Workforce Pathways

Health & Safety Pathway Focus on basic health and safety standards required for Tribal Early Learning programs and ways to go beyond the basics with best practices and incorporate nutrition, nature and culture into health.

Health & Safety Series First Tuesday of every month at 11:00am & 6:00pm. (Virtual/ Zoom)

 Farm to ECE/ Outdoor Education Series

Wellness & Healing Pathway Focus on healing, resiliency, wellness, and adult social/ emotional curriculum by addressing trauma faced by children, families, providers, and communities.

Trauma Responsive and Resilience Building Practices for Early Childhood Providers- Sara Zapata

This training is offered in two parts and brought to you by COBI, the Center for Optimal Brain Integration. It is designed to support early childhood providers serving children ages 3 through 8 years olds with a history of trauma. This training will support ECE providers working in a range of settings and environments with young children. Join us in either the fall or the spring for the class.

Fall 2024 Cohort

 Spring 2025 Cohort

Wellness Wednesday Gathering (Virtual/ Zoom) 2^nd Wednesday/ (12:00-12:30pm) Lunchtime Series

The second Wednesday of every month we will present a mini-lunchtime training/ conversation, just 30 minutes, on a healing topic. Jump on during your lunchbreak, or while taking a walk. We will be incorporating breathing exercises, meditation, stretching, etc.

Ka’m-t’em: A Journey Toward Healing Book Study –Spring 2025 **Stipend Pending

Indigenous testimonials of resistance, renewal, advocacy, resilience, beauty, and awakening. In the sharing and in the listening of Indigenous testimonials, we are reminded of the beauty and the strength within us. The precious knowledge shared in this book inspires reclamation of identity and encourages readers to seek, search, embrace, and value their own truth.  Schedule TBD.

Early Learning Leadership Pathway Recommended for child care administrators and lead teachers who provide direct services and would like to sharpen their early learning leadership skills. The goal is to strengthen the knowledge, skills, and abilities of early care directors and emerging leaders to ensure quality child care programs for young children.

2024/2025 TQIS (Tribal Quality Improvement Systems) Monthly Meetings (Virtual/ Zoom) Third Wednesday/ 12pm-1pm. Administrators only. 

Coaching/ Mentoring/ California Mentor – Early Childhood Education- A Deeper Understanding

Dates: October 5, 2024 – March 1, 2025

The six-session Community of Practice (CoP) is open by invitation only. Topics include Adult Learning Principles (Adult Learning Competencies), Implementing Culturally responsive practices, DAP & CA Early Learning Resources, Mentor Strategies Space is limited. Mileage reimbursement is available to participants. Registration closes on September 20, 2024.

 ECE as a Business (Kim Nall & Frieda Bennett) Spring 2025- Dates/ Times TBD *Lunchtime mini-series (30 minutes).

5 Commitments of Optimistic Leaders- Book Study

Administrators/Leaders (Virtual/ Zoom) 7 Sessions –Dates TBD *Limited to 14 people.

5 Commitments of Optimistic Leaders- Book Study

Teachers/ Providers (Virtual/ Zoom) 7 Sessions –Dates TBD *Limited to 14 people.

Engaging Families in Tribal Communities Pathway Professional development opportunities for those wanting to increase their skills for engaging families in their communities.

CCRC Regional Parent Cafe Training

In Person Trainings- Dates to be determined.

The Parent Café model is based on the foundation of Strengthening Families 5 Protective Factors and has proven to be an effective way to engage parents in discussions around topics that are relevant to their community. Café conversation themes and topics are flexible and can be developed to address the needs of any situation. The goals for Parent Cafes are to provide engagement, connections, learning and opportunities for Parent Leadership building. During this training, participants will learn about the framework of the café and work on creating a café that they may take back with them to their program. TCCAC Workforce Participants can submit training certificates to Workforce for a stipend. And PDGR funds can provide all eligible programs with café stipends.

