both training and education for a, a strong workforce and offering that in those shared service Alliance hubs that we're hoping to pilot. And so I think there's so much coming for us. I think we have support in Arizona, which is amazing. People are interested. I think funding is there right now and that this program will continue just to evolve and expand and be able to help many, many more providers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, well said. I mean, I definitely, from, from my perspective, for whatever it's worth, continue to feel like it's, it's going to have a much bigger place in the industry as a whole, not just in Arizona, but nationwide, as you know, we see more and more individuals becoming aware of the benefits of, of shared services and some of the outcomes that states like Arizona are being able to show do. I'm curious about that last piece you were talking about with the staffing help because it's one of the, of things even internally, like for us as a software company, providing technology, trying to provide workflow automation to our end users, our providers, one of the things that's a consistent theme is the challenge around staffing. Like I don't have time as a provider, as an owner for anything right now because I'm short staffed and I'm trying to find teachers. What kind of things have you guys, um, thought through or that you're testing with trying to help centers in that area? Are you helping them recruit teachers or when you talk about like training, is that their existing workforce or is it both?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, so we're looking at kind some, both. Um, so some, and, and so, um, Southwest is currently in our professional development and training department created a leadership program for owners and directors to go through to, to help retain staff. Right. So it's great when we get them into our building, but if we can't keep them, um, then that costs us time and money. So we've been working on leadership program that's supposed to launch next month so that we can train those directors and owner in leadership practices that I think is really important. And then through our head start programs right now, we have a CDA program, um, where that child development, um, credential, um, is they go through it. They it's free to them. They get internships and job practice. They have mentors that help them with their portfolio. So we are looking at, can we expand this into community partners? Can we take this program and put it into our third services hub, where we have a well trained staff that can go and be a sub pool for these programs, um, that they're well trained. They're state, they meet all the state licensing requirements. Um, they're ready to, and so we are working on that for, for that shared services. And then that other piece is that continued education, right? Like, so they get a CDA or, or they get their training hours to be qualified to teach here in Arizona, but what are the barriers to help them get an associate's degree? What are the barriers to help get a bachelor's degree? And how can we assist them in that? Is it applying for AAF? Are there some language barriers? Do we need work with, um, community colleges to help with those barriers? So right now we're looking at the whole GAM of how can we help? How can we create better leaders? Just like we want better business leaders, we want also managing leaders. And so we wanna help them with that. And then how can we help train the workforce, have them well trained and help them with the further education.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, that's amazing. I think that's going to be just like the iron triangle been such a big focus, looking back and still currently that staffing piece, um, I think is gonna be extremely critical. I mean, we, as an industry need to show ourselves attractive to potential candidates, you know, people to invite them into the industry and it's a meaningful career. And to be a teacher, an administrator in ECE has always been a rewarding career. I think it's been really difficult the last couple of years with all the things that have happened, but to get back to, like you said, Hey, this is why it's a great career path to come into our industry. And for those who do here's resources and training and open doors to go, you know, have career growth, which is really important. So good for you guys doing that. Are you, when, when you guys go through this, um, expansion and I think that's a conversation you guys are having to try to open it up to Mo more cohorts. The last question I was gonna ask you just specifically about your program is how do you guys, um, identify the providers that are gonna participate? Is it, do you have to recruit people because it's tough to fill those spots? Or is it like literally like a waiting list? There's more people that wanna participate than space available. And then how do you guys identify, who's gonna be part of it. Maybe you could use your first, the first 80 as an example of how you got to that group.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So we were really lucky because of the interest. We really, when we are in recruitment mode, it's like an email out to providers. So, um, DS childcare administration sent us a list of their providers and response out for response was amazing, far more than slots that we had. And so we definitely had a waiting list. Um, so it was really just here's one email. Maybe we sent one or two emails, and then we, because we wanted participants to really know what they were getting into. We sent a whole month of info session. And so we invited them to virtual info sessions where we talked all about the program, the program requirements, um, what we would provide to them, what we had our expectations. And then we did, um, intake meetings where we went over a participation agreement. So they, it would be clear, um, what was being provided, but also the expectations. And so I feel like everyone was able to come in fully transparent with their eye fly, to open and participate, and you know, that provider tells their provider friends. And so we're always working off of a waiting list and, and we've just been really lucky. We've had a, a couple of smaller projects for projects through business, um, donations or philanthropic donations. And so we've been able to do even some smaller ones and, and, and it's basically no recruiting because we've had this list of interested providers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. The reputation now is out there too, and people will wanna participate. Any advice, Carla, that you would give for like anybody who's listening to our show in maybe an area where either a there's not shared service options available to them, or maybe wanting to start to look at like, how could we form one of these on our own, any suggestions, a on like what resources somebody could look into start exploring, Hey, would this be a good fit or a good resource for our community?