Early Care and Education Pathways to Success (ECEPTS) works to advance the rigorous professional development and economic well-being of the Early Care and Education (ECE) workforce so that all children can receive the full benefits of their early learning and care experiences. ECEPTS develops apprenticeship program models and advocates for systems change throughout California, with the hope of developing a society that fully respects and supports young children and those who teach and care for them.
ECEPTS has a particular focus on apprenticeships, which are unique among workforce development programs in that they bring together on-the-job training and coaching, college coursework, and increased compensation as program milestones are achieved. ECEPTS Apprenticeships represent an effort to further develop, expand, and replicate the apprenticeships first created in partnership with the SEIU Early Educator Training Center so that more and more sectors of the early care and education workforce can participate in and benefit from apprenticeship programs.
Through participation in ECEPTS Apprenticeships, low-income ECE workers earn college credit that articulates to state-recognized Child Development Permits and college degrees required for higher-wage positions of greater leadership and responsibility. These state-registered apprenticeships can establish a pipeline of qualified workers and a career pathway to self-sufficiency for thousands of low-income, mostly female workers who make up the Early Care and Education workforce in California.