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. C. Marketing the Agricultural Recruitment System for U.S. Workers (ARS) to agricultural employers and how it intends to improve such publicity.
Current Narrative:
Services to agricultural employers will be provided by MSFW outreach workers and other workforce center staff through daily planned personal visits and promotional telephone contacts with the employer. Employers will be apprised of all services available through the workforce system to include the Agricultural Recruitment System (ARS), job orders with HiRE, file searches and other services as needed.
The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Program is designed to enhance and expand services to meet the needs of the agricultural industry. Louisiana will provide services to agricultural employers by effectively providing information about services available through the workforce development system and obtain sufficient information about the employer’s needs to provide appropriate services. Outreach workers will continue to conduct meetings with large growers and farm labor contractors to facilitate the exchange of information and maximize the effectiveness of the program.
Louisiana, Office of Foreign Labor certification will continue to conduct pre-occupancy housing inspections to AGERs who provide housing to MSFWs, or to nonimmigrant aliens admitted to the United States under the H-2A Temporary Labor Certification program. Louisiana continues to experience a shortage of agricultural workers and the number of H2A applications has increase for the last four years, although the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) changes on a yearly basis.
Outreach worker will continue to develop and maintain productive relationships with agricultural employers, who are identified in several ways, including knowledge of the local labor market, incoming job orders, employer associations, and word-of-mouth. Louisiana will continue to utilize existing processes to link available MSFWs with employers, including ongoing collaborative efforts by workforce centers and local community-based organizations that provide services to MSFWs.
LWC will continue to actively promote all aspects of labor exchange services available to agricultural employers by attending meetings with employer associations and farm labor contractors, and participating in MSFW sponsored meetings and conferences.
The Outreach Worker will provide information on local labor market conditions and intrastate and interstate temporary agricultural worker recruitment requirements (including information on the H-2A program). Information will also be provided on the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and how it affects agricultural employers and migrant workers.