LA County Launches Two-Year Assistant Teacher Apprenticeship Program Providing Free Education and Training

LOS ANGELES  — The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO in partnership with Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell of the Second District kicked off the county’s two-year Early Care and Education Assistant Teacher Apprenticeship program providing free community college education and on-the job site-based training for workers interested in teaching and childcare career pathways.

With over 725,000 children under 5 years old in LA County, licensed centers and family child care homes have the capacity to serve just 7% of working parents with infants and toddlers. The Department of  Economic Opportunity $1M American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA investment, representing the county’s collective funding and commitment to High Road Training Partnerships or HRTPs in the early childhood education, will support 90 county residents through the apprenticeship program culminating with a California State-issued child development permit and a tuition, debt free start to a career with a committed employer facing potential workforce shortages.

HRTPs join cross-sector partners and use customized training solutions that offer job readiness, skills training and credentials, paid work-based learning, case management and supportive services and connection to hiring employers in high-growth sectors offering living wages.

The program is designed and delivered by and with subject matter experts and providers in the field and is registered with the State of California’s Departments of Apprenticeship Standards and Labor. Partners include the LA County Department of Public Health’s or DPH Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, Early Care and Education Pathways to Success or ECEPTS, the Los Angeles Office of Education or LACOE, Child Care Resource Center or CCRC, West LA College, and Pierce College including a vast network of Head Start agencies and Volunteers for America partners committed to hiring apprentices starting at $17.27 with a progression in wages throughout the program.

Apprentices will take part in 180 hours of classroom training at local colleges and 2,000 hours of paid site-based experiential learning, subsidized by DEO in partnership with hiring employers as part of the registered apprenticeship which will also include a Teacher Preparation Academy that offers additional job readiness, trauma informed instruction, and professional development for all trainees. In addition, apprentices are connected to supportive services through the county’s America’s Job Centers of California. The investment represents an expansion of LACOE’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten Career Development Initiative launched in 2022 – one the region’s booming set of career development tracks.

The next cohort, facilitated in partnership with CCRC, is set to begin instruction in August 2024 at Pierce College. Deadline to apply is June 30. Interested participants are encouraged to fill out the following interest form to get started. For more information on the Department of Economic Opportunity, visit opportunity.lacounty.gov.