Human Services Agency of San Francisco
Department of Aging & Adult Services * Department of Human Services

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WAGES+ is an innovative program, approved in July 2000, to augment and stabilize the wages of early care and education teachers and staff employed in licensed centers and family child care, moving compensation closer to living wages. Wage increases take into consideration classroom staffs' education level and job responsibilities. The base level ranges from $9.80 per hour for Aides and Assistants with less than 6 units of early care and education/child development courses, to $18.10 per hour for Site Supervisors with qualifying education levels.

There are currently 30 center employers representing 77 centers and 188 family child care providers with 50 teaching assistants participating in WAGES+. Approximately 700 individuals receive wage funding on a monthly basis. In addition to wage funding, employers receive additional funding for business support for paid sick leave, payroll service, payroll taxes, worker's compensation insurance, and administration.

In order to participate in WAGES+, programs must meet a minimum of three criteria:

• Center/FCC wages for at least one classroom staff must be below the WAGES+ Wage Floors.
• Either 10% of enrolled children must be from families with incomes below 75% of State Median Income (SMI) or 25% of enrolled children must be from families with incomes below 85% of SMI.
• Center/FCC must agree to or have already received an external assessment from Gateway to Quality Child Care program (Harms Scales: ECERS, ITERS, FDCRS) and completed a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).