Nonprofit Innovation Lab Public Voting

Description: For over 75 years, Meeting Street has lived its mission to compassionately and innovatively empower children and their families to thrive by fostering the development of the whole child. Yet today, their work to educate and developmentally support children of all abilities is dramatically impacted by the Teacher Assistant (TA) shortage facing schools across the state and the nation. To address this need, Meeting Street will expand the TA talent pipeline using a two-pronged approach: the creation of both a Registered TA Apprenticeship Program and a TA dual-certification targeting Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). In partnership with external stakeholders, Meeting Street’s goal is to build a skills-and-competency-based model that can be scaled across the state and the nation, providing living-wage career paths for families most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The project will be the first of its kind within the field of inclusive K-22 education and in year one of the program, they estimate serving 175 children from the community and 60 students with special needs who require 1:1 TA support.