Narrative: a. 3.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Louisiana Workforce Commission, some of the top growing industries in Louisiana include: Health Care and Social Services, Accommodation and Food Services, Transportation and Warehousing, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. With this data, Louisiana will continue to target these industries over the next four years to support employment opportunities for participants. Targeting these continually growing industries will be accomplished through a strategic outreach approach by Sub-grantees and National Grantees. The approach would be to target the specific industry in comparison with the participant’s Individual Employment Goal. Moreover, the Louisiana Workforce Commission projects job growth in occupations such as custodial work, maintenance, stock clerks, office workers, receptionists, childcare, drivers, retail sales, and housekeeping. Louisiana has been most successful in placing participants in unsubsidized employment with community service agencies and service-oriented type industries. Past and current experiences with employers in Louisiana show that they are most likely to hire older workers in hotels, food and beverage industry, pharmacies, retail stores, casinos, banks, government, healthcare, education, medical clinics/offices and home health facilities. However, most participants need assistance with job search, supportive services, and skills training. This brings about issues with self-esteem, lack of confidence, and other insecurities. In addition, many participants lack computer skills, which are needed in the job market. SCSEP staff will work closely with SCSEP participants to overcome these barriers by tailoring plans to the individual’s needs. They will work to foster self-esteem and confidence in the enrollee to help them become more competitive in the job market so they will secure unsubsidized employment. By placing them in appropriate training positions, it will stimulate them cognitively and by enrolling them in educational programs, it will promote better brain fitness. This will maximize their marketability. Past trends show that many host agencies eventually hire their assigned SCSEP participants and the job retention rates are higher which indicates that successful training and preparation is the key. Moreover, continual concentration would be on increasing the skill sets of participants to become job-ready for employers.