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.
March 29, 2016
Grays Harbor Talk: YWCA of Olympia Brings Economic Empowerment Program to Grays Harbor County
The Economic Empowerment Program (EEP) is a free job-training program for young women between the ages of 16–24, which provides gender-responsive hands-on experiences at the YWCA Other Bank (hygiene product distribution center), individualized life and career support, mentoring and work placement prospects. Women who complete the program may be eligible for a financial stipend. In addition to hands-on job training, EEP offers a weekly well-being workshop for job trainees focused on strengthening the executive functioning and soft skills necessary for success and access to Kathleen’s Professional Clothing Closet.
[…] The program ensures that women are equipped with competence, confidence and connections to help them succeed in the workplace, move beyond minimum wage employment and experience financial and familial stability.
March 27, 2016
CT Post: Program works to keep low-income women from dropping out of college
Citing trends that show younger single mothers often working in low-wage jobs, if they are employed at all, the program’s founders decided to tackle a skills gap that is keeping more women and families in poverty. AT HCC, the program includes a workforce development component, coaching support, financial literacy development and access to community supports and more, in addition to scholarships and emergency financial aid.
March 26, 2016
The Commercial Appeal: Guest column: Let’s improve the odds for rural families
That complexity is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s FY2017 Budget invests in evidence-based and other promising practices to respond to the full range of challenges for families in rural America.
[…] We also want to help rural communities implement “two-generation” strategies to combating poverty, providing grants to communities to more efficiently align workforce development for parents with early childhood education and child care for their kids. It simply makes sense: a single mom is going to have a tougher time finishing community college if she has to worry about child care.
To view more of IWPR’s research, visit IWPR.org
