Narrative: b. 2.

The State will continue to incorporate Registered Apprenticeships into its strategies and services by requiring American Job Center (AJC) staff to seek out and assist Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) with recruitment into their individual training programs. 

Director of Apprenticeship

The state intends to widen the aperture on all forms of work-based learning, including but not limited to apprenticeships, co-ops, intern and externships, and service learning. WFWV recognized the need to establish a new Apprenticeship unit to help coordinate and promote not only current registered apprenticeship programs but to encourage and assist in the development of new registered apprenticeship programs.  A new Director of Apprenticeships was hired in December 2023 to begin building the unit and to establish partnerships with various entities. The agency has already been working closely with the Office of Registered Apprenticeships, other State agencies such as WV Department of Education, Department of Economic Development and Division of Rehabilitation Services, Trades organizations and individual employers.  The focus has been to coordinate efforts in increasing not only the amount of registered apprenticeships statewide but the amount of job seeker awareness leading to potential enrollment in registered apprenticeships.  There are a significant number of 18-24 year olds graduating high school without any clear direction. Emphasis will be placed on collaborating with various partners to promote registered apprenticeships to West Virginia’s youth.

Youth Apprenticeships

Further identifying West Virginia’s commitment to advancing Registered Apprenticeships, the West Virginia Legislature passed HB5162 in 2024 solidifying a Youth Apprenticeship Program.  The program allows students to enroll in apprenticeship programs, receive secondary credit, and receive necessary credentials for the apprenticeship while earning credits towards their high school diploma.  A pilot for the program will be implemented during the 2024-2025 school year with a comprehensive apprenticeship program for all school systems beginning the 2025-2026 school year.  

Recruitment

Recruitment is an ongoing process with Registered Apprenticeship Programs.  With the establishment of a new WFWV Apprenticeship unit a partnership has been made with the Office of Apprenticeships through DOL to assist in the promotion and recruitment of new apprenticeship programs such as conducting combined meetings with new prospective employers who are interested in establishing a new RAP.  This will happen on an as needed basis.  The new Apprenticeship unit has worked with the Office of Apprenticeships to receive an updated combined list of all the active apprenticeships in WV which is not available through the DOL website.  This list has been shared with various partners who work with Apprenticeship programs to allow us the ability to reach out to those programs to reconnect and assist in their recruitment.  This will be an ongoing process.  Recruitment of job openings including the whole process of referral through determining eligibility will be continuous and dependent upon the needs of the Apprenticeship program.  This could be yearly with updates done each quarter or as needed dependent upon the RAP's hiring cycle.  The WFWV Apprenticeship unit has also connected the WV Division of Rehabilitation Services Career Services manager with several of the apprenticeships through a joint partnership to inform those apprenticeship programs of the opportunities of job ready individuals with Disabilities.  Future sessions are being worked on to not only educate the career case managers for DRS on apprenticeship programs but to also educate the apprenticeship programs on inclusion opportunities through DRS.

Recruitment will include posting and advertisement of Registered Apprenticeship statewide announcements, job orders, phone notifications of apprenticeship openings, veteran priority of service, pre-application testing, initial screening of eligibility requirements, and referral. Referral includes referral to the job order and to our partners for orientation and eligibility determination for WIOA funding for training. AJC staff taking applications and conducting assessments will support better service design and delivery for partners, employers, and individuals alike and ensure all customers receive access to all services available across the WDS. 

Promotion and Awareness

Promotion and awareness of the RAP's will not only be through job postings but participation in Career Fairs/Expos either sponsored by partners, apprenticeship programs or WFWV, on-site job fairs, website information dedicated to RAP's and Youth Apprenticeship Awareness events.  These will happen regularly throughout the year.  The first Virtual Youth Apprenticeship Awareness Fair happened in May 2024 as part of a partnership with WFWV, WV Department of Education, WV Department of Economic Development and the Office of Apprenticeships.  This event will take place each year between January and March.

Additional strategies and services will include making space available to the apprenticeship programs for onsite job fairs for recruitment, advertising space for apprenticeship marketing items, space for onsite interviews, and assistance, as needed, with testing applicants at offsite locations.

