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Workforce Readiness News Last
Updated 6/15/2007
Updated by Debra Quinn, Chair of HRM-RI Workforce Readiness Commmittee
United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island
Every day Rhode Island residents need to locate essential community services,
everything from finding an after school program to locating a food bank, or
securing care for an aging parent. While we have all faced these challenges,
most of us don't always know where to turn for the answers we need. Providing
those answers is the purpose of United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island.
Dialing 2-1-1 is the fastest, easiest and most efficient way to get critical
information when it's needed. With one free call to an easily remembered
phone number, Rhode Islanders can speak confidentially -- and in their own
language -- with an Information and Referral Specialist who will assess
the caller's needs and determine the service provider best equipped to
handle their concern or crisis. These Information and Referral
Specialists have at their finger tips a data base of more
than 2,700 services offered by 700+ providers.
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Help Spread the Word About United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island
HR professionals can play an important role in helping to spread the word
about this free community service. Please do whatever you can to share information
about 2-1-1 in your workplace and in your personal networks.
Posters and brochures in English and Spanish can be printed out from the website at
www.211ri.org, and information can be
incorporated into company newsletters or fliers.
If you have any questions about
United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island, please visit the web site or contact info@uwri.org. |
2-1-1 can also play a critical role in helping the community respond to
a crisis as it did during Hurricane Katrina. One of the unique features
of the system is that if it is disabled in one area, systems in other
states can respond. In the case of Katrina, 2-1-1 Houston,
Texas was able to answer calls from the New Orleans area.
United Way 2-1-1 in
Rhode Island is funded primarily by contributions to the United Way
Community Impact Fund and with the support of a generous grant from
the Hasbro Children's Foundation, as well as grants from the RI
Department of Human Services and the Tri-Mix Foundation. There are currently
212 active 2-1-1 systems covering all or part of 41 states and the District
of Columbia and serving over 65% of the U.S. population. Rhode Island became
become the 20th state with statewide coverage.
HRM-RI Members Participate in Senior Judging
at PAIS
The senior class at Providence Academy of International Studies (PAIS),
approximately 103 students, have completed research on one of three subjects
(AIDS/HIV; Poverty; Human Trafficking). The last part of their assignment was
to make an oral presentation in defense of their paper along with an action plan
they feel may/could solve their chosen subject.
They are the first class at PAIS to receive this assignment and are a
pilot class for classes to come. It will be a graduation requirement
beginning in 2007-2008. Each
student presented to 3 or 4 judges evaluating
student presentations in a classroom setting. Several HRM-RI members participated
along with a group of approximately 85 judges. Participants included Judy Clare,
Chair of HRM-RI's Business and Education Committee, and Debra Quinn, Chair of
HRM-RI's Workforce Readiness Committee.
The day began at 9 a.m. in the school library on the second floor
of the building. After getting settled with coffee+, the PAIS Principal/Director,
Ms. Nkoli Onye, briefed the judges on the school, student body, and why PAIS
has chosen the Senior Oral Pre-
sentation route as best for their students.
Judges then receive training on the use of the rubric (an
evaluation/assessment tool) in evaluating the presentations. At 11:30 a.m.,
lunch was served in the library. After lunch, judges were escorted to their
assigned class-
rooms where the student presentations ran from 12:30 to 2:45 p.m.
In each classroom, judges evaluated five student presentations along with
a Q & A
session for approx. 20 minutes per student. There was be a Lead Judge in
each class-
room (a teacher or staff member at PAIS) along with 2 or 3 other
non-PAIS judges.
The experience was rewarding for all who participated. Judges were amazed
at the detailed oral presentations, accompanied by posterboard or PowerPoint
presentations
and handouts. The students presented well and answered questions
on their topic of choice. The Senior Judging was a great opportunity for
the students to gain valuable skills they will need in the workplace.
Ken Cahill To Retire in June
On another note: Ken Cahill, School Based Coordinator, is retiring in June.
As SHRM State Workforce Readiness Chair, Ken was instrumental in communicating and
engaging many successful workforce readiness partnerships with schools and business.
Ken, you will be missed -- all the best in your retirement!
Mt. Pleasant Students Enjoy Job Shadow Day at Sovereign
Bank
Debra Quinn, Chair of HRM-RI's Workforce
Readiness Committee and Sovereign
Bank Recruiter, partnered with Sovereign Bank’s Consumer Lending Team
to host a Job Shadow Day on Thursday, May 17, for fifteen students
of Mt. Pleasant High School. This half day program, held at One
Sovereign Way in
East Providence, began with an orienta-
tion led by Consumer Lending
Director Bob Fryc. Students were provided a tour of the facility
and the various Consumer Lending areas.
Each student was partnered with
a Manager who served as Workplace Host for the day. Students
spent quality
time with their Workplace Host discussing important skill sets,
reviewing
their resumes, and interviewing the Managers. A pizza lunch and
a wrap-up
discussion was followed by a photo opportunity. Each student
received a
Sovereign token gift in appreciation for their participation.
Students and
Managers had positive feedback about this successful program
and hope
to do it again next year.
For more information on how you can host a Job Shadow Day please
contact Lee Lewis
of Junior Achievement at llewis_rija@att.net or call
(401) 331-3850.
We're Lowering Barriers to Jobs in RI
This op-ed piece, co-authored by GWB-RI Chair Joseph MarcAurele
and RI Dept. of Labor and Training Director Adelita Orefice, ran in
the Thursday, March 22, 2007 edition of The Providence Journal:
Since Governor Carcieri established the Governor's Work-
force Board
in September 2005, the 17-member board has supported strategies
that improve the existing skill base of the Rhode Island workforce
and that anticipate the future needs of growing and emerging
businesses. In the past 16 months, the Governor's Workforce
Board has made more
than $11-million
worth of strategic investments in Rhode Island that reward collaboration
among the state's employ-
ment, education and economic development
entities. Such investments are helping to fulfill Governor Carcieri's
vision for a highly-skilled workforce that enhances our state's
ability to compete in a global marketplace.
