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 an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
- 4. Outreach Activities
The 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:
- 4. 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 an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
e. 4. B. Providing technical assistance to outreach staff. Technical assistance must include trainings, conferences, additional resources, and increased collaboration with other organizations on topics such as one-stop center services (i.e. availability of referrals to training, supportive services, and career services, as well as specific employment opportunities), the Employment Service and Employment-Related Law Complaint System (“Complaint System” described at 20 CFR 658 Subpart E), information on the other organizations serving MSFWs in the area, and a basic summary of farmworker rights, including their rights with respect to the terms and conditions of employment.
Current Narrative:
The OED will assign full–time MSFW representatives to appropriate locations in coordination with local leadership based on data supporting the needs of the area. OED is also conducting wage and practice surveys to assess real–time agricultural working conditions to better determine requirements for H–2A job listings, and to help employers recruit workers.
To help MSFW outreach staff and frontline WSO staff identify MSFWs, the state labor-exchange system (iMatchSkills) displays an MSFW indicator in the job seeker’s registration profile. Staff can also search for MSFWs using the MSFW indicator alone or in conjunction with other delimiters such as last contact date, local office of assignment, assigned staff, and services received by other programs such as SNAP Employment and Training.
While Oregon provides workforce services in each of its 39 WorkSource Oregon centers, primary outreach activities will be focused out of the designated seven significant offices: Hermiston, Ontario, Woodburn, The Dalles, Beaverton/Hillsboro, Salem, and Medford. Outreach focuses on marketing services and benefits, making the Complaint System available to farm workers through OED staff, educating training partners and other MSFW services providers.
OED will also educate agricultural employers about the responsibilities they have to workers, as well as the job placement services provided. Partner agencies that conduct outreach to MSFWs come into contact with an average of 10,000 MSFWs annually, per quarterly reports they provide to OED. In the next four years, OED staff will experience an increase of H2-A applications by agriculture employers. This will require more frequent field visits to those workers that will be working alongside Oregon domestic MSFWs.
The State Workforce Agency (SWA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC)/National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) in 2018 to facilitate MSFW registrations in the state’s labor-exchange system (iMatchSkills) to increase access to reemployment and training services under WIOA. The MOU also provides NFJP staff access to job listings, the employer referral system, and wage data to help determine NFJP eligibility and provide enhanced services to MSFWs.
Technical assistance for outreach workers includes annual statewide training. This annual three-day training (conference) focuses on the availability of training opportunities for MSFWs, partner collaboration (such as the NFJP, Title I, and local service providers), supportive service in the community, employment service Complaint System, and providing a summary of farmworker rights, legal protections and conditions of employment. In the upcoming four year strategic plan, the SWA will collaborate closely with the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA), the Mexican Consulate, and the California State Monitor Advocate (through an MOU signed in Program Year 2018).