Cross-Collaborative Partnerships Bring Free Training and
Opportunities to Valley Youth
New manufacturing certification program creates a talent pipeline between previously disconnected youth and their future employers
Contact
James Hoyt, Executive Director
Opportunities for Youth
Phone: (480) 220-9599
Email: JamesHoyt@asu.edu
PHOENIX, AZ – Young Arizona job-seekers have new skills designed to help them find jobs and to better plan for careers, thanks to the Opportunities for Youth (OFY) Initiative at Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. OFY aims to re-engage local opportunity youth, defined as young adults ages 16-24 who are disconnected from work and school.
From 2018-2019, 31 young adults completed the 14-week Manufacturing Training Program at GateWay Community College, creating a talent pipeline for the manufacturing industry to manage the pressures of a decreased workforce resulting from a large number of Baby Boomer-generation employees retiring. “We found great success with youth who enrolled,” said Kendelle Brown, program manager. “With more than 75% of participants completing the program and over 80% of those students remaining reengaged in work and/or school (42% of which are continuing in manufacturing). These youth came together for a joint graduation at the completion of the program to celebrate their achievements and the success in the Manufacturing Training Program.”
As part of the 14-week program, participants received professional training that prepared them for the nationally accredited Level 1 National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) Certification. In addition, they received career-advancement skills training to prepare them for navigating the professional environment. To ensure their success in the program, participants also received customized case management through the local workforce development program ARIZONA@WORK. These services included assistance with transportation, completing their high school equivalency, and obtaining a job as well as financial support to continue their postsecondary education.
“With financial support from the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, through a Performance Partnership Pilot for Disconnected Youth (P3) grant, this partnership developed a program that brings together resources and networks across industries to provide youth with a full suite of wrap-around services intended to place them in a job, as well as connect them with a career of interest and supplemental resources to remain engaged and prepared for upward growth,” added Brown.
“This program helped me go from working two jobs, trying to figure out how to pay all my bills, to being
pre-approved to buy my first house while learning to do something I enjoy. It changed my life!”
- Jesus Villalba, MTP Program Alumni
OFY is developing this concept into a best practice model that can be implemented across industries to create talent pipelines for fields impacted by low workforce rates. This experience also has provided the local economic development network with relationships and a wealth of knowledge on the reengagement process in metro Phoenix. OFY plans to develop a series of field-specific pipelines aimed at capturing currently disengaged youth, providing them with certification training through Maricopa Community Colleges and placing them in employment with local companies.
About Opportunities for Youth
Opportunities for Youth is an initiative of the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, working to develop strategies and solutions to re-engage the estimated 67,100 opportunity youth across the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. By developing a network of resources and partnerships with a variety of Arizona agencies and companies, they are working to grow public, corporate, and philanthropic support to help reengage these currently disengaged young adults on career and educational pathways. In addition, OFY uses collective impact to build a cohesive system of partner agencies to work collectively toward the common agenda of reducing the overall opportunity youth rate by minimizing duplication of services and maximizing resources and opportunities across the network of agencies. https://oppforyouth.org/
More about this Cross-Collaborative Partnership
Financial support for this Performance Partnership Pilot (P3) Program was contributed by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Labor. Additionally, Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) Federal funding was utilized to supplement additional participant support services. Design, program outreach and retention, and Operations were managed by the Opportunities for Youth Initiative, with advisement by the Arizona Precision Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program (AzPMAP). Customized participant case management was conducted by ARIZONA@WORK – Maricopa County and City of Phoenix, with additional support from City of Phoenix WIOA partners, Chicanos Por La Causa Workforce Solutions (CPLC), Watts Family Maryvale YMCA, Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS), and Arizona Center for Youth Resources (ACYR). Manufacturing certification courses were conducted by GateWay Community College. Career advancement skills training was provided by Jody McPhearson of Jody Speaks in partnership with TCI Solutions, and supplemental services were supported by a network of OFY’s 17 Reengagement Centers.
About ASU
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it. https://www.asu.edu/
About Watts College
The Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions is made up of four schools and more than 20 research centers—all with a shared goal of advancing research and discovery of public value, and furthering the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities they serve. https://publicservice.asu.edu/