Narrative: c. 2.

• Recognizing the new priority on OSY, the State will identify models and effective practices, including for recruitment, flexible enrollment (e.g. self–attestation, co– enrollment, career pathways and retention) to help local area staff successfully meet the needs of those individuals. • The State will work with the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, and also with local boards, to ensure that statistical models and negotiated performance levels are established and calibrated so that they accurately reflect the profiles of out–of–school youth being served within the State and in each local area.

Continue serving youth as a priority within the workforce development system;

• The State will support the development of transitional jobs, social enterprises and other work experience strategies to help OSY with limited work histories to develop the skills needed for workplace success. • The State will encourage the co–enrollment of high–risk OSY, ages 18 to 24, as both WIOA Adult and WIOA Youth participants to allow for the leveraging of funds and provision of necessary services. Where appropriate, co–enrollment in Title II adult basic education services, EARN, TANF and other partner programs will also be encouraged. The State will offer technical assistance and effective–practice sessions to ensure the co–enrollment of OSY in WIOA Adult and WIOA Youth programs and to promote their co– enrollment in partner programs. The State will also continue to encourage the use of Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) for 18 to 24 year old youth, potentially combined with, either sequentially or concurrently, work–based learning opportunities. TANF, SNAP and other partner programs will refer clients for ITAs, as appropriate. • The State will expand opportunities for youth to acquire post–secondary skills and

credentials needed for high wage jobs through increased access to career and technical education programs and work–based learning experiences. The Departments of Education and the Community Technical College System will work cooperatively to explore and develop appropriate connections between WIOA youth activities and Perkins postsecondary and state–funded programming. • The Department of Education will support the transformation and modernization of career and technical education (CTE) and align CTE with the career pathways recognized by the State.

• The State will support LWDB collaboration with YouthBuild, JobCorps, and AmeriCorps sites and will encourage inclusion of those partnerships in local plans. Offer youth a clear path to success. • To ensure that OSY have access to career pathways, the State will work with local boards to identify on–ramps, access points, and supports which enable participants to enter and successfully complete training and enter employment. • The WV Division of Rehabilitation Services (WVDRS) has re–aligned its resources to increase and improve services to youth with disabilities, especially high school students with disabilities. West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services has memorandums of understanding with all 55 county boards of education and has a vocational rehabilitation counselor assigned to each high school in the state. These counselors provide pre–employment transition services to students with disabilities to ensure students, and their parents, and school personnel are aware of available services, training, education, and employment options. Through the Positive Outcomes Within Education and Rehabilitation (POWER) program, students with disabilities have opportunities for job shadowing experiences. Through the Student Transition to Employment Program (STEP), students may receive services from teachers outside of the classroom, including job coaching and job placement. Youth may also continue to receive services from West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services after exiting high school. This often includes additional training and education required to achieve their chosen employment goal. • The core agencies blend resources to provide more effective and efficient services to youth. This includes cross referrals and co–enrollment of consumers in addition to joint projects and activities at the state and regional level. In 2016, West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services will be initiating a project, in conjunction with the other core partners, to assist school districts in setting up community–based work exploration programs. The project also includes a statewide cross–sector outreach component to market the services available to youth, parents, job seekers, and employers in West Virginia. • The State will use the Office of Apprenticeship to promote apprenticeship and pre–apprenticeship opportunities to youth.