Regional CDSS Plan

Region 3-Atlanta, Office of Job Corps Career Development Services System Plan

Introduction 1

Outreach and Admissions 4

Beginning with the End in Mind in Outreach and Admissions .. 6

The Career Preparation Period 8

Career SuccessStandards 9

The Career Development Period 11

Career Transition Readiness 12

The Career Transition Period 13

Refocusing Regional Efforts in Preparation for Change 14 reas.¢f ref9cusfor Region 3 for the . prpvemerJt, .implementing change and y, Marketing Job Corps as an Alternative Source For Education and Training 14

Diversity in Recruitment 15

Increased Female Recruitment and Retention 15

Changing the Center Culture 15

Effective Community and Employer Partnering 15

Effective Case Management 16

Table Contents

Career Development Facilitation 17

Case Notes 18

Utilizing the Personal Career Development Plan 19

Personal and Career Counseling 19

Individualizing the Learning Environment 20

Staff Development to Support Program Enhancement 21

High School Diploma and GED Attainment in an Integrated Learning Environment 22

TABE Testing Changes 23

Applied Academics 23

Advanced Career Training Opportunities 24

Individualized Academic and Career Technical Training 25

Enhancing Career Technical Training 25

Incorporating Information Technology in an Integrated Learning Environment 26

Integration of the Career SuccessStandards 26

Relating Employability to Health and Wellness 28

Providing a Full Range of Career Transition Services 28

Program and Data Integrity 29

(Table of Contents continues .. .)

Region 3-Atlanta, Office of Job Corps Career Developm.ent Services System Plan

1iable of Conterds

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Key Service Delivery Strategies, Roles and Responsibilities 30 rble$Qfkeysfaffin assistingthe ,rrre~qy.

The Business Community Liaison (BCl) Role 30

National Training Contractors (NTC) Role 31

State Consortia Role 32

Regional Office Role 33

Summary 36

References and Resources 37

Attachments #1 - Job Corps National Program Goals 38

#2 - What Region 3 Will look for in Career SuccessStandards Implementation 39

Introduction In the seven years since Region 3 began implementation of the Career Development Services System (CDSS),fostered under the precepts of the Workforce Investment Act, we have embraced the flexibility of the CDSSdesign throughout the region and undertaken the challenge of transformation from a program which not only trains our students for jobs but utilizes a systematic approach to support their transition into the workforce and assists them in maintaining long-term attachment to the job market. In the coming years as we transform our program to meet the needs of industry, the primary premise of the Career Development Services System remains the same, individualizing the learning environment in order to provide maximum benefit to Job Corps students.

Region 3 is in the process of implementing changes to our program propelled by the need to compete in a global economy where higher levels of education and specialized skills are required for entry into the workforce. There is also the expectation of lifelong learning to keep pace with innovation, as the skills required today will not be the same five or more years from now. In October 2006, the National Office of Job Corps unveiled Job Corps' New Vision, outlining national goals to develop a 21st century approach to training and education. With the advent of the President's High-growth Training Initiative, the New Vision strategy emerged as the momentum to transform the Job Corps program and create a program based on standards - basic academic standards, applied academic standards, industry standards and career success standards - to facilitate a standards-based curriculum. The New Vision is basically a new way of educating and training utilizing a curriculum based on integrated, rigorous academic and career technical training relevant to the requirements of the 21st century workforce.

Region 3

At the national level programmatic resources will be utilized to support components of the New Vision. These components include the implementation of:

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certiticationahd state licensure); and, The transformation has begun with the development and dissemination of new systems policies, and procedures introduced to support the implementation of the New Vision for the Job Corps program. These include:

• The introduction of the eight Career Success Standards to increase employability, social and independent living skills of students, and to support change and transformation, because in order to compete in today's workforce, our students not only need academic and career technical training, but also the employability and soft skills to support lifelong learning and personal and professional growth.

• The Speakers, Tutors, Achievement, Retention and Success- STARS Initiative to increase student retention, to improve student achievement, and to support completion of the program by providing enhanced center services and community support for students through three components: speakers, tutors and mentors. The STARSInitiative supports and advances the eight Career SuccessStandards using tutoring, mentoring, and inspirational speakers to improve employability and social development, as well as equip students with the skills they need for successful careers.

