Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (aop). Each State Agency Must Develop an Aop Every Four Years as Part of the Unified or Combined State Plan Required Under Sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. the Aop Must Include--
- 2. Outreach ActivitiesThe local offices outreach activities must be designed to meet the needs of MSFWs in the State and to locate and contact MSFWs who are not being reached through normal intake activities. Describe the State agency's proposed strategies for:
- 2. Outreach Activities
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (aop). Each State Agency Must Develop an Aop Every Four Years as Part of the Unified or Combined State Plan Required Under Sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. the Aop Must Include--
e. 2. D. Providing State Merit Staff Outreach Workers Professional Development Activities to Ensure They Are Able to Provide High Quality Services to Both Jobseekers and Employers.
Current Narrative:
For over a decade, Indiana has partnered with the contracted National Farm Worker Jobs Program/167 WIA Grantee (Proteus©) to provide outreach to MSFW potential clients. Through this strong partnership, Proteus© has embedded four of its locations in the local WorkOne office. The ability to access talent above and beyond what the state would be able to attract has been a key factor in the continuation of this partnership.
The state will immediately develop an appropriate job description and coordinate with Indiana’s State Personnel Department to hire a state merit staff with the required qualifications outlined in section 653.107 Outreach.
(3) For purposes of hiring and assigning staff to conduct outreach duties, and to maintain compliance with SWAs’ Affirmative Action programs, SWAs must seek, through merit system procedures, qualified candidates who:
(i) Are from MSFW backgrounds;
(ii) Speak a language common among MSFWs in the State; or
(iii) Are racially or ethnically representative of the MSFWs in the service area.
As the contracted partner has multiple staff that are from MSFW backgrounds, speak Spanish (key Indiana MSFW) and racially or ethnically represent the MSFWs in Indiana’s MSFW regions, in the interim, to ensure consistent provision of outreach activities, Indiana will maintain its current contract with Proteus until we have hired the staff to fulfill these services. We will partner with Proteus to train and then provide the outreach services as required by WIOA.
As discussed in a previous section, the co-location of Proteus © in Indiana’s WorkOne system has helped provide a connection between outreach and one-stop office activities. Because this organization is focused on MSFW completely, they have more professional development opportunities than the state could provide. The state will leverage this capability to provide professional development opportunities for the newly hired state staff for MSFW outreach.