For example, the Governor's Workforce Board has pooled resources with
the State Work- force Investment Office to offer $1.8
million to date
in Industry Partnership Grants that support high-growth
industries in Rhode Island. Unlike individual grant recipients,
these partnership grants are awarded to coalitions of related
businesses, and are facilitated by such trade associations as
the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Manufacturing
Extension Services and the Rhode Island Hospitality Association
Education Foundation.
Each industry partnership is charged with identifying the skill gaps
between the available workforce and available training resources.
The ultimate goal of these partnerships is to help education
and training institutions align curricula with industry needs
and create career ladders for advancement within each industry.
So far, eight grants have been awarded in the areas of advanced manufacturing,
health care, information technology, construction, marine trades
and hospitality. In addition, the Governor's Workforce Board has just
published a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Industry Partnership Grants
in the financial services and biotechnology areas.
While the effects of the industry partnerships should benefit all Rhode
Island businesses, the Governor's Workforce Board's recent $2
-million RFP for Comprehensive Worker
Training should continue to help
small businesses raise the skill levels of employees.
Last year, more than 90 percent of the matching grants offered
through Comprehensive Worker Training were awarded to small
businesses. Just last month, more than 100 companies submitted
worker training proposals for 2007. The Governor's Workforce
Board will award matching grants of up to $50,000 later in March,
with training to begin as early as April.
Another initiative geared to high-growth industries is the Workforce
Expansion Grants program. In collaboration with the Rhode Island
Economic Development Corporation, the Governor's Workforce Board has
allocated more than $1.9 million in Workforce
Expansion Grants since September 2005, with special
emphasis placed on the high-growth areas reflected in the industry partnerships.
In the last six months alone, these grants have helped create 400 new
jobs with eight different companies, including tele-communication giant
Verizon, boat builder Pearson Composites, financial leader Bank
of America and mortgage broker Equity Concepts.
In addition to raising the skill levels of Rhode Island workers, the
Governor's Workforce Board hopes to lessen barriers to employment, such
as language and literacy issues. The Governor's Workforce Board
is helping to fund a variety of RI Office of Adult
Education initiatives, including the multi-year, multi-partner Adult Education
Grants. The Governor's Workforce Board has also allocated $725,000 in Job Development Fund money for English as a Second Language
and Adult Basic Education services, including education classes
at the netWORKri Providence, Pawtucket and Woonsocket career
centers.
While adult education services can benefit today's workforce, youth
career education
can help Rhode Island build tomorrow's workforce. This is why the Governor's
Workforce Board has facilitated another multi-agency collaboration: a re-envisioned
Youth Work-force System. The new Youth Workforce System melds
educational and employment pipelines for RI youth ages 14 to 21 into a single
framework. While in the past, service providers for youth programs needed
to offer all education and employment components, now the service providers
may play to their strengths, bidding only on their area of expertise within
the larger framework-such as career counseling, literacy services or job
shadowing.
Also in past years, each of Rhode Island's workforce investment boards
awarded different grants for youth employment. However, 2007
marks the first time that the Workforce Partnership of Greater
Rhode Island, Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston, the
State Workforce Investment Office and the Governor's Workforce Board
have pooled their resources to put forward a single unified RFP for youth
career and training needs. The total grant award is expected to reach
$3.5 million, with $2
million -- a
300% increase from 2006-provided by the Governor's Workforce
Board. The Youth Workforce System not only represents a new
paradigm of inter-agency collaboration in Rhode Island, but
also serves as a model of service delivery for other New England states.
Viewed collectively, the recent accomplishments of the Governor's Workforce
Board form a coherent campaign to transform Rhode Island's
workforce development system. By combining forces with other
agencies and organizations, the Governor's Workforce Board is
magnifying the impact and the reach of its resources. It has
also created new partner-
ships -- and, hence, new communication
channels -- through which some of the best minds in the state
can brainstorm workforce solutions for the future.
Sincerely,
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Adelita Orefice, Executive Director,
Governor's Workforce Board;
Director,
RI Dept. of Labor and Training
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Joseph MarcAurele,Chairman,
Governor's Workforce Board;
President and CEO,
Citizens Bank of Rhode Island
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SHRM and Ground Hog Job Shadow Day
Kicking off annually on February 2, Groundhog Job Shadow Day is a part of a year-long national effort to enrich the lives of students by acquainting them with the world of work through on-the-job experiences and a carefully crafted school curriculum that ties academics to the workplace. SHRM participated in and sponsored the program this year.
Job Shadowing gives over one million students across America the opportunity
to "shadow" a workplace mentor as he or she goes through a normal
day on the job. This gives young people a chance to see how the skills
they learn in school relate to the workplace.
Ground Hog Shadow Day...
- Demonstrates the connection between academics and careers;
- Builds community partnerships between schools and businesses;
- Introduces students to the requirements of the profession;
- Encourages an ongoing relationship between young people and caring
adults;
- Encourages that students in need of additional services are linked
to the appropriate programs.
For more information and an online How-To Guide providing you with information,
tips, and other materials needed to coordinate a successful job shadowing
event, go to www.jobshadow.org or contact Lee Lewis, President of
RI Junior Achievement at
401-331-3850 x 13, llewis_rija@att.net.
In its tenth year, national Job Shadow Day is a coordinated effort of America's Promise - the Alliance for Youth, Junior Achievement, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM),the Association for
Career and Technical Education (ACTE), and the U.S. Department of Labor.
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