Lawrence, MA – September 23, 2024 – The Community Group (TCG) has been selected as one of four organizations to engage in a pilot partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and expand workforce development initiatives across the state. Through this partnership, TCG will serve as a regional intermediary for early childhood center-based apprenticeship programs, supported by a portion of the $1.4 million in funding to expand pathways into the field.

This collaboration is a key component of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s ongoing investment in Registered Apprenticeships aimed at strengthening the early childhood education workforce. Earlier this year, TCG was awarded $250,000 to train 50 childcare teacher apprentices.

As stated in the official press release through EEC, Governor Maura Healey remarked “Our administration is committed to making early education and care more affordable and accessible for families across the state. With support from game-changing programs like C3, we made significant progress last year—more families were able to enroll their children in affordable child care, more educators were hired, and wages for educators increased. But there is still work to do. These new partnerships build on that success and take a regional approach to promoting a robust early childhood workforce.”

Apprenticeship programs offer a proven model for workforce development, providing on-the-job mentoring, technical instruction, paid work experience, and an industry-recognized credential upon completion. These programs are vital to enhancing the quality of early childhood educators and expanding the talent pipeline.

"We are thrilled to partner with EEC as an apprenticeship intermediary, helping to create accessible pathways into the field through our registered apprenticeship and teacher training programs," said Maria Gonzalez Moeller, CEO of The Community Group. "The educator pipeline is critical to the health of the early education system and has long been a challenge across the state. Through this partnership, we can scale innovative solutions that provide entry into the profession, particularly for those facing systemic barriers. The Community Group is proud to support the development of the next generation of early childhood educators, and this investment will allow us to make meaningful progress in training and mentoring these professionals.”

For more information about The Community Group and its workforce development initiatives, please contact Elizabeth Sabino, Direct of Communications, at esabino@thecommunitygroupinc.org.