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I love, I love that question. And first and foremost, I think they need to reach out to people like me or people who other people in other states who are doing this work right for resources and those best practices and the lessons more. I think it's the lessons learned. I love the best cuz you shouldn't recreate the will. If someone else has already created it, let's share those resources and it makes us all better. Right? It helps all of us, but the opportunities exchange website has an excellent startup guide on their website and it walks you through the process. And I think it's a must have resource, um, connecting with opportunity exchange, if there's the means to do that. Um, they have amazing consultants who will walk you through this process, connecting with you pro care. I think that that has been essential in helping this work go forward and for it to be so successful. So I think those are some of those first, I also think, um, serving your providers and your community and your state partners so that you can find out what's important to your stakeholders so that what you create is a benefit to them and it will have value so that they will wanna participate.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's good. Insight opportunities exchange always seems to be somehow a central figure in that did just, um, to elaborate on that a little bit in order to form a shared service Alliance, mm-hmm<affirmative> is it correct me if I'm wrong, there needs to be a nonprofit organiz in the community and then that organization can, you know, request or apply for funding to help basically fund, is it, is that an accurate statement or is that, um, too generic?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, I think there, and again, I'm not the expert in this piece, but I think that if you look around at the other states, um, all throughout the country, you have some shared services Alliance that are through the actual, you know, they're state agencies, they're nonprofits, there are local just provider groups who have gotten together. Um, so I think it works really well when it's a, a nonprofit who has like out west who has so many resources because we're so large, we can really provide that back office support, um, or state agencies that do that. Um, but that's, what's really great about the resource startup it on the opportunity exchange website, because it goes through step by step, by step of what you need. And, and really some providers who I think have been in the business a really long time, I think to do it on their own. But I think having the support of a bigger agency or a state partner is really essential to the success of it.
Speaker 2:That that seems to be at least the model that as we see, it seems to be the most common and the most successful model, at least that we've seen, you know, so far across the country. Um, I was also gonna ask you this, this has nothing to do with shared services, cuz I know we're running short on time and I wanna make sure that we give you your, the rest of your afternoon back, but I've been in the Phoenix area a couple times over the past couple of years recently once was just like a month ago in February. It's beautiful. It's like 80 degrees. I come from, you know, mountain climate where it's freezing, um, during the winter. So it was nice reprieve, but I was also there in July when it was 118 degrees. Like when that happens in Phoenix, what do people do? Like is that like, do people go outside? It's just normal. Like if you're a third generation Arizona, is that just like we don't, we just acclimate and it's fine. Or when it's 118 use bunker down in air conditioning and wait it out. What, what is what happens, Carla?
Speaker 3:So I think there are a few things I think avid golfers they push through and they still golf here in Arizona if they are used to the heat, most of us stay inside. Um, and they, we just turn up those, that air conditioning. Although I will tell you, I a love, hate relationship with August, cuz there's nothing like walking out your door and have that heat take your breath away. So it is both wonderful and awful all at the same time
Speaker 2:At the same time. Yeah. It's the love hate. Yeah, it's wonderful for the first 32nd or as long as you can get by a body of water or if you have air conditioning in size. Beautiful. I literally, when we were there, it was a, a school district we were meeting with and the individual at the school district was saying like the, and I don't know if it's a real term or not, but she called it shade hopping and like literally we're outside and they're in shade and she's like, we're just always looking for where the next shade is before we move from this shade. Um, and that made sense to me 118 is kind of, uh, next level. But this time of year, um, you, You what's the temperature in Phoenix day, is it like 80 and perfect.
Speaker 3:It's 80 degrees today. Yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you're listening to this from New York, uh, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, you can be jealous cuz it's, um, it's beautiful in Phoenix and I, I do appreciate Carl. It's always fun to get together and connect with you. I mentioned this earlier in the show, um, ton of respect for what you have done with the group there in Arizona, the work you've done for providers, we really appreciate, you know, you kind of leading the charge and if, and if people did the last thing I wanted to give you an opportunity to do is is if in anybody wanted to reach out to, and I know I probably don't give out your cell phone or anything, but just in terms of the organization and how they might be able to learn more about Southwest human development, what you guys are doing, how could people find you to, to tap into that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would love that and I would love to connect with anyone who wants to talk about shared services. So first I, I encourage anyone to find out more about Southwest human to development@swhd.org. And then I'd love for you to reach out to me by email. That is K H O U G HT a L I N S w hd.org. Happy to talk to anyone about our experience and to help with the things that we've learned along the way.
Speaker 2:Excellent. And if you do reach out to Carla and you ask for her at the organization, you'll pronounce her last name as
Speaker 3:Hoff talent
Speaker 2:H talent. Excellent. Thank you. Well, Carla, it's a pleasure. Have a great afternoon. And uh, we appreciate your time.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this episode of the healthcare business podcast, to get more insights on ways to succeed in your childcare business, make sure to hit subscribe in your podcast app. So you never miss an episode. And if you want even more childcare business tips, tricks and strategies, head over to our resource center@procaresoftware.com until next time.