Columbus startup Tandem uses technology to staff child care classrooms with substitutes

When a child care center runs short on teachers, the effects don't take long. Administrators step into classrooms to meet ratios, rooms get combined, or a classroom closes and parents get sent home, according to Olivia Weinstock, co-founder and CEO of Tandem.

Tandem, a Columbus company, built its platform to fill those gaps. Its app walks substitute teachers through each state's licensing requirements, verifies their documents and books them into open shifts at licensed centers. The company launched seven years ago with Drive Capital as its first investor and now operates in six states.

"There's just no infrastructure or mechanism to get substitutes to early childhood education providers," Weinstock said.

By the numbers

• 6,000 substitutes have completed 201,496 shifts at 1,749 child care programs
• 3,874 of those substitutes are in Ohio, where they have completed 137,943 shifts at 938 programs
• 6 states served: Ohio, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, with Texas launching soon
• 7 years since Tandem launched in Columbus with backing from Drive Capital

Answering child care centers' call for staff

Tandem started out connecting families with babysitters. During COVID-19, child care centers began asking whether it could help staff their programs. Weinstock explained that many couldn't take children off waitlists because they had "dark classrooms that don't have enough teachers."

The company applied the on-demand model that grew quickly in health care, restaurants and retail during the pandemic to early childhood education. Substitutes download the app, get credentialed and complete shifts. Tandem pays the substitute and bills the center.

Replacing the paper folder

Weinstock noted that the substitute app is the company's biggest value proposition. Someone who moves to a new state and wants to work in child care might be sent to 10 different websites to piece together the requirements. Weinstock said "everything in child care is very fragmented," especially information. Tandem consolidates those requirements into one list.

AI, supported by an in-house team, checks that uploaded documents are true and accurate and meet state requirements. The system tracks expiration dates and deadlines and blocks substitutes from working until they renew credentials or finish outstanding requirements.

"All of those processes are historically led by the child care administrator using spreadsheets or folders written by hand," Weinstock said.

In many centers, staff keep a paper folder for each teacher and check first aid and CPR expiration dates every few months. Tandem automates that for its substitutes. Weinstock added that the company has considered offering the same compliance tools to providers for their full teaching staff, though it hasn't done so yet.

Booking built on reliability data

Once cleared, substitutes use the app to browse nearby shifts, filter by distance or pay and manage their schedules and earnings. Tandem pays them daily, which Weinstock described as a major draw for that workforce.

On the other side, centers request substitutes through a web app. After a booking, they can review the substitute's profile and download a full digital compliance file.

The platform also handles problems that come up on the day of a shift. A substitute who can't get into the building taps a button that alerts the center, and one who is running behind can mark themselves late, cancel or edit shift times. Weinstock said the team has built for every edge case "because we've seen every edge case."

Behind the scenes, the system scores each substitute's dependability based on punctuality, how often they cancel, how much notice they give and the reviews they receive. Tandem's booking algorithm weighs those factors alongside availability, the center's requirements and distance to the job. Tandem's in-house team built the platform.

Directors used to calling traditional staffing agencies sometimes ask what time Tandem opens, Weinstock noted. Many are surprised to learn they can post a shift and get a substitute booked right away.

Angel Boddie, owner of Future Scholars Learning Academies in Columbus, has used Tandem to cover staffing gaps at her program.

"Tandem is brilliant, and what our industry has truly needed in these times. Partnering with them was one of the best decisions I have made for my company's staffing needs. They have helped our program bridge the gap during times we needed the support staff the most. The dependability of Tandem and quality of the educators have been impressive," Boddie said.

Tandem contracts directly with child care providers and, in some states, with organizations that support them. In Florida, it works with early learning coalitions, the state's child care resource and referral agencies. Those nonprofits have partnered with Tandem to bring substitute pools to the regions they oversee.

Moving into permanent hiring

In June, Tandem launched Tandem Recruit, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) job board and applicant tracking system built for early childhood education. Weinstock explained that permanent hires face the same compliance requirements as substitutes. A center hiring a lead toddler teacher today typically posts on Indeed, sorts through dozens of resumes and keeps candidates engaged through interviews before verifying any documentation.

Weinstock described the company's broader mission as making sure kids have access to quality child care, which depends on programs having the teachers they need. Tandem plans to keep expanding state by state, with the goal of reaching providers nationwide.