New Youth Workforce Development System Turns One!
Although workforce programs for youth is hardly a new concept, Rhode Island recently celebrated the conclusion of their first program year of the news Youth Workforce Delivery System. “What’s the big deal and what’s so different?” you ask, since youth employment programs have been around for decades. Well, July 1, 2007 was the first time that federal and state funding for youth was leveraged in a way that had never occurred. This new approach allowed for an increase of 300+ youth being served to over 2,700 and funded over 30 programs as opposed to eight.
Through the collaboration of the RI Department of Labor and Training, the Governor’s Workforce Board, the two Local Workforce Investment Boards and the Office of Adult Education, services for youth have become more effective and efficient. Now all youth in Rhode Island between the ages of 14-24 years have access to needed workforce development services designed to provide the training, work experience and work attitudes needed to transition into and succeed in the contemporary labor market.
In as much as all partners should be proud of the tremendous changes and increased numbers of youth served, there is still work to be done. As with any one-year-old, the Youth Workforce Delivery System is “cutting our teeth” and learning where to enhance our services and continue to build capacity. While we know over 10,000 service units have been provided to youth in our first year, we also know we need to add services and anticipate future workforce needs if we are going to stay relevant with the changing labor market. This means in the year ahead, in which we intend to serve close to 4,000 youth, we look to include more occupational skills training opportunities in high-demand occupations. With a solid year and footprint under our belt, we are now poised to add more technical skills to the mix so that Rhode Island’s emerging workforce will become Rhode Island’s skilled workforce.
So, to all those who were key in creating and growing the new system, Happy Birthday! To the vendors and service providers who partner with us, thank you. Please allow me to add “job well done!” It’s been a great first year and we look forward to growing our success in the year ahead.
Best,
Lori
Lori Norris is the Chief of Statewide Youth Services for the Department of Labor and Training and works in partnership with the Governor’s Workforce Board, Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston, Workforce Partnership of Greater RI and the Office of Adult Education.
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The North Rhode Island Youth Center - Woonsocket With funding from the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, the NRI Youth Community Center offers on going youth services such as academic assessment, career counseling, job readiness, career exploration, career guest speakers, field trips, referrals to youth services and use of the youth center computers for on-line career exploration and job search activities.
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During the past year Family Resources Community Action has had two programs, one for in-school youth ages 14-18, and one for out-of-school youth females ages 16-18. These programs continue to provide intensive pre-employment, youth development, educational and follow-up services to 60 area youth. As the area’s youth career center, the NRI Youth Career Center is the referring agency for summer and year-round youth programs. This summer, the NRI Youth Career Center has referred 20 youth, ages 14 and 15, to the RiverzEdge Arts Summer Program. Youth at RiverzEdge will not only learn painting, sculpting, silk screening, graphic arts and photography, but also how to market and sell what they produce. Twenty more youth have been referred to the NRI Area Health Education Center for a summer program in health and human service careers. They will be exposed to a variety of health/human services career pathways through their 15 hours per week internships, and meeting once a week as a group to share their experiences. In addition the Homestead Group (formerly ARC) received a summer jobs grant for 24 youth, ages 14 to 24, who are being placed, along with job coaches to assist them, with private employers to learn basic job and occupational skills. Family Resources Community Action also received a grant to provide 25 youth with five weeks of career exploration. The ‘We Can 2’ summer program will be exposing youth to five different career pathways. The center’s computers will offer them a portal into Rhode Island’s ‘Way To Go RI.Org’ web site to create on-line career portfolios. Youth will participate in leadership training and a team-building low ropes course. Guest speakers will explain how they decided on their careers and what kind of education and training is required. Field trips, such as a tour of a local hospital and a boat ride on the Blackstone River, will expose youth to opportunities in the Health Careers and Tourism/Hospitality industries. On Thursdays youth will be placed with area non-profit organizations to be exposed to the world of work through job shadowing experiences. Youth in ‘We Can 2’ will keep journals of their experiences as part of their career planning. All involved youth will receive financial stipends for their participation. For those youth who were ineligible for any of the four funded summer programs, the NRI Youth Career Center is offering on-going ‘drop-in’ services such as computer/internet access, job search assistance, internship and community service placements, and guest speakers to discuss careers. A monthly calendar is sent to over 250 youth center members as well as to area youth service providers. The NRI Youth Career Center, operated by Family Resources Community Action, is located at 55 Main Street in Woonsocket. Youth Career Center hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Please contact Joanne Goode, Youth Service Coordinator, at 235-6059. Warwick and West Warwick Youth Centers With funding from the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, Comprehensive Community Action Progams (CCAP) is pleased to announce the opening of a new Youth Centers in the west bay area. Our Warwick Youth Center is located at CCAP’s Warwick Skills Center at 3027 Westshore Road in Warwick. We have also partnered with the Tides Family Services and will offer additional programs and services located at 215 Washington St. in West Warwick. The program will provide year-round services to all youth ages 14-21. While the program will outreach to youth in the Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry, East Greenwich and West Greenwich, the program is open to all youth living in all RI cities and towns except Providence and Cranston. Our program located at the Providence/Cranston Youth Center provides these same services to youth living in Providence and Cranston. The Warwick/West Warwick Youth Center will offer programs and services for youth 14-24 still in school, for youth who have completed high school and are looking to improve their job skills and youth who have dropped out of school and would like to get their GED. CCAP staff will provide a full range of services to meet the short- and long-term academic and workforce needs of youth. We are just completing the installation of a new CVS One Hour Photo Tech training program.
