Wisconsin Early Education Shared Service Network

Description

Across Wisconsin, child care programs are essential to family stability, workforce participation, and community health. At the same time, many programs operate with narrow margins, persistent staffing challenges, complex compliance requirements, and limited administrative capacity. These pressures are especially difficult for small programs and family child care providers, who often manage enrollment, billing, staffing, licensing, food systems, and family communication while also providing direct care.

The Wisconsin Early Education Shared Services Network (WEESSN), a program of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, addresses these challenges by giving providers access to shared business resources, coaching, professional development, and practical tools that help strengthen program operations. WEESSN began as a regional response to child care access concerns in Monroe and Vernon Counties and has since expanded into a statewide strategy for supporting child care program sustainability.

WEESSN's current model is designed to meet providers at different levels of need. All regulated programs can access statewide resources, while programs needing more intensive support may receive individualized support through WEESSN Plus Coaching, Advice-On-The-Go, and referrals to partner services. This structure helps providers get timely support while allowing WEESSN to focus deeper coaching capacity on programs with greater business, leadership, or sustainability needs.

WEESSN continues to evolve through state investment, community partnerships, provider feedback, and collaboration with early care and education system partners. Current priorities include expanding access to coaching, strengthening the business and tax support library, improving use of WISER and other shared resources, supporting staff wellness through an Employee Assistance Program, and building stronger referral pathways with system partners.

WEESSN also supports targeted initiatives, including Head Start and Early Head Start business coaching, back-office supports, food systems engagement, professional learning, and continuous improvement efforts informed by provider voice and field-level needs.

Services offered

WEESSN services are designed to save providers time, improve business stability, and connect programs to practical resources. Supports include statewide access to tools and professional development, as-needed business assistance, and more intensive coaching for programs that need individualized support.

Business and Administrative Support

• Business coaching and technical assistance for regulated child care programs
• Budgeting, financial practices, rate setting, enrollment management, and cash-flow support
• Human resources, staffing practices, hiring systems, and program leadership support
• Licensing, policy, compliance, and quality improvement resources
• Access to shared business and tax resources, including updated resource libraries and practical templates
• TAs-needed business support through Advice-On-The-Go and referral pathways
• Employee Assistance Program supports that promote staff wellness, financial well-being, legal support, and overall workplace stability

Program Quality and Leadership Support

• Individualized coaching for program leaders, new directors, new owners, and programs experiencing business or operational challenges
• Professional development available to WEESSN members in English and Spanish
• Access to WISER, WEESSN's shared online resource platform
• Food systems support, including connection to CACFP and other food-related resources that support program sustainability
• Access to other WECA supports like REWARD, T.E.A.CH., Career Counseling, and Pre-Licensing in some regions
• Collaboration with partners such as licensing, YoungStar Connect, Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, and other early childhood system partners

WEESSN's coaching model is grounded in real provider needs. Coaches help programs identify priorities, use existing resources, strengthen business systems, and connect with other supports when WEESSN is not the best or only resource. This approach helps reduce duplication across the early care and education system while improving the provider experience.

WEESSN is also expanding its role in Head Start and Early Head Start business supports by adapting coaching curriculum, recruiting grantees for focused coaching, coordinating specialized fiscal training, and assessing the effectiveness of these services for future program development.

Results

WEESSN has grown significantly since its launch in Monroe and Vernon Counties. The current statewide model serves over 3,000 programs, offers at least 24 hours of professional development each year, maintain a business and tax support library with at dozens resources, and provide coaching to an active caseload of up to 300 programs annually.

WISER continues to be an active hub for providers, with over 1500 active accounts. Provider use of resources showed strong interest in human resources, enrollment, business practices, policy templates, and financial sustainability.

Challenges

The child care sector continues to experience high levels of financial stress, staffing instability, and administrative complexity. Providers often need immediate help, but sustainable solutions require ongoing coaching, practical tools, and coordination across multiple early childhood partners.

WEESSN's continued challenge is to balance broad statewide access with deeper coaching for programs that need individualized support. This requires clear eligibility, strong outreach, careful waitlist management, intentional referral systems, and continuous use of provider feedback to improve services.

Replication

• Shared services remains a strong strategy for helping child care programs reduce isolation, access shared expertise, and strengthen business operations.
• WEESSN's growth shows that a model that began regionally can be adapted statewide when it includes flexible tiers of support, clear service pathways, and strong partnerships.
• Future growth will depend on continued investment, provider-informed continuous improvement, and stronger coordination with early childhood system partners.
• WEESSN will continue to refine coaching, expand practical resources, support staff wellness, strengthen food systems work, and explore new ways to meet provider needs across Wisconsin.
• Because shared services is not a one-time solution, successful replication requires long-term commitment, cross-sector support, and a willingness to build systems that help providers focus more time and energy on children and families.

Contact Information