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. A. Contacting Farmworkers Who Are Not Being Reached by the Normal Intake Activities Conducted by the Employment Service Offices.
Current Narrative:
From an initial cooperative agreement, SWA and the National Farm Worker Jobs Program Grantee have expanded their partnership to include out-stationing of NFJP staff at four (4) WorkOne centers in South Bend, Kokomo, Columbus, and Vincennes. This agreement to share office space in our WorkOne centers with NFJP staff has improved access to employment and training services for farm workers and has provided the agency with staff who have experience in working with farm workers. In addition, the staff from the National Farm Worker Jobs Program Grantee has forged strong partnerships with the local WorkOne staff to ensure one-stop services are accessible to MSFW.
The State Monitor Advocate (SMA) works with Career Services to provide technical assistance to staff of the WorkOne system. This includes training in referral of migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFW) to agricultural and non-agricultural job orders in coordination with the State’s Outreach Specialist.
The state transitioned from a contract with Proteus for provision of outreach activities to state merit staff conducting outreach in June 2017. The SMA worked with Proteus, the Regional Monitor Advocate, and local office staff with respect to the Outreach function (in general) to develop additional strategies for technical assistance, increase awareness across core programs, promote Outreach worker professional development activities, and coordinate with NFJP partner, etc.
As a result of these partnerships and development, the SWA is continuing to create a working plan for the MSFW Outreach Specialist to create a “roadmap” of Indiana farms, seasons and seasonal workers to better understand where the “most in need” outreach is in Indiana. Once a map is completed, the MSFW Team is traveling to each region to educate local staff, non-profits and other partners what services are available in each area of the State of Indiana. The MSFW Outreach Specialist will then work with local growers and non-profits to find, enroll and offer services to MSFW clients. The MSFW team will compile data and share to create a better understanding of the MSFW population and needs. SWA also provides translation services for each client that enters the system at the local one stop centers.