Family & Community Adult Education Adult & Community Learning Services
Adult and Community Learning Services

Workforce Development Update - March/April 2006

SABES

Remember to check the SABES calendar for workforce development activities, or call your SABES workforce development liaison for information.

Regional Activities for ABE/WFD Coordination

Boston

Congratulations to Boston! Spearheaded by the Adult Literacy Initiative, Jobs and Community Services, SABES, and ESE, a successful event occurred on April 28th at the Reggie Lewis Center. Titled "Connecting the Dots", the event was structured as a learning and networking event where ABE providers, Career Center staff, and training providers could learn more about one another. Dan Singleton of Jobs and Community Services moderated the event and Connie Doty, Director of JCS gave welcoming remarks. Workshop speakers included Steve Hanley of WAITT House, Cathy Lea of Commonwealth Corporation, Mary Jayne Fay of ESE, Jessica Spohn of World Education, and Richard Goldberg of the Asian American Civic Association. Brunir Shackleton and Todd Lee of JCS facilitated the event. The morning keynote speaker was Jose Masso, Regional Administrator of the U.S. Office of Puerto Rican Affairs and WBUR Radio; Jose inspired attendees with his strong message of the value of connecting our services to benefit students. At lunch time, Anne Serino addressed the gathering about the changes she has seen throughout her career in the world of Adult Basic Education. A highlight of the lunchtime program were the student speakers who shared their life experiences in navigating the education, training, and employment opportunities in the Boston area. A committee worked throughout the year to organize this day-long conference; the group included Laurie Sheridan, John Zhang, Claire Shephard, Dennis Rogers, Steve Hanley, Liz Hughes, Gloria Michelson, Steve Reuys, Andrea Perrault, and, of course, Dan, Brunir, and Todd. Thanks to Alice Frawley for all her work to make the day a success!

Lower Merrimack Valley

Area ABE providers report that collaborating efforts with ValleyWorks, the regional One-Stop Career Center are working out very well. Career Center staff has come to the programs to meet with students about their employment goals. Shirley Callan reported that four students have found jobs.

Brockton

The Brockton Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored a successful meeting on "English for All Workers" on Friday, March 10th. Three employers addressed the need for workers to understand and communicate in English.

Cape Cod

On Thursday, April 6th the START YOUR CAREER HERE job fair was held at Cape Cod Community College at their Hyannis Center. The fair targeted employment opportunities in the sectors of Building Trades, Health Care, Hospitality, and Retail. Attorney Matthew Lee gave a talk on Immigrant Issues.

Statewide Activities

Extended Care Career Ladder Initiative (ECCLI)

The ECCLI program issued an RFP through Commonwealth Corporation for Round 8 and Round 9 projects. The focus of these rounds highlighted ESOL instruction at Nursing Homes or Home Health organizations. Over 20 letters of intent were received for Round 8. Check the Commonwealth Corporation website (www.commcorp.org) for announcements of the grantees. The ECCLI Program Director is Carol Kapolka at Commonwealth Corporation.

Pathways to Success by 21

Grants for regional planning were issued last year; 12 regions submitted reports based on regional partnership efforts that detailed the needs for improved service delivery to young people. The goal of P-21 is to ensure that young people do not fall through the cracks in the system, ending up with little sense of how to secure either further education or good jobs with career pathways. Commonwealth Corporation held regional meetings in four areas of the state to give feedback to these regional partnerships. Discussions occurred about funding programming initiatives with grants in FY'07 from the state. When the state budget for fiscal year is finalized, decisions will be made about such funding possibilities.

Workforce Training Fund

The next Workforce Training Fund application is in July of 2006. For smaller grants, consider applying to the Workforce Training Fund Express which has a rolling application process. For more information, go to www.detma.org/workforcegeneral.htm

Mass Workforce Board Association

Check out the new website! www.massworkforce.com. Look up workforce regions in Massachusetts; find the name of your local WIB staff; identify new workforce development projects; check out new legislation related to workforce development. It's all here!

National/Regional/Statewide Conferences and Events

The Annual Conference for the MA Workforce Board Association will be held on Cape Cod in Chatham at the Wequasset Inn from May18th to 19th. For more information, check www.massworkforce.com.

Building a 21st Century Workforce: A Forum on Jobs and Opportunity with the Candidates for Governor - Thursday, June 29, 2006 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Roxbury Community College's Media Arts Center (Sponsored by SkillWorks). For more information, access www.rccmainstage.com; to register, access www.skill-works.org/forum.html

National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) - 17th Annual Conference - "Jazzing Up the Workforce Profession"; May 14-17, 2006, Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, go to www.nawdp.org.

Commonwealth Workforce Coalition
"Building Your Participants' Soft Skills" will be presented on Wednesday, June 21st in Peabody. Jeff Davis will conduct the training. Contact Rachel Ennis at rennis@cedac.org for more information.

Congratulations!

Robin Adams has joined Southeast SABES as the Workforce Development Coordinator. Welcome, Robin!

Fond Farewell!

Sally Gabb, Former Coordinator of SABES Southeast has taken on a new position at Bristol Community College. We'll miss her energy and commitment, and wish her well!

For more information about content of this workforce development section of this mailing, contact Andrea Perrault at 781-338-3852 or e-mail at aperrault@doe.mass.edu.