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Montana Workforce Investment Act
WIA Youth Program
Purpose: The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title IB
Youth Program provides services to youth ages 14-21. The main thrust
of the Youth Program is to increase the focus on longer-term academic
and occupational learning opportunities and provide long-term comprehensive
service strategies. Youth services are provided to in-school youth ages
14-21 and out-of-school youth ages 16-21.
Economic Development: The Youth Program is designed
to prepare Montana’s youth to either enter post-secondary education,
training or employment upon completion of their secondary education.
The aging of Montana’s workforce is an issue of concern and therefore
this program can be an instrument toward meeting the future workforce
demands.
Youth program elements consist of:
- Tutoring, study skills training and instruction leading to the completion
of secondary schooling including dropout prevention strategies;
- Alternative secondary school services;
- Summer employment opportunities directly linked to academic and
occupational learning;
- Paid and unpaid work experiences including internships and job shadowing;
- Occupational skill training;
- Leadership development opportunities;
- Supportive services;
- Adult mentoring for a duration of at least twelve months, that may
occur during and after program participation;
- Follow up services for not less than 12 months after the participant
completes the program; and
- Comprehensive guidance and counseling, including drug and alcohol
counseling and referral to counseling as appropriate to meet the needs
of the participant.
Eligibility: An individual must be between the ages
of 14-21, low income and meet at least one of the following barriers
to employment:
- School dropout (individual is no longer attending any school and
has not received a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent);
- Basic skills deficient (individuals that have English, writing or
computing skills at or below the 8th grade level on a generally accepted
standardized test;
- Foster child
- Pregnant or parenting
- Individuals with disabilities, including learning disabilities
- Homeless or runaway youth
- Offenders
- Meets the Concentrated Employment Program (CEP) or Balance of
State (BOS) definition of an eligible youth facing serious barriers
to employment;
a. CEP definition means an individual (including
a youth with a disability) who has no vocational/employment goal;
or has a poor work history (or no work history) or has been fired
from a job in the last six calendar months.
b. BOS definition means an individual (including a youth
with a disability) who has no educational/employment goal; or is at risk
of dropping out of school; or has a poor work history (or no work history)
or has been fired from a job in the last six calendar months.
The Workforce Investment Act requires that at least 30 percent of youth
funds must be used to serve out-of-school youth. An out-of-school youth
is an eligible youth who is a school dropout; or an eligible youth who
has received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent but is basic
skills deficient, unemployed or underemployed.
WIA allows for five percent of each youth providers participants to
be non-economically disadvantaged provided they meet the other eligibility
and selective service requirements.
Administration:
The Statewide Workforce Programs and Oversight Bureau (Bureau) has
statewide oversight responsibilities of the WIA Youth Program in Montana.
These responsibilities include fiscal controls, grant management,
participant data collection and tracking, reporting to the U.S. Department
of Labor, monitoring, service provider training, technical assistance
and policy interpretation and development. Fifteen percent of the
youth dollars allocated to the state is reserved for the governor’s
set-aside and eighty-five percent of the funding is passed through
to the local workforce investment boards. Youth services are provided
locally through contracts between the Bureau and service providers.
Numbers Served:
Approximately 600 youth received services in the period 07/01/2004
and 06/30/2005. Those served included in-school youth ages 14-21 and
out-of-school youth ages 16-21.
Evaluation: There are seven performance standards for
the Youth Program; four for older youth ages 19-21 and three for younger
youth ages 14-18. The standards for older youth measures placements,
job retention, wage changes and skills attainment; the standards for
younger youth measures skills attainment, credential attainment and placement
and retention in post-secondary education or advanced training, or in
military service, or qualified apprenticeships. The customer satisfaction
measure is the same for youth, dislocated workers, and adults and is
obtained through surveys that are conducted with employers and participants
to determine satisfaction with the services provided.
WIA Youth Program - Core Indicators of Performance
|
Performance Measure |
PY 2007
(07/01/07 - 06/30/08) |
PY 2008
(07/01/08 - 06/30/09) |
|
Placement in Employment/Education |
68.0% |
69.0% |
|
Attainment of Degree/Certificate |
57.0% |
58.0% |
|
Literacy/Numeracy Gains |
50.0% |
51.0% |
Youth Service Providers
Last Update - October, 2007
Service Provider |
Contact |
Phone Number |
Billings District VII HRDC
PO Box 2016
Billings, MT 59103 |
Sara Fox |
(406) 247-4764 |
Bozeman District IX HRDC
32 South Tracy
Bozeman, MT 59715 |
Stephanie Gray |
(406) 585-4874 |
Butte District XII HRDC
P.O. Box 3486
Butte, MT 59702 |
Teresa McCarthy |
(406) 782-8250 |
Glendive-Action For Eastern Montana (HRDC)
PO Box 1309
Glendive, MT 59330-1309 |
Mike Nephew |
(406) 377-3564 |
Havre District IV HRDC
111 West 11th St., Suite 109
Havre, MT 59501 |
Darrel Hannum |
(406) 265-6743 |
Helena Career Training Institute
347 Last Chance Gulch
Helena, MT 59601 |
Sheila Hogan |
(406) 443-0800 |
Kalispell-NW Montana (HRDC)
P.O. Box 8300
Kalispell, MT 59904-1300 |
Leslie DeWitt |
(406) 758-5426 |
Lewistown District VI HRDC
300 1st Avenue N, Suite 203
Lewistown, MT 59457 |
Cherelee Martin |
(406) 535-7488 |
Missoula District XI HRDC
1801 South Higgins
Missoula, MT 59801 |
Maggie Driscoll |
(406) 728-3710 |
Opportunities, Inc. (HRDC)
PO Box 2289
Great Falls, MT 59401 |
Curt Campbell |
(406) 761-8462 |
Statewide
Programs & Oversight
Gary Wright, Bureau Chief
P.O. Box 1728
Helena, MT 59624
E-mail:
wia@mt.gov
Phone (406) 444-4100
Fax (406) 444-3037
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