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.
- 5. Services provided to farmworkers and agricultural employers through the one-stop delivery system
Describe the State agency's proposed strategies for:
- 5. Services provided to farmworkers and agricultural employers through the one-stop delivery system
- 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. 5. A. Providing the Full Range of Employment and Training Services to the Agricultural Community, Both Farmworkers and Agricultural Employers, Through the One-stop Delivery System. This Includes:
i. How career and training services required under WIOA Title I will be provided to MSFWs through the one-stop centers
ii. How the State serves agricultural employers and how it intends to improve such services
Current Narrative:
All Arkansas Workforce Centers provide core, intensive employment and training services. Staff will determine the service needs of the MSFW customers and either provide those services or direct these customers to staff who can provide the needed services. Outreach specialists will be strategically assigned to Workforce Centers for the purpose of providing employment and training services to both agricultural employers and MSFWs.
Outreach materials are disseminated throughout the state, especially in the areas of the state where MSFWs are likely to gather and work.
Through the Arkansas Job Link (AJL) job matching system, agricultural jobs are listed statewide and are available to all jobseekers in the state as well of out of state by creating an account and searching for suitable employment. An AJL employer account provides the ability to post job openings, search resumes for qualified employees, receive emails on new jobseeker resumes and receive assistance listing the agricultural job opening. ADWS will provide agricultural employers with applicants who meet the job-related selection criteria established by the employers.
Our goal for this year is to better meet the needs of agricultural employers. As such, ADWS will continue to improve the agricultural referral process including, but not limited to, the following:
- Providing information regarding available services to workers when arriving at job sites;
- Engaging agricultural employers to determine short- and long-term employment goals;
- Providing agricultural employers with information related to farmworker rights;
- Developing strategies to facilitate and coordinate the engagement of the agricultural industry into the workforce development system; and
- Assisting agricultural employers in creating year-round, permanent jobs.
ADWS continues its partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education’s Migrant Education Program (ARMEP). The Arkansas Migrant Education Division administers programs that provide supplemental academic and supportive services to the children of families who migrate to find work in the agricultural and fishing industries.
The programs are designed to help migrant children, who are uniquely affected by the combined effects of poverty, language, cultural barriers, and the migratory lifestyle, to meet the same challenging academic content and student academic achievement standards that are expected of all children. The State Monitor Advocate receives training from the Regional and National Monitor Advocates regarding the Agricultural Recruitment System and how it is used to assist employers get domestic labor prior to the introduction of H2-A worker requests.
To meet agricultural employers’ needs, ADWS will continue its efforts to partner with agricultural associations to provide educational seminars to provide information to agricultural employers. This will include the development of specific sections on both the ADWS and the AHDC websites that provides information related to MSFWs.
The SMA and outreach staff encourages the use of the Agricultural Recruitment System (Arkansas JobLink) by promoting it at outreach events, employer orientations, agricultural associations, conferences, and with print advertisements. Additionally, we plan to begin utilizing our Local Workforce Area Business Services Teams to assist in marketing the ARS to our agricultural employers.