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. 3. An assessment of the unique needs of farmworkers means summarizing Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker (MSFW) characteristics (including if they are predominantly from certain countries, what language(s) they speak, the approximate number of MSFWs in the State during peak season and during low season, and whether they tend to be migrant, seasonal, or year-round farmworkers). This information must take into account data supplied by WIOA Section 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) grantees, other MSFW organizations, employer organizations, and State and/or Federal agency data sources such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration
Current Narrative:
Generally, those farmworkers traveling into the state for work may have limited money and require the following:
- language assistance
- career assessment /counseling
- transportation
- housing
- food
- additional clothing
The MSFWs coming into West Virginia are primarily from Florida, Haiti and Mexico. Their languages include Spanish, Creole, Haitian and many speak limited English as a second language.
The Eastern Panhandle had seen an influx in farm workers from Ethiopia who speak Amharic as well as agricultural workers from Burma whose primary language is Burmese.
However, many of them found work at the local poultry plant. Also, there has been a decrease in the number of Haitian workers coming to the state due to visa related problems.
During the peak season statewide there maybe in the months of August through October there may be up to 500 MSFWs employed in the state. This total number of MSFWs includes year-round workers, seasonal workers and migrant seasonal workers (with H2-A foreign workers).
Many of the farm workers at peak season are migrating workers from the southeastern states of the United States and H2-A workers. During the slower agricultural period, domestic year around workers may be as low as 100 - 200 workers performing essential farming tasks.