Youth Center partners include:
CCAP has contracted to serve 300 Job Development Fund (JDA) and 30 Workforce Investment Act (WIA) clients. The Warwick Youth Center is located at 3027 West Shore Road, Warwick, RI 02886. Please call 921-5907 to learn about upcoming events. Youth Center hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Site Manager: Meghan Nhar The West Warwick Youth Center is located at 222 Main Street, West Warwick, RI 02893. Please call 615 7690 for more information. Youth Center hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Site Manager: Meghan Nhar Pawtucket Youth Center With funding from the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island , CCAP operates the Pawtucket Youth Center in the netWORKri One Stop at 175 Main Street in Pawtucket. The program provides year-round services to all youth ages 14-24. While the program will outreach to youth in the Pawtucket, Central Falls, North Providence and northern RI communities, the program is open to all youth living in all Rhode Island cities and towns except Providence and Cranston. Our program located at the Providence/Cranston Youth Center provides these same services to youth living in Providence and Cranston. The Pawtucket Youth Center offers programs and services for youth 14-24 still in school, for youth who have completed high school and are looking to improve their job skills and for youth that have dropped out of school and would like to get their GED. Services include:
Additional partners include:
CCAP has contracted to serve 300 JDF and 30 WIA clients. The Pawtucket Youth Center is located inside the Pawtucket NetworkRI at 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860. Please call 305 5920 for more information. Youth Center hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Site Manager: Lizette Fuentes The Woodlawn Youth Center is located at the Woodlawn Community Center 210 West Avenue, Pawtucket, RI 02860. Please call 475 7968 for more information. Youth Center hours are Monday through Friday from Noon - 8:00 p.m. Case Manager: Melissa Orpen-Tuz Providence/Cranston Youth Center
In partnership with Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston and the RI Department of Labor and Training, CCAP’s Learn to Eearn Program operates the Providence/Cranston Youth Center. The P/C Youth center provides outreach, recruitment, assessment and referral program for all Providence and Cranston youths ages 14 – 24. The program represents a central outreach, intake and assessment point for all young adults who may be interested in participating in any Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston or RI Department of Labor programs and services. There are a variety of educational and workforce development programs for youth in the cities of Providence and Cranston. The Learn to Earn staff can help young adults find the program that best fits their needs. Since opening on July 5th, the Youth Center has already served 1,000 young adults. Services include:
CCAP has contracted to serve 500 JDF clients The Providence Youth Center is located inside the Providence netWORKri, One Reservoir Avenue, Providence, RI 02907. Please call 228-8350 for more information. Youth Center hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Site Manager: Yahayra Genao South County and Johnston Youth Centers With funding from the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, Tri-Town and South County Community Action operate four Youth Opportunity Centers located in Charlestown, Westerly, Wakefield and Johnston. The centers are open days and select evenings, five days per week, and on weekends for special events. In the previous program year, the four centers combined served approximately 190 youth. The centers, by way of funding from the RI Department of Education, offer adult education services including ABE, ASE, GED preparation, ESL and family literacy. Additionally, the centers provide comprehensive case management and social service support including one-on-one counseling and referrals to additional services both internal and external. Each youth is evaluated using field tested assessments that measure key dimensions associated with general health, well-being and self sufficiency. Based upon results of the assessment, case management support is provided and, when necessary, referrals are made to supportive programs both within the community action agencies and in the community. The four Youth Opportunity Centers are also members of the Rhode Island Mentoring partnership and, by way of this affiliation, provide both group and individual mentoring to youth and young adults accessing the center. The primary focus of the mentoring program is to connect participants with individuals who can aid them in their journey to economic and social self sufficiency. To this end, mentors are recruited from the business community, private sector and within the agencies. As a supplement to these efforts, the Rhode Island Foster Care Association provides mentoring to participants who are in foster care. Additionally, the Youth Opportunity Centers are established as an Explorer Post through the Learning for Life Program with the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America. By way of this membership, youth participants are provided with leadership and career development opportunities including company tours, presentations by leaders in the community, access to explorer programs throughout the state, and team-building facilities and activities including ropes courses, outdoor areas and recreational facilities. The Youth Opportunity Centers have developed and implemented a leadership curriculum that has been designed in consideration of recent research relative to aiding young people in taking a leadership role. Specifically, the curriculum is based upon findings by Carole MacNeil in Bridging Generations: Applying “adult” leadership theories to youth leadership development whereby she posits that it is critical for youth to be prepared to take an immediate leadership role. To this end, the leadership curriculum introduces participants to the world, its challenges, its leaders, philosophies of change and current leadership movements. From this, the youth centers provide support to participants as they engage in their own leadership efforts. As an example, youth center participants recently established a local advocacy program attached to the national “Free Rice.Com” effort whereby education and global activism are brought together. Several youth delivered a presentation to the local Chamber of Commerce and were able to secure sponsors to provide rice for the local food banks. At the youth opportunity center, certain educational efforts are now sponsored by members of the business community resulting in food for the poor. Relative to work readiness and job development, the Youth Opportunity Centers have dedicated job developers who are available to youth and young adults to aid them in core areas associated with employment. This includes but is not limited to: career exploration, resume writing, interview skills, application mechanics, job searches, vocational and postsecondary training transitions, paid and unpaid work experience and career advancement counseling. The job developers maintain listings of employment and training opportunities (updated daily), track employment progress for each participant and provide one-on-one support as needed. Also, the Youth Opportunity Centers have initiated a program to aid youth who are required to perform community service by the justice system. Attached to the leadership development effort, youth perform community service by aiding in the maintenance and expansion of the leadership development curriculum. Specifically, youth are provided with key areas covered in the curriculum, such as women’s rights or poverty in Africa, and asked to do web searches documenting their impressions and web sites, initiatives, etc. that they think would be of interest to others their age. The product of their efforts is then incorporated into the curriculum to maintain viability. Finally, the Johnston Youth Opportunity Center has partnered with the Marian Mohr Library to provide reading materials to the center. The library has established a satellite location at the center providing over 200 books for the participants to access. The South County Youth Centers, operated by South County Community Action are located at 34 Pond Street, Westerly, RI, 4350 South County Trail, Charlestown, RI, 02813 and 1935 Kingstown Rd, Wakefield, RI 02879. Youth Center hours are Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm. Please contact Jaclyn Altieri @ 789-3016 ext 30 or jaltieri@sccainc.org for more information. The Johnston Youth Center, operated by Tri-Town Community Action is located aty 1126 Hartford Ave., Johnston, RI 02919. Youth Center hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Please contact Jen Cornwell at (401) 519-1935 or jcornwell@tri-town.org for more information. The East Bay Youth Centers are new kids on the block. A major focus was negotiating, securing, and furnishing space for the youth centers at the Newport and East Providence Boys and Girls Clubs and Mt. Hope High School in Bristol. All of the sites have a computer lab. Lori Engustian, Program Director East Bay Youth Center at Mt Hope High School East Bay Youth Center at East Provience Boys & Girls Club, 115 Williams Ave., E. Providence, RI 401-383-0366 Contact:StephanieJoval, sjoval@ebcap.org East Bay Youth Center at Newport Boys and Girls Club, 95 Church St, Newprt, RI 1-619-2759, Contact: steve Dolce, sdolce@ebcap.org Visit our Youth Centers online at www.dlt.ri.gov/youthworks411
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 Learn to Earn Program Awards 125 GEDs |
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As a comprehensive education and job training program, CCAP's Learn to Earn Program continues to be a great investment. Research has shown that the short and long term benefits of adult education programs combined with workforce development exceed their initial costs to the public. High School Diploma Best Economic Stimulus for the Nation In the latest installment of "Wise Words," Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, talks about the 1.2 million students from the class of 2008 who will not graduate with their peers. He says that these students will cost the nation over $300 billion in lost wages and revenues over the course of their lifetimes. Wise also argues that the best economic stimulus for the nation's economy is a high school diploma. "More students graduating may lengthen the commencement line, but it also shortens the unemployment line," Wise says.
email: pmcgrath@comcap.org | phone: 401.467-9610 | web: http://www.comcap.org |
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