YouthBuild

20170919T112032

WIOA in Year Three - What Do YouthBuild Programs Need to Know?

As September marks the start of yet another grant class of YouthBuild grants, it seems like a good time for us to provide a refresher on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the requirements it places on YouthBuild grantees.

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WIOA and the Role of Career One-Stops

The Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Role of Career One-Stops

20190111T094328

DOL YouthBuild 2016-2017 WIOA Performance Updates and Timing

We are finally starting to collect early performance data on WIOA outcomes!  While there is still much work to do – both in ensuring more accurate and prompt reporting and in developing the system capabilities to support WIOA performance outcomes – we are excited to see the first information on how YouthBuild grantees are adjusting to these new metrics.

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DOL YouthBuild and WIOA Reporting

Data is a valuable resource at your YouthBuild program - it is one of the most important ways you tell your story. Each YouthBuild program is different, serving different student populations, with different resources available, using a different approach to implement the program model. But data management, technology, and online reporting tools are an increasingly important part of every YouthBuild program’s work — in fact, it is required!

20190226T081404

Rethinking Recruitment: Partnerships and Strategies

The success of a YouthBuild program is evident when the program achieves strong program outcomes for participants by helping them to attain educational and vocational credentials, as well as an education and/or employment placement that is a on a career pathway towards a sustaining wage and upward mobility.

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Planning for Successful Recruitment and Mental Toughness

Achieving strong programmatic outcomes begins with recruitment.  Getting the right young people in the door – those individuals ready and excited to take full advantage of YouthBuild’s opportunities, with the readiness, determination and fortitude to overcome challenges and change their lives – is fundamental to realizing strong long-term outcomes.  Doing so requires a strategic approach which is data and goal driven, and supports the full programming cycle.

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Case Management

Case Management: Keeping YouthBuild Participants and Staff Focused on Teaching, Learning, and Positive individual and Community Empowerment

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Trauma-Informed Care

According to a survey on adverse childhood experiences by the National Survey of Children’s Health, “almost half the nation’s children have experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma.” As YouthBuild practitioners, you’ve seen this first hand in your programs. Note the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s definition of trauma:

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Substance Use, Trauma, and Other Challenges: Effective Case Management Strategies

DOL YouthBuild Newsletter: June 2019 Edition

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North America’s Building Trades Unions’ Building Trades Multi-Craft Core Curriculum

By Guest Blogger Daryl Wright, Vice President of Partnerships at YouthBuild USA

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Leveraging Relationships with Offices of Apprenticeships to Promote Partnerships and Pathways

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is designed, in part, to connect out-of-school youth to education and jobs. Under WIOA, YouthBuild programs are considered pre-apprenticeship models, with a goal of connecting youth participants to jobs by preparing them for, and connecting them to, future apprenticeships.

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Partnering with Workforce Development Agencies to Promote Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is an earn-while-you-learn training model in which YouthBuild graduates can gain valuable work experience while receiving related technical instruction. Apprenticeships may last from one to six years.

20190416T083207

Connecting to Registered Apprenticeship Pathways: Registered Apprenticeship Toolkit

Connecting to Registered Apprenticeship Pathways for YouthBuild raises awareness for YouthBuild program staff in understanding Registered Apprenticeship, the benefits of creating a Registered Apprenticeship career pathway for youth, and methods for developing and strengthening partnerships that will advance participants’ transition to advanced training and employment with livable wages.

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Emerging Approaches to Apprenticeship Pathway Development

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Construction Plus Framework

This month’s newsletter will focus on Construction Plus (C+) and the Construction Plus Framework. For DOL YouthBuild programs, 2019 is quickly becoming known as “the year of Construction Plus” and with more YouthBuild sites running C+ programming, it is an important time to review the C+ program model and its accompanying framework.

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Problem Based Learning

Problem Based Learning: Collaborative, Student-Driven Learning in Real-World Contexts

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Making Shifts for Reaching Higher levels of Learning

(Written by Jason Marshal, Director of Education at YouthBuild USA) YouthBuild instructors are working to help YouthBuild learners reach higher standards on GED (General Educational Development), HiSET (High School Equivalency Test), TASC (Testing Assessing Secondary Completion), and high school diploma assessments across the country.  New tests more closely aligned with Common Core State Standards(CCSS) require educators to incorporate a range of instructional shifts into their classrooms.

20190717T083351

Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of all Learners

YouthBuild programs serve participants with multiple barriers to future employment success – the lack of a high school diploma due to struggles with traditional classroom learning is one of the largest.  Universal Design for Learning is one approach to help teach learners with diverse learning styles and comfort levels. 

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Increased Learner Engagement: Strategies for Education Credential Attainment

YouthBuild programs are always seeking to adopt teaching strategies that are engaging and relevant to YouthBuild participants. These Opportunity Youth are vulnerable learners with complex needs. The critical hope is that the teaching strategies lead to positive student outcomes such as attaining a high school diploma or high school equivalency (HSE) credential.

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Partnering with the American Job Center Network

American Job Centers (AJCs, also known as One-Stop Centers) are the cornerstone of the public workforce system. As noted in TEGL 16-16:

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Building Placement Success on a Sound Foundation of Staffing and Partnerships

As YouthBuild programs are placing a greater emphasis on placement and retention, the DOL YouthBuild TA Collaborative continues to support this need by providing resources designed to strengthen placement practices.

