PACE Awarded $1.9M to Expand Early Childhood Education Workforce in Los Angeles
The Californer/10316077

LOS ANGELES - Californer -- Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE) is proud to announce it has been awarded a $1.9 million grant through the California Employment Development Department's Employment Social Enterprise (ESE) Program. The award supports TEACH Track, an ambitious workforce initiative designed to serve and train 144 low-income, long-term unemployed individuals and English language learners into quality jobs in Los Angeles' Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector.

The grant is part of a $10 million statewide initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). PACE is one of several organizations selected to advance economic equity through employment-focused social enterprises that promote long-term job success.

The urgency for initiatives like TEACH Track is clear, with L.A. County requiring an estimated 34,000 additional ECE workers to meet total demand. Contributing factors include workforce decline, retirements, and a lack of professional development, concerning trends that the initiative aims to reverse.

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Over two years, TEACH Track participants will receive comprehensive training and paid on-the-job experience. Classroom training will be provided by partners including California State University, Los Angeles Education Partnership, and West Los Angeles College. After training, participants will gain practical experience and employment placements through TEACH-LA, a social enterprise subsidiary of PACE, and employer partners such as the YMCA of West San Gabriel Valley.

TEACH Track targets quality jobs in the ECE sector, placing participants in positions that provide long-term employment, wages that support economic mobility, and a crucial service to the community by promoting early development and school readiness in children from low-income families.

"TEACH Track represents an intentional investment in the people and future of Los Angeles," said Kerry Doi, PACE President & CEO. "By connecting underserved job seekers to meaningful, quality careers in early childhood education, we are strengthening families, the workforce, and the community."

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To learn more about PACE's workforce development efforts or the TEACH Track program, visit pacela.org or contact mcheung@pacela.org (http://mailto).

About PACE

Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE)'s mission is to create economic solutions to meet the challenges of employment, education, housing, the environment, and business development in the Pacific Asian and other diverse communities in the Los Angeles area. Initially founded in 1975 to address the job training needs of the Asian Pacific Islander community, PACE has expanded into other areas of service based on community need and has served more than 1.4 million low-income residents of the Los Angeles area through our comprehensive array of community development services.