• We have seen the revision of Training Achievement Records (TARs) to meet industry certifications supporting the system-wide credentialing designed to align career technical training programs with industry-identified skills. This effort to increase the number of industry-recognized

Region 3 occupational certification available to Job Corps students is part of the National Certification Initiative. This initiative was launched to address the demand-driven challenges facing the workforce and the need for a more rigorous and relevant Job Corps curriculum.

• Teacher Certification and Staff Development Initiatives to ensure that instructors/teachers are equipped with the capabilities and tools to implement increased rigor and relevance in academic and career technical training and to use an instructional system that will be increasingly technology-based.

• The Job Corps program has also seen the redesigning of management and accountability systems, and the development of the technology infrastructure to support program changes, to include the e-Learning Initiative. The intent of this initiative is to create an integrated, technology-based system for Job Corps programming that incorporates comprehensive student assessment, delivery of instruction, and management of individual student learning plans that support staff professional development.

• We have seen the rollout of the new Student Testing System (STS),an online version of the Test of Adult Basic Education version 9/10 (TABE ® 9/10), and the piloting of the READ 180® program, an intensive reading intervention program at some centers. The use of Staff Instructional Management Online Network (SIMON), a Web-based system designed to present learning and knowledge sharing opportunities for staff, has also been implemented.

• All Job Corps centers are required to have a plan to serve English Language Learners (ELL) under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 13166. The English Language Learners (ELL) Project provides language assistance to students with limited English proficiency to facilitate equal training opportunities in our program.

These are a few examples which represent some of the changes we will implement to support the systematic transformation in the Job Corps program. Additional information to include Job Corps directives relative to system changes and policy guidance, technical assistance and the seven National Program Goals to support the vision of the Job Corps program are available at http://jcweb.jobcorps.org/.

This system's transformation is not intended to take place overnight.

Standards-based training will be established around the current industry standards and certification requirements necessary for entry-level employment in the 21st century workforce.

To support how Region 3 delivers training on applied academic standards will be developed to support ongoing transferable skills and provide a framework for instruction. The applied academic standards will then be used to identify the basic academic skills standards (reading, math, writing) that will serve as the basic foundation for participation and program completion within a chosen career path. Completion of career technical training will no longer be solely determined by checking off, signing and dating line items on a TAR, but the expectation of students demonstrating mastery of industry (career technical), applied academic, career success (employability) and independent living standards. Standards assessed on tests (e.g., industry-sponsored certifications, the GED exam, and state high school exit exams) will be incorporated into Job Corps' curriculum framework to provide the requisite certifications and credentials needed for success.

What can you expect?

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While the Regional CDSSPlan is not intended to be all-inclusive to the anticipated changes in the way we provide services to Region 3 students, it is intended to provide a foundation for some cohesiveness in the way we deliver services because ...

"the Times, They Are A -Changin' II

In Region 3, we are making an effort to re-conceptualize our program from a vocational training program to an individualized career development program. Our successeshave not always been reflected in "the numbers," and while we each can point to individual successes,we have not fully embraced the concepts and practices intended to improve program outcomes. Chief among these are the concepts associated with case management and personalized career management. During Region 3's CDSSimplementation phase, funding was provided to support implementation of CDSSto include Career Development Facilitator (CDF) training which allowed center operators and contractors to procure training from a variety of available training sources. CDF Lite training was also sponsored by Region 3 and conducted by regional partners in different venues to ensure that as many staff as possible were exposed to the concept. As a result many staff were credentialed as career development facilitators, "gung ho" and ready to think "outside the box" and to end the "lock-step" approach in delivering

Region 3 individualized services to our students over the long term.

In order to prepare for the changes, critical to the long-term viability of our program, Region 3 staff are again challenged to re-evaluate the initial premises and expectations of CDSS,dust off Career Development Facilitation, develop useful resources to support incoming and exiting students, involve on-center staff in a team approach to assessing and meeting student needs, participate in an ongoing dialogue to improve individual student performance, utilize OASIS, CTSand CISto input case notes to track service delivery and ensure program accountability and commit to continuous face-to-face communication with students and colleagues.

