Youth Program Designs By Contractors

(July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012)

The Lane Workforce Partnership’s youth services are provided through contracts with six Lane County schools, a non-profit agency and a public entity.

Funded through the Workforce Investment Act, legislation mandates that the program design include the following services:

Tutoring, study skills training and instruction leading to secondary school completion, including dropout prevention strategies
Alternative secondary school options
Summer employment opportunities directly linked to academic and occupational learning
Paid and unpaid work experiences, including internships and job shadowing
Occupational skill training
Leadership development opportunities
Supportive services
Adult mentorship for at least 12 months
Follow-up services for at least a year after a youth has left his/her program
Comprehensive guidance and counseling, including drug and alcohol abuse counseling

Following is the program design for each contractor:

Looking Glass Riverfront School and Career Center
The Looking Glass Riverfront School and Career Center is contracted to serve youth in 67 slots. The majority of youth served will be high school dropouts. As an alternative high school, Riverfront offers education options designed for youth to complete their education goals. These options include: credit recovery, high school completion, GED programs and modified diplomas. Occupational training through work crews, individualized work placements with local businesses and specialized training programs are other major program components.

Lane County Department of Youth Services (DYS)
The youth served in the DYS project will be referrals by the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) and the DYS alternative school program, e.g., the Martin Luther King (MLK) Education Center. The emphasis will be on intensive education and counseling services provided through partnerships with OYA and local education programs. Funds from the Lane Workforce Partnership will enhance the program through provision of work experience, career research, and paid internships that will connect the youth with community businesses. DYS is contracted to serve youth in 27 slots, most of whom will be out-of-school youth.

Eugene School District
The district’s new focus is on blending WIA resources with existing YTP (Youth Transition Program) funding to enhance services and provide postsecondary assistance to district graduates. Out-of-school youth will have a closer connection to LCC through meetings arranged on campus and participation in “World of Work” class. Graduates participate in Connections Seminar, focusing on independent living skills. The program design will have a year-round crew for continuous skill building. The new project will work with youth in 17 slots on a district-wide basis.

Junction City School District
The district’s program design expands postsecondary options for students. Design is based on “School within a School” and “Schools without Walls” models, moving students into integrated individualized learning based on assessed needs; daily instruction in essential skills through alternative ed. program (School w/in School); study skills, integrated computer literacy, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and financial literacy are all part of alternative ed. program. School w/out Walls is afternoon program providing paid/unpaid work activities, leadership training. Summer program will focus on green/clean technology instruction in natural resources with afternoon work experience in agri-tourism, agri-business, watershed management and local water areas/lagoons. The district will serve both in-school and out-of-school youth in 17 slots.

McKenzie School District
McKenzie’s program design will emphasize high school completion, literacy skills, career research, and employability development. New resources will be available to support the youth in this project, using the “System of Support” team funded through the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant. Participants will have access to the district’s wrap-around services through its alternative school, a research-based program specifically designed as a drop-out prevention program. Students identified as WIA will automatically be part of the wrap-around service model and will have access to the “Reconnecting Youth” Program, another research-based curriculum explicitly designed to modify known risk factors linked with students dropping out of high school. McKenzie will serve youth in 12 slots, all of which will be for in-school youth.

Pleasant Hill School District
The focus is on high school completion through such programs as the After School Program (one-on-one tutoring and assistance in special projects and classroom assignments); the School-to-Work Program; peer tutor program; Youth Transition Program (provides assistance in both life skills and work skills attainment). Along with these programs, staff provides tutoring services, work experience, and incentives to participants to increase their graduation outcome. Events such as career fairs, college fairs, Lane Community College’s Next Step Program, and Vocational Rehabilitation’s Work Skills Assessment all provide additional resources for education in future careers. The Oregon Employment Department website at The Workforce Network offers information in labor market trends to assist participants in choosing appropriate careers based on projected occupational growth information. Pleasant Hill will serve in-school youth in 20 slots.

South Lane School District
This project will provide education completion and workforce development services to at-risk in-school students in 52 slots through Career Connections, to expand career options for students in manufacturing and green technology; this is a continued program model that supports groups of students (e.g., cohorts) throughout their programs; incorporates academic and career supports, intensive mentoring, summer work crews and internships, industry specific skill development; additional incentives via college credits and opportunity to apply for industry certification in one of 4 targeted industry clusters. There will be an expanded focus on two industry clusters with coursework articulated to LCC; streamlined pathways that avoid course duplication; enhanced technology networking. The district has an apprenticeship program currently in development, new partnerships with Columbia Gorge Community College for summer enrichment program and Aprovecho Research and Education Center, both for new green technology program.

Springfield School District
Staff will use a variety of measures, including evaluations and student interviews, to determine the level of services needed for each youth in the program. Training opportunities available to students include the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, professional-technical job shadow program, computer-aided design program, computer applications, and business and marketing program. In addition, students will have the option to participate in occupational training through Springfield’s partnerships in the community. Students will also have the option to gain work experience by working at one of the many local participating businesses and earn school credit while on the job. Springfield will serve youth in 33 slots, most of which will be for in-school youth. This contract serves the greatest number of Latino youth and other youth of color.