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—
- c. Youth Program Requirements.
With respect to youth workforce investment activities authorized in section 129 of WIOA, States should describe their strategies that will support the implementation of youth activities under WIOA. State’s must-
- c. Youth Program Requirements.
c. 2. Explain how the State assists local workforce boards in achieving equitable results for out-of-school and in-school youth. Describe promising practices or partnership models that local areas are implementing and the state’s role in supporting and scaling those models within the state for both in-school and out-of-school youth.
Current Narrative:
Colorado has a long-established state youth council with membership that includes core and other required partners and that serves as an advocate for disconnected and other categories of high-risk youth served by the state’s workforce system. Local workforce development boards may establish youth committees that incorporate the same strategies and objectives. At both the state and local levels these councils and committees will set policy and oversee efforts on the part of local areas to expand and enhance services to out-of-school and in-school youth , including the selection of youth services providers that demonstrate the capacity to ensure successful outcomes for these populations. The State Youth Council collects and disseminates promising practices for local areas to implement that are also available on their website. In addition, CDLE’s State Youth Coordinator conducts regular meetings with youth services operators across all local areas to provide guidance, technical assistance, and promising practices regarding outreach and services impacting all youth participants. This long-standing workgroup has been expanded to include the participation of core and required partners to assist the dialogue among the local partners regarding access to services and the leveraging of resources across youth programs.
Considering Youth of Color
In light of the persistent discrimination, which has shaped and continues to affect the systems—housing, criminal justice, education, and workforce—that can support or hinder successful educational and employment outcomes for youth of color, we will encourage and offer opportunities to be thought partners with local boards on strategies to identify these systemic barriers when expanding and enhancing services for out-of-school youth.
On a bi-annual basis, CDLE hosts the statewide Think Big Youth Forum to provide promising practices and partnership models for the WIOA youth partners. Following is a description of the latest Forum held in 2023:
The state worked with cross agency partners and local workforce area staff to plan and implement the Think Big Conference 8/28/23 - 8/30/23. 288 attendees representing local workforce areas, state and local partners, school districts, and youth & young adults participated. 45 workshop sessions, keynote presentations, interactive group activities, and a promising practices showcase offered attendees opportunities to learn about effective practices and programs that featured both in and out-of-school strategies. Workshop tracks focused on examples of local and regional cross agency partnerships, and industry & sector partnerships, work-based learning strategies and registered apprenticeship programs, along with tracks focused on career awareness and readiness strategies. Youth and young adults from local area WIOA programs participated on a panel focused on Youth Engagement & Retention. An overall theme of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was prioritized in the call for proposals and proposal selection process.
CDLE funds the Governor’s Summer Job Hunt (GSJH) with Wagner-Peyser 10% dollars, which is offered to youth 16-24 in the workforce centers across the state. The GSJH state coordinator hosts monthly calls for the local area staff to share state and federal updates, and to provide the local areas with the opportunity to share their effective strategies and practices implemented locally. Guest speakers are invited periodically to share updates. During PY22-23 we have had presentations from an aerospace industry career exploration program, Pathful (a product that provides thousands of career exploration videos and other support tools for youth and young adults), a homeless youth initiative focused on the rural areas of the state, registered apprenticeship consultants working with the CDLE state team, and a hiring initiative targeting persons with disabilities for state government jobs. Presentations about effective local practices and partnerships have also been provided, such as:
- Weld County's internship program, which places 80 youth, ages 14-15, into opportunities through the City of Greeley;
- Jefferson County's partnership with their local school district to host a regional career fair, with 100 industry representatives, and over 3,000 youth attendees;
- Mesa County's Find Your Future Partnership, which brings together the workforce center, the Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade Chambers of Commerce, school districts, higher ed, and other partners to provide a website for youth to explore careers and find work opportunities, and to work on gaps in services and opportunities; and
- The Southeast rural area helps to coordinate and participate in a Girls in the Middle Conference, aimed at middle school females, to promote careers in Science, Technology, Aerospace, Engineering and Math related industries.