Early Care & Education Pathways to Success (ECEPTS)
Our Mission
To advance the rigorous professional development and economic well-being of the Early Care and Education workforce so that all children can reap the full benefits of their early learning and care experiences.
Our Strategies
• Program Development & Dissemination
• Systems Change
• Field Building
ECEPTS Strategies

Program Development & Dissemination
Our apprenticeships represent state-of-the-art, replicable models that uniquely address the professional development needs of the ECE workforce by integrating on-the-job training, coaching, no-cost college coursework, cohort learning, and increased compensation.
- Early Educator Apprenticeship
Counties: Alameda, Riverside, San Joaquin, San Mateo - Family Child Care Apprenticeship
Counties: San Bernardino, San Joaquin - Home Visitor Apprenticeship
Counties: Los Angeles (Antelope Valley) - Youth Apprenticeship in Careers with Children & Families
Counties: Alameda, Los Angeles (Antelope Valley), San Joaquin

Systems Change
Economic Well-Being
- Support efforts to reform California’s provider reimbursement rate system. More training and experience should mean more compensation.
- Support efforts to advance and uplift the ECE workforce, especially in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional Development
- Create a pathway to a bachelor’s degree that is affordable, accessible, and responsive to the needs and challenges of the ECE workforce.
- Support higher education initiatives, such as creation of an ECE teaching credential and revision of the California CTC’s Child Development Permit Matrix.
Public Awareness and Political Will
- Support engagement of local, state, and federal partners to create a coalition of stakeholders invested in the professional development and economic well-being of the ECE workforce, especially in the face of COVID-19.
- Seek opportunities to maximize governmental and philanthropic investment in apprenticeship and ECE professional development.
Why ECEPTS? Why Apprenticeship?
Apprenticeship is a respected, tried-and-true approach to training low-income job seekers and placing them on sustainable career pathways while supplying employers with workers who can meet their precise workforce needs.
Building on the apprenticeship tradition, ECEPTS Apprenticeships represent state-of-the-art, replicable models that uniquely address the needs of the ECE workforce by integrating on-the-job training, coaching, no-cost college coursework, cohort learning and increased compensation.
Almost entirely female and in the majority women of color, the ECE workforce includes significant numbers of recent immigrants, working mothers, and first-generation college students who face challenges and barriers to success common among non-traditional students and workers.
To ameliorate these challenges, ECEPTS Apprenticeships incorporate research-based supports that result in consistently high rates of program completion.

Expanding Apprenticeships 2.0
ECEPTS Virtual Conference
April 21-23, 2021
Expanding Apprenticeships 2.0 will once again bring together a coalition representing early care and education, workforce development, higher education, public policy, and philanthropy to strengthen our capacity to advance rigorous professional development and economic well-being of those who teach, nurture, and support young children and families.