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The Job Developer: A Crucial Staff Role for YouthBuild Program Success

This month we take a focused look at the role of the job developer and how best to utilize this staff member.  There are many misconceptions related to the job developer function; most prevalently, that it is a role only needed after or near exit.  However, the job functions for this role start as early as the implementation phase for your program and this staff member should be working with participants the moment they come in the door and with partners the moment the job begins.

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Documentation Requirements and Key Guidance

The process for how YouthBuild staff will document participant eligibility, track progress, and document participant outcomes should be created and shared within the team before any participant enrollments occur. YouthBuild staff are required to document both participant eligibility and all performance outcomes that occur during the participant’s time in the program and in the first 12 months after program exit. 

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Understanding Match Requirements for Your YouthBuild Grant

Whether you are in the second or third year of your YouthBuild grant, or are just beginning to implement program services under your 2016 award, meeting the match requirement necessitates a thorough understanding of the definition of match as well as clarity on allowable and unallowable costs.

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DOL YouthBuild Newsletter - 2019 Year in Review

20190416T082910

Achieving Sustainability at Your YouthBuild Program

Many YouthBuild programs depend largely on one or two funding sources, which makes it challenging to sustain the program for long-term growth. Programs can be at risk of having to reduce services or even having to close when major sources of funding are lost.  Successful YouthBuild programs have diversified funding sources and have established solid partnerships with other local community-based organizations that provide similar services.

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Financial Literacy Practices at YouthBuild Programs

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Utilizing Partnerships and Diversifying Funds to Achieve Sustainability

This month’s webinar and newsletter are focused on sustainability – a topic that can seem overwhelming, but with focused attention is actually quite simple. What is sustainability? It’s the ability to implement programming over time, and it’s accomplished by creating an organizational plan for long-term fiscal and programmatic health.

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Building Your Toolbox for Success: Key Reminders for Program Planning

As you know, the daily operation of a YouthBuild program requires intentional planning and continuous quality improvement in order to meet the needs of youth participants and the demands of grant requirements.  The real-world implementation of the program proposal that won the DOL YouthBuild grant requires many diverse tools and resources.

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Contruction Plus Framework: Strategies for Program Alignment

This month’s newsletter focuses on Construction Plus, the YouthBuild model that offers occupational skills training beyond construction. First offered as a training option in 2013, Construction Plus (also known as C+) is an addition to the YouthBuild model that allows for the expansion of occupational skills training into industry-recognized certifications beyond the required construction training.

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DOL YouthBuild Newsletters 2018: Year in Review

As the end of 2018 approaches, it’s a time for reflection and forward thinking.  Below, we review the information that we have shared with the monthly newsletters so far this year.  You can reflect on the information shared, as well as the connections to further archived webinar content, by selecting the links below. 

20191209T094441

Sustaining and Growing Your YouthBuild Program: Developing Resources Beyond Government Grants

20190411T140827

Leadership Development Approach and Strategies

Leadership development is a core element of the YouthBuild model. YouthBuild program staff are charged with deepening their understanding and adoption of positive leadership development practices that support participants and alumni to have positive outcomes.  Developing leadership skills better prepares youth participants to successfully transition into and through post-secondary education and career training. 

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Starting Out Strong: Using Your Grant Planning Period

Built into the DOL YouthBuild grant period of performance is a four–month planning period to support hiring activities, solidifying partnerships, and program launch activities.  Using this period in accordance with the timeline of critical activities submitted with the grant proposal is crucial to program success. Revisit your grant application’s program narrative, which becomes the grant Statement of Work (SOW), as a guide in planning and program design.

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Supporting YouthBuild Students Using the YouthBuild Mentoring Model

Mentoring is one of the key roles that YouthBuild programs fill for youth participants, whether formally or informally.  The impact of a caring adult on the success of Opportunity Youth is well documented and the YouthBuild Mentoring model has been shown to have beneficial impacts.  For programs not currently using a formal mentoring practice, the information below may help to guide and focus mentoring efforts.        

20191008T130412

Incorporating Service Into Your Construction Plus Programming and Placement Strategy

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Cultural Relevancy, Student-Centered Learning, and Student Success

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Data Management Work is YouthBuild Work!

Timing is Everything

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Crucial Questions to Ask When Planning for Placement

The DOL YouthBuild TA Collaborative will soon be sharing resources to help programs make the most of the required Job Developer position.  These tools will help to lay the groundwork for understanding both the internal (participant) focused work and the external (employer/post-secondary education or training provider) focused work that must be accomplished for successful post-program placements.  

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Leadership in the Trades

  “Community service and youth leadership are core aspects of the YouthBuild model.” -2017 YouthBuild Funding Opportunity Announcement Youth leadership is a key component of the YouthBuild model for very good reason.

20190515T085155

How to Successfully Integrate and Implement the YouthBuild Construction Component

Construction, a core component of YouthBuild, provides youth participants with hands-on work experience as they pursue an industry-recognized construction credential. A strong construction program must adhere to the pre-apprenticeship model to ensure successful implementation.  The pre-apprenticeship model allows for integration of the training component into the educational and leadership components of YouthBuild.