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In Denver, Libraries Help with Test Preparation and Workforce Training
By Peggy Severson, Business Development Representative, Assessment and Training, Division of Workforce, Colorado Office of Economic Development Denver Office of Economic Development/Workforce Development (WD) and the Denver Public Library (DPL) entered into a multi-pronged partnership in July 2009 to expand employment and training services to business and to job-seeking library customers. In an effort to meet the challenges of the recent economic downturn, the reduction of City government and the ever-growing demand for services by the public, WD’s collaboration with DPL provides additional computer technology lab space and increased assessment and training services to unemployed and dislocated workers.
Posted On :
08/05/10 11:24AM
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189
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E-WIN Access Points in Mississippi
By Marcus Estes, Barbara Hicks and Misty Vowell, Mississippi Department of Employment Security The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) is a federally funded state agency that provides an array of services through WIN Job Centers located throughout the state. The WIN Job Centers offer convenient, one stop employment and training services to employers and job seekers. WIN Job Centers also pay unemployment insurance to workers who lost their jobs. The Labor Market Information Department gathers and disseminates labor force data used by private industry and public agencies for planning and resource allocation.
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07/29/10 05:23PM
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125
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North Carolina Workforce Professionals Help Train Library Staff in Job Search Tools
By Linda Strong, JobLink Unit Manager, North Carolina Division of Workforce Development, and Mary L. Boone, State Librarian, North Carolina North Carolina has been very successful in its library and workforce development partnership, and the key to that success has been a state-level collaboration fully supported by North Carolina’s Governor Beverly Perdue. The partnership between the North Carolina workforce development system and public libraries began last year when the Secretary of Cultural Resources saw newspaper reports on how libraries were being affected by the economy and asked the question “Can’t we do something to help them?” The Secretary tasked the NC State Librarian to create a program of Job Search Workshops to support public library staff in addressing the needs of job seekers in their libraries. The Department of Commerce and the Employment Security Commission were identified as important partners and were asked to participate in the Job Search Workshops. The Department of Commerce’s Division of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Employment Security Commission (ESC) had a commitment to address the increased demand on the workforce development system, and this project was viewed as a valuable opportunity to expand capacity of local communities to meet the workforce needs of their residents. The DWD and ESC work together in implementing the NC JobLink Career Center (One-Stop) system, so they established the connection with existing workforce development partners and resources throughout the state.
Posted On :
07/21/10 09:46AM
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197
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Making it Work @ the Public Library
It is a great pleasure to join in this partnership with the Department of Labor. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries (including school, academic, research and public libraries) and 17,500 museums. We are primarily a grant-making agency and we have a strong and growing policy and research focus. During the past ten years, thanks to support from IMLS, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, state and local funding, the e-rate, and resourceful librarians, more than 99 per cent of public libraries offer free access to the Internet. Wherever you are, large city or small town, your library and librarian will help guide you to the information resources you need.
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07/15/10 02:05PM
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326
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A Note from NAWDP: Using ARRA RES Funds for Staff Capacity Building
The Recovery Act provided an unprecedented opportunity for states and local areas to invest in the professional development of One-Stop employees who are on the frontlines of reemployment services. Building the capacity of front-line staff to serve the unemployed and develop their own careers is an investment that will pay off over the long term. As the demands of today’s businesses and job seekers increase, it is critically important that the workforce development profession continue to evolve. That means that we, as professionals in this field, need to continuously update our skills in order to meet the changing needs of our customers and to develop our own career pathways within the system. When customers come to a One-Stop Career Center, one of the first things that frontline staff do is to assess their skills and abilities. They help them identify the best path to achieve re-employment and self sufficiency. One Stop staff encourage the unemployed to create a career plans, take the necessary training to remain current with their particular field of interest, and obtain an industry-recognized credential as a way to remain viable in a shaky economy. But what about the One Stop staff themselves? Where is the system’s dedication to creating our career pathways? While it is easy to use overwhelming workloads as a reason to not invest in our staff, the fact remains that it is imperative that the workforce system takes its own advice.
Posted On :
07/13/10 10:14AM
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186
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IMLS and Gates Foundation Study "Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Public Libraries"
In March 2010, the Institute of Museum and Library Services released a study of the use of computers at public libraries. It shows that 30 million Americans used a public library computer for a job-related reason last year, of whom 75 percent searched for a job online, and half of those filled out an online application or submitted a r?sum?.
