Fresno EOC Head Start job fair aims to fill dozens of roles

Dozens of jobs are on the table at Fresno EOC Head Start 0 to 5, and some applicants could leave with a conditional offer the same day. The hiring push is aimed at filling openings that reach from classrooms to home-visiting services, a sign that Fresno County’s child-care network needs staff now, not later.

The openings include inclusion assistants, teacher assistants, site supervisors, center directors, teachers, teacher-caregivers for Early Head Start children and family service assistants. Fresno EOC says it will use the job fair to hire across both home-based and center-based services, which reach children and families throughout Fresno County.

Ralph Carrillo, the program’s early childhood education coordinator, said Fresno EOC offers a clear career ladder and pointed out that he and many colleagues started in lower-level roles and moved up. That matters for applicants looking for more than a short-term paycheck. Fresno EOC’s benefits package for eligible full-time workers includes paid vacation, sick leave, holiday pay, medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage, life insurance, a pension plan and a 403(b) retirement option.

The jobs also carry direct consequences for Fresno families. Head Start 0 to 5 is a federally funded community-based program for income-eligible pregnant women and children from birth to age 5, including children with disabilities. It serves families through center-based classrooms and home-based Early Head Start services. Center schedules run 3.5, 6.0, 7.5 and 11 hours between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., while the home-base option provides continuous child development and family support for pregnant women and families with children ages 0 to 3.

That staffing matters because federal Head Start performance standards require programs to meet staff-child ratio and group-size rules in center-based classrooms. When positions sit open, classrooms can lose capacity fast. Fresno EOC materials said the program had been at least 97% of funded enrollment based on a July 2024 Office of Head Start letter, but by February 2025 officials were already describing staff shortages and a growing wait list of 3-year-olds tied to the expansion of transitional kindergarten and state preschool in local districts.

Fresno EOC, founded in 1965, says it employs more than 1,200 full- and part-time staff across more than 30 programs. The agency gives hiring preference to current and former Head Start 0 to 5 parents when they are qualified, and veterans receive special consideration for qualified external applicants. If the job fair succeeds, the payoff will show up in steadier staffing, more reliable child care and paychecks that stay in Fresno County.