Located in:
- Program-specific Requirements for Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities under Title I-B
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include the following with respect to activities carried out under subtitle B--
b. 1. If the State is Utilizing Work-based Training Models (e.g. On-the- Job Training, Incumbent Worker Training, Transitional Jobs, and Customized Training) as Part of Its Training Strategy and These Strategies Are Not Already Discussed in Other Sections of the Plan, Describe the State’s Strategies for How These Models Ensure High Quality Training for Both the Participant and the Employer.
Current Narrative:
Work-based learning is a critical component of the education and training that Coloradans will need for the jobs of the future. Targeted efforts for the long-term unemployed are utilizing a variety of alternative training models to address the unique combination of social, emotional and skill deficiencies caused by the duration of their unemployment while rapidly moving individuals to paid work experience and reemployment. Governor Hickenlooper’s Hire for Colorado program challenged businesses to give the long-term unemployed an opportunity to prove themselves and also increased awareness of services available through workforce centers for long-term unemployed individuals. In 2016, the program will be moving both long-term unemployed individuals and dislocated workers into work-based training opportunities.
The $5 million Sector Partnership National Emergency Grant awarded in 2015 will include regional sector planning and strategies and work-based training opportunities for dislocated workers. A new “think tank” has been established as part of the grant implementation that will be looking at how to improve or enhance our work-based training opportunities to make them more user-friendly for businesses and job seekers.
A new work-based training program is being developed in 2016 and will provide veterans an opportunity to “learn and earn” through apprenticeships and on-the-job training.
Colorado’s H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant, which ended in December 2015, utilized incumbent worker training as a key strategy and there was an overwhelming demand for this funding from Colorado’s business community. Building on the successful partnerships developed through the grant, incumbent worker training may be utilized going forward to move up skilled workers and create lower-level vacancies that the workforce system can help to fill.
CDLE is implementing a piece of workforce legislation passed in the 2015 state legislative session that will provide work-based learning opportunities. HB15-1230, Innovative Industries Workforce Program, will provide support for creating a common collaborative structure for paid internships with businesses.
Colorado is also exploring the new opportunities presented by WIOA for transitional jobs. Hire Colorado was a successful subsidized employment program in 2009-10 that resulted in a 75% permanent employment rate for the 1,721 participants. Any new transitional jobs strategies going forward will build on this successful model and the lessons learned.