What an exciting time to have chosen early care and education as a career! As an early childhood professional you play a key role in the early learning and development of children. Early childhood is a crucial period when positive interactions with adults have a life - long impact. Research shows when people who care for young children are trained and highly skilled, it improves the quality of their teaching and care giving and leads to better outcomes for children.
First 5 Santa Barbara County Early Care and Education Division proudly supports the local early care and education workforce by investing in the following programs:
For information about local educational opportunities in Early Care & Education see our Higher Education Brochure.
Santa Barbara County Workforce Research
In addition to supporting workforce development in the community, we are actively involved in research projects on local early care and education workforce development. Some of the most recent projects include: