Untapped Opportunities for Refugees Age 16-24

August 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Learn how to access WIOA funding at NAWDP’s Annual Youth Development Symposium

Everyone should be aware of opportunities for refugees between the ages of 16-24 to access mainstream workforce funding for Out of School Youth (OSY) who are disconnected from education and the workforce. WIOA shifted funding from 25% to 75% for this population. At least 20% of refugees could qualify.

Partnering with us accesses a pipeline of highly motivated OSY eager for training, resources and careers. Our mainstream workforce colleagues continue to struggle to identify, attract and retain urban youth and other traditional clients at the increased funding levels.

Attend NAWDP’s Annual Youth Development Symposium in Chicago 10/31 - 11/2 to connect to over 500 youth workforce professionals from across the nation. You’ll meet American Job Center Staff, Youth Build Grantees, Job Corps Professionals, Career and Guidance Counselors, Educators, Community College Representatives, Juvenile Justice Specialists, and more!

To begin learning now, check out a previous post to explore our new youth employment services resource collection.

Filed Under: NAWDP, Short Term Skills Training, WIOA, Youth Employment Tagged With: , , , ,

Workforce Resource: Registered Apprenticeship

August 8, 2016 by 2 Comments

Source: www.rittal.com

Welcome to the fourth post in our series featuring some of the tools, resources and programs available in the mainstream workforce system, shaped by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and delivered through the national network of American Job Centers serving all U.S. job seekers.

It’s a complex, resource-rich system underutilized in refugee employment services. Higher is determined to change that so our clients benefit from new opportunities and employment services.

We’ll do the research you don’t have time for amidst managing client caseloads and employer relationships. You can focus on using highlighted resources to help your clients succeed in the U.S. workforce.

So far we’ve highlighted online tools that you can utilize in your job counseling and job development efforts, as well as On-the-job Training. In this post we’ll talk about the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship program.

Apprenticeships Are Making a Comeback

www.dol.gov/featured/apprenticeship/shareables

When you think of an apprenticeship, you probably think of a unionized position in a skilled trade. That’s because that was what the U.S. Apprenticeship program looked like when it started about 75 years ago.

Today there are more than 400,000 registered apprenticeships in more than 1,000 occupations.

Since 2014, the US has added more than 75,000 new apprenticeships, the largest increase in nearly a decade. Some of these are traditional apprenticeships in the skilled trades, but many are non-traditional apprenticeships in fields including Healthcare, Information Technology, Advanced Manufacturing, Transportation and Logistics and Energy. Learn more about DOL industry priorities here.

(Re)starting a U.S. Career Through Registered Apprenticeship

Registered Apprenticeship combines classroom-based learning with structured on-the-job learning. This federally funded “earn while you learn” training program allows employers to develop a highly qualified workforce and helps apprentices learn a trade while earning a living wage.

A Registered Apprenticeship can last anywhere from 1-6 years (most are 4 year programs) and always leads to a nationally recognized credential that is both portable and scalable.

This means that apprenticeships lead to even more opportunity for additional career advancement for job seekers who might choose to take their skills and credential to a different employer or another State. They might also decide later to obtain a higher level credential as they advance further in their chosen career.

The Five Components of Registered Apprenticeship

While Registered Apprenticeship can be organized differently and customized to the needs of the employer, there are five components to all Registered Apprenticeship programs:

Source: A Quick-Start Toolkit: Building Registered Apprenticeship Programs, U.S. Department of Labor

Are Registered Apprenticeships a Good Fit for Refugees?

Apprenticeships can be a great fit for refugees, particularly those with higher levels of English coming from more skilled backgrounds—whether that be a professional from a STEM industry or a “blue collar” worker with experience in the skilled trades.

Registered apprenticeships have the potential to function as a bridge that overcomes refugees’ lack of US work experience and helps them obtain a “Made in America” industry credential - all while earning a living wage.

Imagine what a difference it could make, both financially and emotionally, for some of our higher-skilled clients to be putting their skills to use, learning new skills, gaining credentials, and earning $5+ above minimum wage. (Most apprenticeship positions start around $15/hour).

Challenges to Anticipate

We believe this is a great opportunity, but it won’t be easy to access. As we’ve noted in past posts, the mainstream workforce development system is huge and complex. Many who work in this system are unfamiliar with refugees. In addition, apprenticeships work differently in different states and expertise is largely centralized in federal and state government.

It will take a significant amount of staff time to figure out how things work in your state or locality. One way that refugee employment programs have overcome this challenge is to assign a staff member or volunteer to be liaison to key stakeholders in the mainstream system, including American Job Centers (AJC), Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), and state/city workforce offices.

With intentional planning and commitment, we believe it’s worth the time to overcome the challenge of access to mainstream programs like Registered Apprenticeship.

3 Ways to Explore Apprenticeship Opportunities

  1. Get to know you state apprenticeship office and other mainstream workforce development players in your area. Start by finding the office for apprenticeship in your state. This list includes all DOL apprenticeship contacts by state. If you have a hard time connecting with the apprenticeship office, connect with staff at your local American Job Center, and they may be able to help connect you to the right person or organization to talk to.
  1. Search for local apprenticeship opportunities using the map available on the US Department of Labor’s website. You can also use the Apprenticeship Finder search tool on careeronestop.org. It may be strategic to begin intentional outreach efforts with companies and unions that you know have apprenticeships that could match client skills. Take a look at this list of current Apprenticeship grantees to see where apprenticeships may already be happening in your area.
  1. Talk to the employers that you already work with, and make sure they are aware of the federal Registered Apprenticeship program. Who knows? Maybe one of your employer partners would be interested in creating an Apprenticeship program specifically for refugee-background employees. Share this helpful toolkit and for employers interested in creating Registered Apprenticeship programs.

Resources for Learning More

For more information and resources on Registered Apprenticeships, visit the ApprenticeshipUSA website.

Be sure to look at the ApprenticeshipUSA toolkit, where you can access eLearning modules on the Registered Apprenticeship program, as well as other information about setting up apprenticeship programs and/or marketing them to employers.

If you have any experience with placing refugees in apprenticeships, please email us at [email protected] to share your insights on this career path strategy.

Filed Under: Career Advancement, Economic Integration, Employer Partnerships, Job Upgrades, Professional Recertification, Short Term Skills Training, WIOA, Workforce Resource Series Tagged With: , , , , ,

3 Opportunities to Take Advantage of NOW

July 11, 2016 by 2 Comments

whFrom the 06/29 White House National Skills and Credential Institute

This is a time of unprecedented opportunities for refugee and immigrant workforce integration.

We have strong allies at the White House and across federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation. They’re working together at a high level to create opportunities and remove barriers for refugees and immigrants to enter and succeed in the U.S. workforce.

Read this National Skills Coalition overview of the White House Institute and the high level leadership that made it possible.

Higher believes that the three biggest opportunities you need to know about now involve:

  1. Occupational Licensing
  2. State Workforce Investment Board Strategic Plans, and
  3. Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships

Expanding opportunities for work-based learning through apprenticeships is one of the strongest opportunities for refugees in WIOA. The avalanche of available information makes it hard to know where to start. If the standard wisdom to “follow the money” is true, this is the workforce development strategy to prioritize.

Read a White House Fact Sheet for a summary of national priorities, current funding opportunities and context.

$90 million in additional funding was announced at the end of June and, on June 2, $10.4 million in was awarded to 51 states, territories and the District of Columbia to support the expansion of quality and innovative Registered Apprenticeship programs.

$175 million was awarded to 46 applicants on September 9, 2015. See a complete list of opportunities to connect refugees to apprenticeships from that funding round.

Workforce Investment Board Strategic Plans

Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) at the State and local levels set the strategic direction of workforce services. The State WIB strategic plans that outline those strategies were just released after a lengthy process and development of local plans that build on State strategies is in progress.

The National Skills Coalition has excellent resources to help you understand what’s important to know with a State Plan Playbook document and companion webinar.

In her remarks at the White House Skills Institute, Portia Wu, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor Employment and Training Agency (DOL-ETA) emphasized how important it is to “be part of the conversation.” The plans are works in progress with a mandated formal revision period in two years. It’s not too late to get involved.

Most WIB meetings are open to the public and attending is a good way to learn more and build contacts. Click here to find contact information for your local or State WIBs.

Licensing and Professional Recertification

The Department of Labor has announced funding currently available to help “enhance the portability of occupational licenses and to otherwise reduce overly burdensome restrictions”. The funding targets national or regional groups of States and the deadline is fast approaching, so you might not be able to participate directly if your agency isn’t already well connected to on-going efforts.

We have all experienced the difficulties in helping clients become licensed in their previous career fields. This funding opportunity is one step to reduce those barriers and signals high level interest in helping highly skilled refugee and immigrant professionals return to their chosen careers.

Click here to read the White House fact sheet for excellent contextual background and the DOL-ETA grant announcement.

 

Filed Under: Addressing Barriers to Employment, Career Advancement, Economic Integration, Professional Recertification, WIOA, Workforce Collaboration Tagged With: , ,

Workforce Resource: On-the-Job Training

June 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

On the Job TrainingWelcome to the third post in our series featuring some of the tools, resources and programs available in the mainstream workforce system, shaped by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and delivered through the national network of American Job Centers serving all U.S. job seekers.

It’s a complex, resource-rich system underutilized in refugee employment services. Higher is determined to change that so our clients benefit from new opportunities and employment services.

We’ll do the research you don’t have time for amidst managing client caseloads and employer relationships. You can focus on using highlighted resources to help your clients succeed in the U.S. workforce.

In our first two posts we highlighted online tools that you can utilize in your job counseling and job development efforts. In the next few posts we want to shift to highlighting programs within the mainstream workforce system that can help your clients break into career fields that they are interested in.

Breaking into a Career through On-the-job Training

Breaking into one’s field of choice can be a challenge, even for native-born Americans. On-the-job Training (OJT) is funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and is one strategy for obtaining or updating skills and securing employment.

OJT is a win-win situation in which the OJT participant receives training and employment and the employer is reimbursed for the training costs (usually calculated at half the pay rate for the agreed-upon training period- although under the new WIOA legislation states can choose to increase employer reimbursement up to 75%).

OJT & Refugees

For refugees, OJT can be a strategic way to either re-enter one’s former industry or gain new skills that will put them on a stable career path in the US.

Because OJT is a comprehensive skills training program, it will be most useful for refugees with higher levels of English and literacy. Some programs, however, have found success placing LEP clients in OJT placements when there is a strong relationship between the employer and the refugee employment program in which they work as a team to make sure the OJT training is successful.

From the research Higher has done so far, refugees with backgrounds in “blue-collar” industries (e.g. construction, manufacturing) seem to be a particularly good fit for OJT, because of the experience they bring to the table, and because the federal reimbursement opportunity is attractive to small and medium sized business in these fields.

That being said, there have also been successful OJT placements with both high skilled refugees with more professional backgrounds and low-skilled refugees with little to no work background (see examples below).

Places Where it’s Worked

OmahaOmaha, NE:

Partnership: Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska (Omaha) with WIOA Contractor Goodwill Industries of Omaha, NE

Population: Afghan SIVs

Industry: Construction

 

“With [WIOA/OJT] dollars and Lutheran Family Service’s reputation and connection to the community, we’re able to put together a package that speaks to a hiring manager or organization…and it’s quick—participants are getting enrolled in our program and within 3 or 4 weeks they’re working. We use our dollars to pay for tools, steel toed boots—whatever they need to be successful on the job, as well as paying money towards the employer for hiring through our program” –Justin Dougherty, (former) Director of Workforce Services, Goodwill Industries, Inc., Omaha, NE

Orlando__Lake_Eola_1Orlando, FL:

Partnership: Catholic Charities, Orlando, FL and local employers (Catholic Charities operates the OJT program in house using WIOA funds)

Populations: Cubans, Haitians, and Iraqis

Industries: Dentistry (Dental Assistant), Childcare (Assistant Teacher), Logistics/Warehouse, Hospitality (Maintenance Technicians and Front Desk), Food Processing

“OJT is a good option because it provides employment that is higher paying than most entry level positions, gives some clients an opportunity to continue in their field, and gives others a great ‘stepping stone’ job.” –Daisy Clemente, Employment Services Coordinator, Catholic Charities, Orlando, FL

Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City, UT:

Partnership: IRC, Salt Lake City, UT with Utah Department of Workforce Services Office

Populations: Sudanese, Burmese, Iraqi

Industries: Sewing, Construction/remodeling, Glass recycling

 

“We keep OJT in our back pocket as an incentive for employers who are a little hesitant [to hire refugees].” –Nolan LaBarge, Employment Specialist, IRC, Salt Lake City, Utah

Tips for Success

In talking to these 3 sites, some common themes emerged in terms of what made their OJT efforts successful:

  • Commit to learning the system: If you don’t already have someone on staff who has a background in mainstream workforce development, identify someone who can commit the time to learning the process and be the liaison between your office and the American Job Center (AJC). Additionally, look for allies within the mainstream system who are excited about your work and can give you an insider’s perspective on how to navigate the system.
  • Strong job development makes strong OJT placements: Often times it’s the employers you already have strong relationships with who will be most interested in placing your clients in OJT. You can also use OJT as a selling point when approaching new employers. Either way, you can put the opportunity on their radar and if they’re interested, you can can make the connection to the AJC to continue the process.
  • Provide good marketing materials for employers: In the same way that you provide employers good information about refugees, consider also leaving them with a nice brochure about OJT. Give them something to think about, and follow up with them shortly afterwards.
  • Offer employers additional support (coordinating interpretation, etc.): Let them know that you not only can provide them with strong candidates, but you are available to provide reasonable support to them to help with some of the challenges that come along with hiring refugees.
  • Make the right match: Always remember to take your clients past experience and skills into account when recommending them for OJT. While OJT may at times provide an opportunity for someone to learn completely new skills, the OJT program is primarily designed to be a skills upgrade program, and trainees are expected to begin contributing as productive workers on day one. The refugee programs that have found success with OJT have done so largely because they capitalized on skills their clients already had.

Getting Started & Learning More

If OJT is new for you, the best place to get started would be to contact your local American Job Center (AJC). Click here to find an AJC near you.

Once you identify the OJT resources and process in your community, you can begin marketing the program to employers that you work with.

The Employment Training Administration (ETA) is in the process of updating its’ OJT Toolkit which will be made available soon on the new Workforce GPS website, but in the meantime click here to access a recent webinar entitled “Strategies for Implementing OJT Simply and Effectively” as well as an OJT Training Brief and Resource Guide by the same name (you can find it in the left hand column called “Related Resources”).

Coming Soon…

Also, keep your eyes out in the next month or so for the next edition of our Workforce Collaboration Case Study Series, which will take a deeper look at the OJT partnership (highlighted briefly in this post) between Lutheran Family Services and Goodwill Industries in Omaha, NE.

Have You Placed Clients in OJT?

It’s impossible for us to know everything that everyone is doing out there. If you’ve placed clients in OJT, please let us know so that we can learn from your experiences as we continue to look at this strategy for refugee employment! Send us an email at [email protected].

Filed Under: Career Advancement, Economic Integration, Employer Partnerships, Job Development, Job Upgrades, Partnership Opportunity, Professional Recertification, Resources, Short Term Skills Training, Success Stories, Transferable Skills, WIOA, Workforce Collaboration, Workforce Resource Series Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Simple Strategies to Address Common Barriers, Part 4

May 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment

At a recent Maryland-wide workshop which focused on refugee workforce development, Higher had participants do a brainstorming activity, in which groups worked together to list common barriers refugees face to employment as well as possible solutions.

These types of activities inevitably generate a “wish list” of solutions which are great ideas but not always in our power to implement quickly (e.g. adding staff members, ESL at work sites, home-based self-employment for refugee women).

While there are certainly times to pursue those big ideas, perhaps the best thing about exercises like this is that they allow groups to identify simpler solutions that can be implemented immediately.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll share some of these insights from your Maryland peers, focusing on simple and practical strategies that are relatively easy to implement! So far, we’ve focused on tips for overcoming Limited English Proficiency (LEP) challenges, tips for overcoming transportation challenges and tips for overcoming childcare challenges. This week we’ll share a few tips on overcoming the barrier of Computer Access/Digital Literacy.

Tips for Overcoming Computer Access/Digital Literacy Challenges:

  1. Connect clients to local computer labs and/or digital literacy training opportunities. Suggested Resource: The Literacy Directory lists free resources to help adult students reach life goals in areas such as improving reading, math, and science skills, learning English, building job and job search skills, becoming a U.S. citizen, and finding adult education, child, family, and digital literacy programs.
  2. Help clients access low-cost computers. Suggested Resource: EveryoneON is a national nonprofit working to eliminate the digital divide by making high-speed, low-cost Internet service and computers, and free digital literacy courses accessible to all unconnected Americans. A true digital literacy initiative, they aim to leverage the democratizing power of the Internet to provide opportunity to all Americans – regardless of age, race, geography, income, or education level. Let’s help them do this!
  3. Educate clients about affordable internet options. Suggested Resource: ConnectHome is a public-private collaboration to narrow the digital divide for families with school-age children who live in HUD-assisted housing. ConnectHome is the next step in President Obama’s continued efforts to bring affordable broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and electronic devices to all Americans.
  4. Utilize interns and/or volunteers to help clients improve their computer skills. Suggested Resource: DigitalLearn.org is a collection of self-directed tutorials for end-users to increase their digital literacy, and a community of practice for digital literacy trainers to share resources, tools and best practices.
  5. Encourage your clients to work with you on this challenge, asking them to network within their community to explore solutions.

Stay tuned for more tips from MD refugee employment programs and stakeholders. The final part in this series will address unrealistic client expectations.

Do you recommend any additional digital literacy resources? Feel free to participate in the conversation by leaving a comment below or sending us an email at [email protected].

Filed Under: Financial Literacy, Resources, Short Term Skills Training, Tools, Transferable Skills, WIOA

Workforce Resource: Online Tool for Identifying Prospective Employers

February 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Source: http://allstarluxury.com

Welcome to the second post in our series featuring some of the tools, resources and programs available in the mainstream workforce system, shaped by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and delivered through the national network of American Job Centers serving all U.S. job seekers.

It’s a complex, resource-rich system underutilized in refugee employment services. Higher is determined to change that so our clients benefit from new opportunities and employment services.

We’ll do the research you don’t have time for amidst managing client case loads and employer relationships. You can focus on using highlighted resources to help your clients succeed in the U.S. workforce.

In our first post we highlighted The Department of Labor, Education and Training Agency’s Industry Competency Models, which provide detailed information as well as easy to understand visuals explaining the skills needed to advance in a variety of industries.

In this post, we’ll share another online resource that will give you valuable information about a variety of industries and help you identify local employers to target in your job development efforts.

Workforce Resource: Online Tool for Identifying Prospective Employers

The “Explore Careers” section of Careeronestop.org, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, offers several online tools including career profiles, detailed industry information, and occupation comparisons.

Several useful tools for job development can be found on the “What’s hot” page under the “Learn about careers” category (see photo above). In this section you can run several reports including:

Using These Tools to Discover Prospective Employers and Pathways for Your Clients

One of the most helpful features of these reports is that they allow you to filter the results by education level (some high school up to master’s degree or higher). This feature can be used to find opportunities based on client’s education/skill level or to show clients the education that will be necessary to obtain to accomplish their career goals.

Once you select which type of trends you want to see and the education level, you will get a list of occupations, which you can filter by state. This will give you a general idea of what industries might be worth pursuing in your region. Here’s an example of the Top 25 Fastest Growing Occupations from the state of Ohio for job seekers with an education level of “some high school”:

How You Can Find Thousands of Employers to Target!

From the list of occupations (above) you can click on the links to see Occupation Profiles which will give descriptions of the occupations and highlight national and state trends. To find actual employers to contact go to the dropdown menu in the top right hand corner and choose “Business Finder” which will redirect you to another page where you can search for businesses by occupation and city.

So let’s say you want to search for construction laborers in Columbus, OH. Here’s what you get:

4,021 employers to add to your prospecting list!

Do you need to expand your employer network and create some new opportunities for your clients? There is no better way to go about accomplishing this goal than to identify local industries that are growing, need people, and offer jobs that fit your clients’ skills and/or educational backgrounds.

This tool is a great place to start!

Filed Under: Career Advancement, Employer Partnerships, Helpful Statistics and Facts, Job Development, Labor Market Analysis, Marketing and Outreach, Resources, WIOA, Workforce Resource Series Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Workforce Collaboration Case Study: Co-location at Two American Job Centers

February 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington, VA (CCMRS) stations two Employment Specialists part time at two American Job Centers. This strategy delivers expanded refugee access to mainstream workforce resources and illustrates success factors that make colocation beneficial for clients, American Job Centers and CCMRS.

Read the case study online or download a PDF version if you prefer. You will learn

  • the advantages of locating Employment Specialists in an American Job Center;
  • how one CCMRS client accessed entrepreneurship training and, as a result, was able to open his own small business;
  • some of the program details and service access that can be adjusted for seamless client service access; and
  • the American Job Center perpective on this successful collaboration strategy.
About Higher’s Workforce Collaboration Case Study Series

This case study, written by professional writer and former CCMRS Job Developer Erin Voorheis, is one of five that Higher will make available over the coming months to help us all learn from each other about successful strategies for strengthening our collaboration with the mainstream workforce system so that refugees can better access workforce services provided across the country for all U.S. job seekers.

If you are collaborating with the workforce system in your community and want to share what you’re learning with peers across the country, get in touch at [email protected].

 

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Mentoring, Success Stories, WIOA, Workforce Collaboration Case Study Series Tagged With: , , , ,

Workforce Collaboration Case Study: Ready for Retail Training for Refugee Youth

January 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: ACC-DEN

ECDC’s African Community Center of Denver, CO (ACC) shares what they have learned through a very successful training program for refugee youth that partners with two American Job Centers, funds ACC’s retail customer service training program and builds workplace skills for refugee youth.

Read the case study online or download a PDF version if you prefer. You will learn

  • how and why ACC began partnering with mainstream workforce centers;
  • how to register as an Eligible Training Provider to gain eligibility to receive WIOA training funds for participant training;
  • how ACC’s Ready for Retail training program developed over time and what participants say about how they benefitted; and
  • some of the lessons ACC learned that you can replicate in your own efforts.
About Higher’s Workforce Collaboration Case Study Series

This case study, written by Higher Peer Advisor Carrie Thiele, ACC Training Program Manager, is the first of five that Higher will make available over the coming months to help us all learn from each other about successful strategies for strengthening our collaboration with the mainstream workforce system so that refugees can better access workforce services provided across the country for all U.S. job seekers.

If you are collaborating with the workforce system in your community and want to share what you’re learning with peers across the country, get in touch at [email protected].

 

Filed Under: Success Stories, WIOA, Workforce Collaboration Case Study Series, Youth Employment Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Request for Peer Support for Higher

November 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

How are you collaborating with the mainstream workforce system? We want to learn what’s working and share it with our network.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) legislates the mainstream workforce system encompassing 2,500+ resource centers governed by local and State workforce boards.

WIOA is getting alot of buzz and includes lots of buzzwords. American Job Center (AJC). Workforce Development Board (WDB). Out of School Youth (OSY). On-the-Job-Training (OJT).

Just the terminology alone can be confusing and overwhelming.

No matter what terms you use, refugees deserve increased access to the resources available for all U.S. job seekers. We - the national refugee employment network- are in the best position to start building stronger bridges between the refugee resettlement network and the mainstream workforce system that houses all those resources.

There are a few well-known and long-standing examples. Higher has already begun to collect more from your peers in Washington, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Virginia. We know there are more examples, but we need you to help us find them.

Call to Action

Before 2015 comes to a close, send a quick email to [email protected] or get in touch with Lorel, Daniel or Sarah. Nothing formal required. Just tell us about your experience or that of another refugee employment program. We’ll take it from there.

Filed Under: WIOA, Workforce Collaboration Tagged With: , ,

11/4 Workforce Collaboration Webinar from ORR

October 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment
and an opportunity to help your peers and be a Higher guest blogger!

On November 4, 2015 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. EST, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) will host a free webinar “Connecting Refugees to Workforce Development Opportunities: Promising Partnerships and the New Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).”

Higher and 120 of your peers from around the country will be in Omaha for our Second Annual Refugee Employment Workshop. Here’s how you can help the refugee employment network (and Higher) so none of us miss this opportunity to learn.

  1. Register to attend the 11/4 webinar. (Click here.)
  2. Get in touch with us at [email protected] if you’re interested in one or more of the following: Take thorough notes, call Higher to talk about what you learned or draft a blog post to share with the network. We’ll be offering modest honorariums as a thanks for your help.

The webinar will highlight the opportunities for refugee organizations to enhance services and develop new partnerships with workforce development agencies with the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Common areas of service, performance metrics, and populations will be discussed to showcase the potential for national, state and local refugee agencies and organizations to enhance collaboration, partnerships, and deliver enhanced workforce programs for refugees.

Additionally, a speaker from the San Diego, California – International Rescue Committee will discuss the coordination and partnership between their organization and their local workforce investment board through their Connect2Work program, their Workforce Accelerator Grant, and Health Professions Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program in connecting youth and adult refugees to employment programs.

 

Filed Under: WIOA, Workforce Collaboration Tagged With: , , ,
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