Labas Reflects on Maine Partners' Collaboration to Create a Professional Pathway for TA Professionals Supporting ME's Early Childhood Workforce

September 19, 2022

Linda Labas, ME UCEDD Early Childhood Coordinator

Linda Labas, who recently retired as early childhood coordinator for the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine’s UCEDD, wrote a reflection on a multi-year collaboration with three state partners that created a set of competencies and a credential for technical assistance (TA) professionals who support Maine’s early childhood workforce. 

CCIDS, Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN) and Kennebec Valley Community Action Program — Educare Central Maine (KVCAP — ECM) collaborated to develop the Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce and the Maine Technical Assistance Credential, a new professional pathway to support TA professionals.

Maine is one of only a handful of states that offers this professional pathway to transform the TA professional role from one without any formal or intentional support to a recognized professional role that requires specific knowledge, skills, dispositions and experience in evidence-based technical assistance. 

Read the full post on the ME UCEDD’s website.

 

Jami Pollis, Linda Labas, Jill Downs and Tammie Davis

 

Photo credits:

Image of Linda Labas, courtesy of Maine Roads to Quality.

Group photo of Jami Pollis, Linda Labas, Jill Downs and Tammie Davis courtesy of Linda Labas.

 

##

Alt text for images:

Photo 1: Headshot of a smiling white woman with short brown hair, wearing earrings  and a white blouse, sitting in a white wooden chair outside on a porch, looking directly at the camera.

 

Photo 2: A group photo of 4 smiling white women standing beneath a projection screen in a conference setting.