Weekly Roundup of the news on women and supportive services in job training programs.
Job training can provide an entry into family-sustaining jobs and careers. Many women in job training programs, however, face obstacles to success. Wraparound services—such as child care assistance, access to public benefits, and transportation or housing assistance—can help adults, particularly those with caregiving responsibilities, to complete programs that will ultimately improve their economic standing.
July 17, 2016
New Hampshire Union Leader: NH Job Corps Center hopes more women will enroll
The buildings are new and spacious, the food is fresh and tasty, the setting is green, and classes move at the students’ pace. Best of all, it’s free. But the New Hampshire Job Corps Center, which opened to high praise and promise last fall, hasn’t been able to entice enough young women to enroll in its programs, the organization acknowledged last week. The facility is equipped for 150 students of each gender, but as of last week, only 73 women were enrolled.
[…] Several women students said Job Corps and the state’s workforce development system, New Hampshire Works, have to do a better job of getting the word out. Several interviewed said they found out about Job Corps by word of mouth, either from a parent who read about it in the newspaper or from a friend.
July 14, 2016
Carmichael Times: Women’s Empowerment Graduates 27 Formerly Homeless Women
Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Women’s Empowerment was recently featured on NBC’s TODAY Show and CNN’s Impact Your World for offering the most comprehensive job-readiness program in the Sacramento area designed specifically for women who are homeless and their children. The 2014 Organization of the Year has graduated 1,349 homeless women and their 3,500 children. Last year, 93 percent of graduates found homes and 83 percent found jobs or enrolled in school or training. The program combines self-esteem courses, job training, health classes and support services to help homeless women across diverse ages, races and cultures. Women’s Empowerment is funded solely through private donations from the community.
July 13, 2016
Michigan Chronicle: Detroit prepares to pilot new workforce training program
Representatives of the Seattle Jobs Initiative will visit Detroit July 14 to share how they developed a new employment and training initiative in Washington State that has generated $33 million in additional workforce funds, and that is now set to be piloted in Detroit.
[…] Under the program, states can be reimbursed for up to 50% of any non-federal dollars spent on employment, training and work support services for eligible individuals. In Washington, the State used a third-party match arrangement, whereby community colleges and community organizations provided the services and received most of the reimbursement funds. Over 50,000 residents there had received services as of 2015, and now Detroit has worked with JPMorgan Chase and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce to develop a pilot program with the State of Michigan.
July 10, 2016
The Washington Times: Governor’s $8 million job training initiative faces delays
In February, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan announced a new $8.3 million initiative aimed at helping low-income people find good-paying jobs. Called Gateway to Work and slated to have begun July 1, the program would target people making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line, give them skills training, access to transportation or help with child care and send them to employers desperately in need of qualified workers. Ideally, a job would eliminate need for public assistance. But a 10-member legislative committee tasked with approving the funding for a six-month pilot has yet to do so, and it’s unclear if it ever will.
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