Weekly Roundup of the news on women and supportive services in job training programs.

By Gladys McLean

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.

October 10, 2016

Fox59: Second Helpings offers free culinary job training to central Indiana residents

Unemployed or underemployed adults in central Indiana can receive free culinary job training through Second Helpings. Second helpings is an organization that rescues prepared and perishable food, prepares it into nutritious meals, and distributes those meals to 80 social services organizations that feed hungry people.

October 6, 2016

US Department of Labor: A New Start in New Haven

Last month, I [Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez] had the privilege of seeing Labor Department investments in action at the New Haven Correctional Center in Connecticut. They have taken advantage of a program called Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release, or LEAP, which enables people who are paying their debts to society to get job skills before they are released, as well as help with housing and transportation.

[…]During my stop in Connecticut, I met a young man named Liam who is nearing the end of a 20-month sentence. Liam passed me a note during the discussion to tell me what the program has meant to him:

Dear Secretary of Labor,

My name is Liam [last name withheld for privacy reasons]. I wish to tell you what the Job Alliance means to me, this is the best by far program I have ever been involved in, [they’re] giving me a chance at a new beginning, teaching me that it’s never [too] late to learn. [They’re] helping me with job placement, housing, and most importantly, my self-esteem, to know that I can still be a productive member of society, I thought I was done, I didn’t think I would be able to turn myself around, I didn’t think anybody cared. I’m excited about the future, I plan on taking full advantage of this program. So in closing thank you for this opportunity, it has changed my life for the better.

Liam [last name withheld]

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