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Volunteer Judges Needed for Senior Projects on 5/23

HRM-RI Workforce Readiness Committee Sets 2008 Goals

4/9 - Youth Service
Provider Resource Fair

United Way 2-1-1 in RI

Groundhog Job Shadow Day

"We're Lowering Barriers to
Jobs in Rhode Island"

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Workforce Readiness News                            Last Updated 4/11/2008

Updated by Debra Quinn, Chair of HRM-RI Workforce Readiness Commmittee

Volunteer Judges Needed for Senior Projects on May 23

Last year, the Providence Academy for International Studies successfully piloted a Senior Project, one of the statewide rigorous graduation requirements instituted for PAIS students. Each senior in schools using this demonstration of proficiency must choose a subject and prepare a research paper on that subject. The final measurement of their accomplishment is an 8-12 minute presentation of their subject area.

This year, senior students are slated to present their projects on May 23. We are looking for approximately 80 judges who can commit May 23 to this task. The morning will consist of welcoming refreshments, a judges' orientation and sample presentation. Lunch will be served.

From 1 to 3 p.m each volunteer will become part of a five judge panel in a classroom judging the presentations of five senior students from the Providence Academy of International Studies. A full day commitment is needed, from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.

We are contacting people early because the training is critical to the process and we need to know we have 80 committed individuals for the date. IF you even have the smallest doubt about being able to make it, please DO NOT volunteer.

For those of you who can, please respond as soon as possible. We look forward to having you join us again for this challenging and and rewarding experience! Please contact Michaela Kennedy, School-based Coordinator, Providence Academy of International Studies (PAIS), Providence, R.I.at (401) 456-0651.

HRM-RI Workforce Readiness Committee Sets Objectives for 2008

To review the committee's updated objectives and action plan for 2008, click here.

	RI Youth Service Provider Resource Fair The Governor's Workforce Board RI and the RI Department of Labor and Training,together with the Youth Councils of Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island and Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston, invite you to a Provider Resource Fair designed to inform those who serve youth about the workforce development, job training, and education resources available across the state.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 9:00 am to 12:30 pm  Rhodes on the Pawtuxet 60 Rhodes Place Cranston, RI RSVP by April 2, 2008	Representatives from community-based organizations, Industry Partnerships, labor and post-secondary education and training entities will be on hand to share information about who they are and what they do. Registration is required! The registration form may be obtained online at: www.rihric.com/youthregform.htm
To download a PDF with more details/schedule, click here. Or for more information, call Tamara at (401) 462-8817. TDD (401) 462-8006 Equal Opportunity Employer/Program ~ Auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities

February 1st is National Groundhog Job Shadow Day

On Friday, February 1, 2008 countless working professionals will see their "student shadows" as part of Job Shadow 2008. February 1st kicks off year-round Job Shadow activities around the U.S. and even the world!  For more information or to find out how you can participate go to http://www.jobshadow.org/.

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.

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.

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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