Building the Next Generation of Early Childhood Educators

The region needs qualified early childhood educators, and too many young adults never find a real path into the field. The Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin led a project to change that — bringing together Operation Fresh Start, Reach Dane, and Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C), and using Worker Advancement Initiative funding to make it possible.

The Career Point Early Childhood Education program's second cohort recently wrapped up. It started with comprehensive work-readiness training focused on the soft skills that make someone dependable in a classroom, alongside an honest introduction to what the childcare profession actually asks of you. From there, participants moved into temporary Disaster Relief Employment placements with Reach Dane, stepping into licensed childcare settings to learn the daily rhythm of the work directly from the professionals doing it.

That hands-on piece mattered. This cohort's six participants visited their assigned sites, met supervisors, spent time in the classrooms, and built relationships with the children they'd soon support — the kind of first steps that turn a training program into a career decision. It also placed them alongside a proven employer: through Wisconsin DCF's YoungStar program, Reach Dane holds 5-star ratings across all 17 of its sites.

Photo credit: Operation Fresh Start

With the cohort complete, participants moved into interviews — and one graduate has already landed employment with Reach Dane. Over its run, the Worker Advancement Initiative grant made real investments like this one possible, connecting people in our region to hands-on training and to employment with committed industry partners. The results — new careers launched and employers strengthened — are the lasting return on that funding.

Photo credit: Operation Fresh Start

About the Worker Advancement Initiative

The Worker Advancement Initiative (WAI) is a Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development grant program, funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act and administered through the state's local workforce development boards. It was created to connect people to work — those whose jobs didn't return after the pandemic, and those who struggled to gain a foothold in the labor market before it — by pairing subsidized employment and paid work experience with hard- and soft-skills training alongside local employers. WDBSCW used its Round 2 award to fund the initiatives, often in coordination with WIOA services. This program is made available by a grant from the American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.