Collaboration

Registered Apprenticeship Program within WFWV and those staff members in the WV Dept. of Economic Development working to promote apprenticeships continue to participate in monthly meetings to ensure partners and employers are aware of their apprenticeship opportunities and the continuing successes that employers and sponsors are having with this vital learn and earn model. Encourage LWDBs to utilize WIOA Incumbent Worker Training and Customized Training funds with other state program funds for employers to train their workforce. These key resources afford WV the opportunity to better align and leverage the WDS’s activities and both state and federal funding to serve individuals and employers, providing more dimension and value to an already robust menu of services.

WFWV's Apprenticeship unit has established a better working relationship with the WV Department of Economic Development to ensure we are both utilizing the services we both have available and define our roles so that we are not in direct competition or duplicating efforts when working with apprenticeships.

WFWV's Apprenticeship unit has made it a priority when speaking with apprenticeship programs to be inclusive of the opportunities to those programs of potential funding available through not only the LWDB's and Economic Development but also through the Division of Rehabilitation Services as that new partnership increases.  As the partnerships with all these areas grow, combined meetings with apprenticeship programs have occurred and will continue to occur on an as needed basis in the future.  Referrals and communication has and will increase as to what each other may have available to offer.  With the decrease in WIOA dollars it will be more critical to partner and combine resources to not only assist the Job Seeker interested in apprenticeships but the Employer offering the apprenticeship program as well.

State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula (SAEF)

The State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula (SAEF) Funding opportunity will focus on the pathways for youth as they graduate from high school and move into good, high paying jobs that follow the eight Good Jobs Principles outlined by the Departments of Commerce and Labor.

The program is statewide in its scope through initial RAPs development and RAP expansion.  The SAEF base funding will be used to support employers through incentives as they develop the infrastructure needed to support RAPs in their industry. Employers will be able to request wage support for up to 50% of the apprentices’ wages for the grant cycle.

The program will focus on youth, primarily persons between the ages of 16 years and 24, who are in-school youth (high school to career). Within the youth population, the following will be identified as target areas for individuals who receive services: unemployed workers, dislocated workers, incumbent workers, and underemployed workers.

Key activities of the grant include:

• Build Statewide capacity to increase the number and quality of RAPs through stronger alignment with the education and workforce systems.
• Create and improve outreach materials and communication strategies for engaging employers, parents, educators, underrepresented populations, other critical stakeholders and state residents; explaining the benefits of registered apprenticeship; and generating further support across the State. 
• Improve and/or develop marketing and advertising materials for RAPs (i.e., produce RAP public service announcements that are targeted to the Care Economy (Healthcare, Childcare, Home Care, etc.), Educational Services (Teachers), Hospitality,  invest in targeted social media, or contribute printed materials to accelerator events in the State.
• Utilize funding to support drafting of policies, procedures, and/or State regulations to strengthen the Registered Apprenticeship system. 
• Provide support for development of internal LEA processes for recruitment / retention of apprentices in teaching.

These activities will support the State’s Grow Your Own program.  Designed to address West Virginia's critical need for teachers, Grow Your Own Pathway to Teaching programs provide promising high school students an accelerated, funded path for pursuing a career in education. Grow Your Own students take a fast-track into the education field through a combination of dual enrollment/Advanced Placement courses and an accelerated pathway that allows them to graduate with a bachelor's degree in just three years. Designed to provide paid, on-the-job training, the WV Apprenticeship Model provides Grow Your Own students with wage-earning field experiences, preparing them for the teaching career while alleviating financial burdens. Students who have graduated high school and complete the Youth Apprenticeship are certified as a Teacher Apprentice by the U.S. Department of Labor. For the 2023-2024 school year, the program comprises 345 students and 33 actively participating counties. These students are still in high school, so the impact on the workforce will be more evident in the next three to four years.  This collaborative effort includes WV Department of Education, WFWV, WV Higher Education Policy Commission and Higher Education Institutions, Department of Economic Development and local WDBs.