Region 3 staff are again challenged to come out of our silos, visit the classrooms and career technical training shops, mentor, model and be an example for students; connect to employers to support on-center training and transitioning students, utilize workforce investment partners, state consortia, community relations councils, union and apprenticeship programs, center industry councils and other collaborations to ensure that all Job Corps students are prepared for the ever-changing demands of the workplace.

There are seven National Program Goals that represent the vision for Job Corps, all of which are designed to focus attention on a rigorous and relevant academic and technical curriculum, which is industry-focused, and designed to prepare students for the 21st century work environment. The National Program Goals are included in this plan as Attachment 1.

If you have not fully embraced the basic concepts associated with our program shift of seven years ago, now is your opportunity to evaluate the basics as full implementation of strategies associated with the New Vision for our program is around the corner and ...

"You better start swimmln' or you'll sink like a stone 'for the times, they are a-changin' II

- Bob Dylan

For those of us who have fully embraced the concepts and implemented the program changes, now is the time to gather additional information, strategize, develop center guidelines, convene workgroups, and obtain feedback from industry representatives who will become even more important customers in how we attract and train students for employment opportunities, keeping the promise of the Job Corps program and realigning to the new workplace.

Outreach and Admissions The programmatic changes for the Job Corps program rightfully begin with how we recruit students for the program. Over the years there has been much discussion relative to suitability, commitment, eligibility and the constraints thrust upon Job Corps centers when students are assigned who may have been better served by referrals to other programs.

One key change to enhance the recruitment effort and to ensure appropriate opportunities are the expanded Essential Eligibility Requirements (EERs)(e.g., age, low income, program suitability, etc.)

for participation in Job Corps. These expanded EERcriteria and supporting guidance materials are intended to:

• ensure that all applicants receive the same consideration when applying to the program;

• ensure that those who can benefit from the program are given the opportunity to participate;

• give potential applicants an opportunity to evaluate their prospects for success in Job Corps; and

• eliminate some of the significant center/regional differences in the applicant file review process.

The expanded EERsreplace the subjectivity of the Admissions Counselors Assessment Tool (ACAT) by providing objective and observable criteria and definitions. The admissions process is modified as follows:

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To make this change OA staff has been provided detailed guidance materials and training to assist them in assessing applicant eligibility.

It is the AC's responsibility to make an informed decision regarding an applicant's potential for successful completion of Job Corps based on a review and assessment of application materials consistent with the revisions in Chapter One of the Policy & Requirements Handbook (PRH).

These EERsreplace the ACAT and are available online. If an AC determines during the course of the interview that an applicant's needs would best be met by another program, the applicant should be referred to another local resource that can better meet the applicant's need.

The ETA 6-53 has been revised to determine the health and accommodation/modification needs of an applicant who has been offered enrollment in Job Corps, and to determine whether an otherwise eligible applicant offered enrollment may pose a direct threat to self or others. The ETA 6-53 provides detailed instructions on its use and is completed by the AC in conjunction with the applicant offered enrollment and/or his/her parent or other representative during the health interview.

The Geographic Assignment Plan (GAP) prescribes which entities assign applicants to arrive at Region 3 and Region 2 centers to participate in the Job Corps program. The Atlanta Region is committed to periodic review of the GAP to ensure student arrivals that meet the needs of the program and center of assignment and is committed to the reallocation of resources based on need and performance.

Additional instructions and information to be utilized during the admissions process include:

Region 3

• Regional Job Corps Instruction No. 06-001 "Regional Application Review" issued clear procedures for review of application files for applicants who have a history of court involvement, behavior problems, mental or physical disabilities requiring extensive medical care, or who have previously been in the program. This instruction also establishes procedural guidance for the appointment of a center review committee whose members will be responsible for evaluating the needs of each applicant to succeed in the program. The instruction includes document requirements relative to applicant denials, procedures for receipt, and accountability of all applicant files and regional responsibility for processing applications which have been denied or rejected by centers.