Posted On :
06/30/10 05:47PM
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95
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28
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Flyer on the partnership between the Employment and Training Administration and the Institute of Museum and Library Services
Last year, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) launched a partnership to encourage collaborations between the public workforce system and public libraries at the state and local levels. Joint activities include sharing of data, information and other resources and an upcoming Webinar highlighting workforce-library partnerships. This flyer provides an accessible graphic representation for the partnership and can be used for handouts at events or other dissemination purposes.
Posted On :
06/30/10 05:02PM
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654
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88
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TEN 50-09: Encouraging Partnerships between the Workforce Investment System and Public Libraries
This TEN announces the partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to provide better services to job seekers, workers and employers. The TEN discusses the types of partnership activities such as co-locating One-Stop Career Centers and libraries and training library staff on resources available through the workforce system. The TEN also highlights examples of workforce-library partnerships at the state and local levels.
Posted On :
06/29/10 06:19PM
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112
/Downloads :
44
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Libraries as Job Centers
This Colorado Public Radio segment discusses the role of public libraries in providing services to jobseekers in the state.
Posted On :
06/29/10 05:53PM
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124
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23
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Public Workforce System and Public Libraries: Stronger Together
In my career with the workforce development system, I have time and again seen that our mission relies critically on making connections. At the most fundamental level, we connect individuals with career assistance and employment opportunities. We are also connecting workers, job seekers and employers with other community resources to ensure that we are meeting the complex and varied needs of our customers. In this light, I am especially pleased at the opportunity to use this Community of Practice to share an exciting partnership ETA is developing with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Library professionals are expert at facilitating access to and helping people make sense of new information, and I know that our system can benefit enormously from engaging them in meaningful and concrete ways. We have summarized the different aspects of our partnership, from sharing information about our electronic tools to the July 19 Webinar highlighting promising state and local examples of workforce-library collaboration, in the newly issued Training and Employment Notice No. 50-09, “Encouraging Partnerships between the Workforce Investment System and Public Libraries to Meet Career and Employment Needs.” I hope that after you read the TEN, you will be inspired to engage your local library and find out if there are logical areas where its resources complement yours. After all, this is what we do best as workforce developers—leveraging assets from multiple sources to make a difference in the lives of people, whether they walk in the door of our One-Stop Career Center, use our electronic tools, or maybe even turn to their community library.
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06/29/10 03:21PM
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328
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New York State's Reemployment Services
Karen Coleman, Director of New York's Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions, provides an overview of New York's innovative approach to reemployment services, with particular focus on the use of assessment tools to improve skill matching.
Posted On :
06/16/10 11:11AM
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146
/Downloads :
85
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New York State's Reemployment Services
A presentation by Karen Coleman Director of the Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions, NYS Department of Labor. The presentation lays out the state's innovative approaches to reemployment.
Posted On :
06/16/10 11:05AM
/Views :
124
/Downloads :
47
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New York State's Reemployment Services
A presentation by Karen Coleman Director of the Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions, NYS Department of Labor. The presentation lays out the state's innovative approaches to reemployment.
Posted On :
06/16/10 11:04AM
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154
/Downloads :
52
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What Is in Your Assessment Toolbox? Making Informed Investments in Your Assessment Suite
The $250 million in Reemployment Services Grants provided through the Recovery Act have generated a host of creative and innovative approaches to helping the unemployed. In particular, we have learned a great deal over the last year about how assessment tools can strengthen reemployment services. Personality assessments, work values assessments, skills transferability assessments/tools, interest assessments, educational assessments, occupational skills assessments, work readiness assessments and the list goes on and on. All of these types of assessments and more increase the workforce system’s ability to match job seekers and employers. If you are still looking for ways to invest your ARRA RES funds, we want to help you learn about which instruments are the most effective by connecting you with your workforce system colleagues who can give you unbiased, first-hand feedback on their experience with specific products. If you are interested in purchasing a particular assessment instrument or tool and would like to see if there is a workforce system colleague that is using the instrument you are interested in, please contact our resident expert on assessment tools: Lauren Fairley-Wright Workforce Analyst USDOL – ETA – Office of Workforce Investment wright.lauren@dol.gov
Posted On :
06/09/10 10:48AM
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373
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The Reemployment Dollar Menu: New York State’s Investment Yields Great Value
Lawrence C. found himself without a job. The collapse of the financial sector (and related industries) had affected him and 868,000 other fellow New Yorkers. New York State’s Workforce Development System was overwhelmed and ARRA funds helped provide additional staffing for New York’s bustling One-Stop Centers. With some One-Stop Centers seeing over 700 customers daily, New York’s Labor Department was concerned about providing quality services to customers like Lawrence C. New York got SMART – literally. With a financial investment of less than the cost of a cheeseburger per customer, New York’s SMART 2010 job lead service was launched. New York State has partnered with Burning Glass Technologies in developing their existing recruiting tool to work for New York State’s unemployed. This technology has been successfully used by the private sector and has now been transformed into a job lead tool for job seeking customers. Minnesota’s experience with this technology, helped New York State plan their SMART 2010 pilot. One Stop staff submit customer resumes to SMART2010 where they are then “matched” with existing job openings in the New York Job Bank. The SMART 2010 system goes beyond traditional job matching technology. SMART doesn’t focus only on keywords; it understands s the knowledge, skills and abilities that people acquire over their entire work history. SMART then rates the selected job leads (using a five star rating system) and emails these leads directly to the customer’s email in-box. Customers can read a brief description of the job lead and click on a hyperlink that provides additional detail on the job opening.
