AUBURN – The Center for Workforce and Professional Development at Central Maine Community College is partnering with area employers and service providers to recruit candidates interested in becoming a qualified early childhood educator with a Child Development Associate Credential.
Successful candidates will be hired as teacher/teacher assistants by employer-partners and take part in free training through CMCC and Lewiston/Auburn Adult Education.
Interested applicants can learn more about job openings, the program, and requirements during an information session from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24, at locations in Androscoggin County, southern Kennebec County, or Oxford County.
Information and links to register for both the information session and the program itself are available at cmcc.edu/workforcedevelopment. Information session locations are determined by the applicant’s form submission.
The free Child Development Associate Credential is a 12-week training program that runs from Sept. 27 through Dec. 21, and is provided in collaboration with CMCC, Lewiston/Auburn Adult Education, Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Community Concepts, Promise Early Education Center, Southern Kennebec Child Development Corporation, and Community Concepts Childcare.
Successful candidates will work up to 30 hours per week at an employer-partner’s worksite, receive 120 hours of free online training through CMCC, and take part in 60 hours of WorkReady instruction led by Lewiston/Auburn Adult Education, delivered live over Zoom and two in-person sessions at CMCC in Auburn.
Support services may be available to eligible candidates through EMDC and/or Community Concepts.
Participants in this no-cost training program and employment opportunity can choose between center-based infant and toddler care for ages birth to 36 months or center-based preschool for ages 3-5 years, depending on location. Participants earn $12.50 per hour for up to 30 hours per week while working for the employer during the 12-week program. Wages rise to $14-$16 per hour upon successful completion of the program and retaining work with the employer after the training.
Those who successfully complete this certification program may have six credits applied toward an Associate in Applied Science degree in Early Childhood Education at Central Maine Community College.
This program is funded by Maine Quality Centers. Participants must be at least 18 years of age, possess a high school diploma, GED (General Educational Diploma), or HiSet (High School Equivalency Test), and be a U.S. citizen and/or authorized to work in the U.S.
Criminal background check and current vaccination records will be required by employers. Additionally, candidates in MQC-funded programs must be a dislocated, unemployed, or underemployed worker, or someone whose job has been adversely affected by COVID-19. Underemployed can be considered as working part time but looking for full-time work or working in an occupation below one’s skillset. Candidates are only eligible to participate in one MQC program being offered at any of the seven colleges in the Maine Community College System.
For more information or to register, contact Central Maine Community College’s Center for Workforce & Professional Development at workforcedevelopment@cmcc.edu or 207-755-5280.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