• Additional information relative to the assignment process is included in PRH Change Notice 05-12 dated March 27, 2006, which provided notice that Job Corps centers would no longer be able to submit medical claims to the Regional or National offices for reimbursement of major medical expenses. This change made it necessary for the Region to issue new guidance for assigning applicants to Job Corps centers, as detailed in Regional Job Corps Instruction No. 06-001 "Regional Application Review."

• Centers are responsible for any costs associated with providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Usually accommodations can be provided at little to no cost to the center (e.g., extended time for testing); however, in some cases a high cost accommodation may be needed, e.g., a sign language interpreter.

If the center is not able to fund the accommodation or locate a funding source in the community, a request should be made through the Regional Office to the National Office for funding assistance. Job Corps Program Instruction No. 06-21 "Reasonable Accommodation Funding Request Form" standardizes the process for requesting reasonable accommodation funds from the National Office.

Additional information on the reasonable accommodation process is available at http://jcdisability.jobcorps.gov.

• Job Corps Information Notice No. 06-20 "Regional Disability Coordinators" provides information to the Job Corps community on the availability of regional disability coordinators to provide assistance with developing effective center disability programs that meet PRH requirements. The procedures were developed in order to establish procedural guidance to prevent assignment delays and ensure consistency in the assignment process.

The Disability Coordinator is available to provide technical assistance to include assistance with policy questions, orientation for disability coordinators, center visits to review disability programs or assist with issues, webinar training sessions and other assistance to ensure continuity of effort.

• Regional Job Corps Instruction No. 06-02 "Serving Students in the Foster Care System" provides information on connecting with foster care applicants in need of additional education and training, and providing transitional assistance to current Job Corps students connected to the foster care system. Job Corps is an ideal program to service foster care children in need of additional education and training. Outreach and Admissions staff are to take every opportunity to reach out to this population by connecting with state agencies and programs. This includes speaking with state coordinators, participating on child welfare Youth Advisory Boards (YABs) and educating Job Corps staff on the various assistance programs in their area. A state-by-state directory of these programs, state coordinators, and YABs can be found at http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/yd/state_pages.html.

• The PRH further requires that 85 percent of applicants assigned to a Job Corps center are from the same state as the center with the overriding consideration of keeping applicants as close to home as possible while accommodating their individual training needs.

• While there are some expectations and constraints to be considered, the primary purpose of the Admissions Counselor is to work with the Job Corps centers they serve to facilitate maintaining the centers at capacity with motivated, eligible, suitable, capable enrollees.

Admissions Counselors (ACs) are to work within PRH guidelines to identify a sufficient number of applicants to create waiting lists of assignees to each center. In turn, centers are to utilize processes and procedures consistent with PRH Chapter One to assign eligible youth, without delay, consistent with national and regional policy and procedural guidance.

• All regional ACswill utilize information provided by the centers to assist in recruitment for career technical training offerings. Centers are to work in tandem with ACs to ensure that all career technical training information and all center-specific information is up to date to enable ACs with the information they need to effectively screen and prepare students for realistic experiences at the center of assignment.

• All ACs are expected to utilize the full range of promotional materials, to include those developed by the national media contractor, to support recruitment. It is expected that these materials are supplemented by those of the assigned contractor and are community-specific designed to target program-eligible youth and are periodically adjusted to meet targeted recruitment goals.

Beginning with the End in Mind In Outreach and Admissions To support the primary purpose of the Job Corps program - "an employment bridge to high-growth, high-demand industries that offer career paths and lifelong learning skills for its graduates responding to 21st century workforce challenges" - and to align Job Corps with the high-growth industry sectors identified in the President's High-growth Job Training Initiative, the admissions process should "begin with the end in mind." Every enrollee in Job Corps must be committed to completing training and securing employment. The journey to self-sufficiency and long-term attachment to the labor market begins in Outreach and Admissions. During the OA phase, some of the expected and required processes and procedures to facilitate student successon center and during transition and assist the Region in meeting on-board strength (OBS) include:

• Detailed knowledge of the centers served by assigned GAP.

• Visits to centers to collaborate and verify information provided by centers.