Posted On :
05/25/10 01:49PM
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440
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NASWA WEBINAR ON ARRA REEMPLOYMENT GRANTS
April 30th Webinar: Approaches to Obligating Reemployment Funds by September 30, 2010
Posted On :
05/11/10 06:24PM
/Views :
287
/Downloads :
126
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Health Coverage Tax Credit and Reemployment: The View from Colorado
My name is Shannon Gutheil and I was asked to highlight the experiences I have had working with trade-affected individuals first-hand and how the HCTC Program has helped them. Over the last 6 years working with trade-affected workers there have been many challenges they face and health care is one of the biggest. The HCTC program and benefit has been able to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with layoff. When people find out about HCTC I see the light go on in their eyes and a smile emerge on their face. They sometimes can’t believe what they are being offered. The details and process are sometimes hard for them to grasp, but once they understand what steps they need to take to access HCTC benefits you hear a sigh of relief. For many workers, continuation of health care is an option they grapple with over and over because of bottom line costs. They are trying to answer the questions “How am I going to keep health care with COBRA costs being so high? How am I going to take care of my family if they get sick without insurance?” These are questions I hear at my desk almost daily when working with trade-affected workers. A great percentage of workers we serve on the front lines are the sole carriers of health insurance for their families and when they loose their jobs this compounds their stress levels, which in turn can increase their risk for getting sick – thus meaning they need to keep their health care coverage even more. Knowing they have HCTC available to them, as long as they meet all criteria, can help relieve this burden and help them focus on re-tooling their skills and/or gaining new employment. When trade-affected workers utilize and are eligible for HCTC benefits, it is truly a great benefit to have available. Shannon Gutheil, TAA Counselor at the Ft. Collins Workforce Center, Colorado
Posted On :
11/17/09 11:41AM
/Views :
735
Baltimore County Public Library video on services it provides to help find jobs
This is a good example from the Baltimore Public Library of the types of services and resources libraries make available.
Posted On :
07/23/10 08:30PM
/Views :
68
/Downloads :
20
Wisconsin Expands RES Services
Through the use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, Wisconsin Job Service has significantly expanded and enhanced the Re-employment Services (RES) program. With the hiring of 50 new staff we have been able to expand our RES services beyond our 22 Comprehensive job centers to over 65 locations. This type of growth has allowed us to serve more customers throughout the state, making our programs and services more accessible to the citizens of Wisconsin. We also provided a comprehensive 3 day training for these new staff in July, 2009. Job Service has increased the number of RES sessions from 10 per week (serving 150 claimants) to 80 RES sessions per week (serving 900 claimants). Since July, 2009 we have been able to serve over 35,000 customers, with 80% of attendees being referred to other services and programs within the Job Center. Part of the requirement for RES is that each participant posts a profile on JobCenterofWisconsin.com, completes an RES intake form and participate in a three-hour workshop. Following the presentation, each job seeker participates in a one-on-one session with an RES staff person who assesses their job seeking process and refers them down one of three paths: 1. Work Ready Path, 2. Referral Path, or 3. Employment Counseling Path.
Posted On :
07/06/10 11:55AM
/Views :
71
State Library Launches WorkSC website
The newly launched website www.worksc.org was created by the South Carolina State Library to assist libraries, government agencies and jobseekers find workforce-related resources. It exemplifies the various resources for use by library staff in providing services to job seekers.
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