JEST CCC
(Jobs, Education, Support and Training for Child Care Careers)

JEST-CCC recruits high school students in South Los Angeles to careers in early childhood education by providing college coursework and internships before the students graduate. 

The program serves the dual needs of preparing students to obtain entry level jobs when they graduate from high school and  creating a pipeline of trained staff to fill the shortage of child care workers.

As a collaborative venture, The Children’s Collective Inc. serves as Lead Agency with partners including high schools, community colleges and child development centers.

The program has these major components:

• Working with four local high schools, the staff market child care careers to thousands of students through assemblies, career fairs, and presentations to workforce programs.
• Interested students then participate in experiential field activities, including visits to child care centers and local colleges and universities.
• A final group of students, self-referred and confirmed by high school counselors, are then eligible to enroll in college classes in child development, presented in the community or participate in an eight week internship in a child development center
• Students enrolled in college and those in the internship program both receive stipends.

On completion of the coursework and/or the internship, inner city youth with limited job prospects will be eligible for entry level jobs in the child development field.  If they continue to take the child care classes, they can progress on the career ladder to the positions of Site Director in child development or even to a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis on teaching.