• Identification of a sufficient number of eligible and suitable applicants to create waiting lists for each center served.

• Education on the cluster model approach to demonstrate to employers and applicants the opportunities associated with the program.

• Targeted recruitment strategies to meet specific needs (e.g., Hispanics, females), career technical training or program goals.

• Matching the applicant with the center which best suits the career technical training needs of the applicant.

• Development of a strong working relationship with center staff.

• Development of a working relationship with local One-Stop centers and ensuring that Job Corps services are included in their menu of available services.

• Providing or assisting applicants to acquire labor market information (LMI) specific to their career interests and post-center place of residency.

Region 3

• Use of adequate assessments to determine readiness, suitability and capability.

• Introduction of and use of the Personal Career Development Plan to record initial goals.

• Co-locating with Career Transition and other Workforce Investment Partners to facilitate collaboration.

The recruitment process should involve:

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Properly prepared, complete folders must be transmitted to centers in a timely fashion, and contractors are to monitor OASIS to ensure compliance with the Policy & Requirements Handbook (PRH) and other established program guidance.

During the initial stages of CDSSimplementation, Region 3 sought to facilitate the collaborative effort inherent in the CDSSprocess by combining Outreach and Admissions and Career Transition Service contracts. OA providers are to refocus on establishing relationships with CT providers which will facilitate the matching of students not only with on-center career technical training, but connecting them with the "back door" using LMI to facilitate trade choices applicable to the community to which the student returns.

Career Preparation Period (CPP) The Career Preparation Period is the introduction to center life for new students and begins the on-center continuous assessment process designed under CDSSto provide a structured setting for center staff to identify and address individual barriers. One key component of CPPis adequate initial assessments.

Assessment is the process of gathering information on the student and the evaluation of information in order to plan a course of action for indi-vidualizing services.

Assessments provide information to staff and set the stage for staff to assist the student in developing realistic personal and career goals.

Adequate assessment also provides staff the opportunity to identify barriers which may impede student progress in the program and provide staff the opportunity to develop and/or allocate resources to assist in removing any barriers.

Initial assessment begins during the application/admissions process where suitability (appropriateness for the program) and capability (the capacity/ability to complete the program) are evaluated.

Review of assessment documents from the AC should include the EERs, ETA- 6-53, electronic Personal Career Development Plan (ePCDP), and may include admissions homework assignments, applicant essays, input from family and/or community resources, etc. Upon applicant assignment, the pre-arrival call from center staff (e.g., counselor, CPP Staff, TEAP Specialist) is also an information gathering and sharing opportunity for staff to enable the preparation process.

Some information useful to staff during the assessment and preparation process in CPP includes:

s'ahd PCDP

Assessments are tools utilized in the case management process to assist in the development of goals and action steps designed to keep participants focused on the road to self-sufficiency.

Formal comprehensive assessment of each student should be performed by staff members (a career management team). This comprehensive assessment will determine each individual student's needs and capabilities and serve as the basis for planning services. Staff will monitor student progress based on the ongoing accomplishment of goals utilizing continual monitoring and assessment.

Students and staff will work together in setting individual goals, and on formulating on-center goals for the Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP). The PCDPwill define the student's current career goals and aspirations, define prospective academic/career technical training strategies, as well as identify any support needs the student may have which could prevent them from successfully completing the program.

Each student's PCDPmust be continually updated by the center staff predicated upon the student achievement and progress throughout the program. In addition, personal counseling will be conducted with each student on an ongoing basis for the purpose of early identification of and intervention in student personal issues which present barriers to full program participation (e.g., tutoring, childcare, tardiness, AWOLs, sleeping in class, etc.).

During the CPP, in addition to the collaborative development of the Personal Career Development Plan, each student will work with his or her assigned career development staff member on career development readiness training. Career development readiness training includes navigating the labor market, job search training, introduction and visits to workplaces in the local community, Internet use for employment assistance, career exploration, resume preparation, and computer literacy. The assembling of Employability Kits will begin and must contain the PRH-required documentation. Students will also be required to visit and register with the local One-Stop, or register online with their home area One-Stops, in an effort to begin the job search process as well as familiarize them with this valuable available community resource.