Cultural Humility Pathway Opportunities to understand the accurate history of Native Americans, the historical process of trauma to the Native population, and how California Natives are still present, active, and involved in the modern world. Explorations of Tribal resilience, medicine, storytelling, and culture.

Native American Historical and Traditional Healing Project- TCCAC COHORT (Virtual/ Zoom) Must register in advance, space is limited. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Five-part series for educators, health professionals, or the public who desire a broader education about the region’s first peoples. Curriculum with a mental health lens on the historical hardships Native Americans face in contemporary times due to colonization. The curriculum encompasses the vital nature of California’s history from the Native American perspective. Inclusive of the pre-contact history, the series continues as Euro-settlers invaded the continent and ultimately California. The result on the Native people was a trauma so severe it embedded into the DNA. The presentation of historical trauma of the land’s first peoples is concluded with a healing element to create a space for understanding.

Child Development Pathway Skills and knowledge needed to enhance knowledge and quality in childcare and early education for those in direct services with children.

Finding the Right PITCH w/ Tamar Andrews (Virtual Meetings- 6:00pm-7:00pm)

Most teachers plan quite intentionally for the projects and lessons they provide for young children. Most teachers, though, do not plan for all four environments that young children have in early childhood programs. These include the physical, interpersonal, temporal, and curricular environments. When done correctly, classrooms have higher levels of harmony and lower levels of dysregulation. This training sequence will provide participants with the tools they need to understand how these environments dovetail, and how to evaluate, plan for, and use the four environments to achieve higher levels of quality and learning.

PITC/ Program for Infant Toddler Care- Live Virtual Series

PITC Cohort: PITC Infant/ Toddler Care in Group Care Settings

This course focuses on the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) approach to infant/toddler care and, specifically, the program policies and practices that best support the healthy development of infants and toddlers being cared for in groups. This course includes an exploration of infant/toddler environments, primary caregiving, continuity of care, small groups, individualized care, and caregiving routines as curriculum. There will be 3 optional coaching sessions offered throughout the course to reflect on the course topics and your program practices. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to describe and explain the program policies and practices that best meet the individual needs of infants and toddlers in a group care setting.  (Virtual/ Tuesday Nights 6:00pm-8:00pm. 20 hours total) Must pre-register and attend all sessions. Option to register course with Fresno State -1 unit/ Cost $75. Facilitator: Paulina Escamilla-Vestal, pvestal@wested.org  and Adele Cruz, acruz@wested.org will be “shadowing her”

PITC Cohort: PITC Infant/Toddler Learning and Development

This course focuses on the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) approach to infant/toddler care and, specifically, how to support healthy cognitive, perceptual and motor, and language development in group care settings. The course includes an exploration of best practices to support the inclusion of children with disabilities or delays. There will be 3 optional coaching sessions offered throughout the course to reflect on the course topics and your program practices. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: Outline and describe how young children learn and effective approaches to facilitate infant/toddler cognitive development. Identify and explain effective approaches to meet and support young children’s language and perceptual and motor development. Describe the benefits of providing inclusive care that includes appropriate accommodation when caring for infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays. (Virtual/ Tuesday Nights 6:00pm-8:00pm. 20 hours total) Must pre-register and attend all sessions. Option to register course with Fresno State -1 unit/ Cost $75. Facilitator: Tal Ben-Ami, tbenami@wested.org

ASQ & ASQ:SE Training

Trainer: Denise Gale: dgale@edcoe.org (Virtual trainings)

The Ages and Stages Questionnaires® is a screening tool that can be used to screen infants and young children for delays during the crucial first five years of life. ASQ meets the recommendation by the California Department of Social Services to use standardized tools to identify children for referral. The ASQ-3 measures progress in a child’s development of communication, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving, and personal-social skills. The ASQ:SE addresses seven social-emotional areas: self-regulation, compliance, communication, adaptive behaviors, autonomy, affect, and interaction with people. ASQ:SE, which includes 8 questionnaires, covers 3 months throughs 5½ years of age.