Career Success Standards CPP is also the stage in which students will be provided accessto competencies which allows the acquisition of the basic skills necessary to enhance job readiness and ability to find and retain employment.

Among these competencies are the eight Career Success Standards «(55) which incorporate basic social, employability and independent living skills. Information on the standards is available at http://jccdrc.jobcorps.gov/Css.

The Career Success Standards are a set of behavioral expectations that support employability and social development for career success.The standards are designed to complement or enhance the existing center culture. From the time students arrive on center, they will understand the standards are the way of behaving on center and not a class or activity. The standards are designed to create a consistent set of employment-based behavioral expectations for all students. The Job Corps Employability Skills are embedded in the Career SuccessStandards

Region 3 and are to be monitored regularly through the Evaluation of Student Progress (ESP)and the PCDPto track student growth and setbacks.

Rather than solely being taught in the career technical or academic classroom, the eight Career SuccessStandards (CSS)should be integrated into every aspect of a student's life as he or she participates in activities and in projects to help him or her meet the standards, including academics, career technical and residential living. The standards are designed to increase staff's interactions with students to create an environment where appropriate workplace behaviors are the norm.

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The intent is for students and staff to create an environment where the norm on center is positive and all center staff, student leaders and students work together to set standards and expectations. To create a workplace environment on a Job Corps center, the standards must apply to everyone, across all staff levels, and be independent of a person's role on center. In order for students to master and demonstrate these standards, staff and student leaders will be expected to model, mentor, and monitor appropriate workplace behaviors at all times.

The Career SuccessStandards are equally applied to everyone. The eight standards are:

• Workplace Relationships and Ethics The student will leave Job Corps with the ability to productively interact with co-workers and deal with problems and situations with honesty, integrity and responsibility.

• Communications The student will leave Job Corps with the ability to listen actively, follow directions and communicate with others to solve problems and accomplish tasks.

• Personal Growth and Development The student will leave Job Corps with the personal skills, attributes and behaviors that foster confidence and drive for lifelong growth.

• Interpersonal Skills The student will leave Job Corps with the ability to get along with others and adjust to a variety of social and professional situations.

• Information Management The student wit! leave Job Corps with the ability to interpret and evaluate data, organize and maintain information, and use technology to perform work.

• Multicultural Awareness The student will leave Job Corps valuing diversity, practicing cultural sensitivity and able to work with people of different backgrounds and cultures.

• Career and Personal Planning The student will leave Job Corps with a personal plan that outlines a step-by-step process for entering and advancing in a fulfilling career.

• Independent Living The student will leave Job Corps capable of finding, managing, and utilizing the resources needed to maintain employment, satisfy physical and emotional needs, and lead a productive life as an independent adult.

The C55 are directly related to the personal growth and development of all enrollees with the overall impact of graduating students with the personal skills, attributes, and behaviors that foster confidence and drive for lifelong growth. The regional requirement for implementation and associated CS5plans was issued in Regional Job Corps Instruction No. 05-04 "CSSImplementation Plans. "

What Region 3 will look for in terms of CSSimplementation is included as Attachment 2.

The Student Government Association (SGA) is expected to be an integral part of center management and in the development of a normative culture on center. The SGA must be the conduit to induce student leaders, and through them the peer group or student population, to adopt and reinforce desired behavior. Region 3 centers will define how the SGA will be an integral part of CSSand the establishment of the normative culture concept on center in CDSSplans.

The Career Success Standards Expectation Tool (CSSET)allows centers to assessstudents on the eight Career SuccessStandards and to generate reports demonstrating individual student results, as well as results filtered by center, input group, dorm and counselor.

During cpp there will be continual emphasis on the attainment and assessment of personal development skills which includes introduction to employability and social skills, conflict resolution instruction, and other appropriate training and instruction to ready students for successful participation in center life and subsequent long-term attachment to the labor market. All staff are expected to dearly communicate, motivate, consistently model, and evaluate the incorporation of appropriate career successstandards, employability skills and independent living skills of every student. Recorded, individualized evaluations and assessments of CPPparticipation in case notes, to include acquisition of introductory skills, will determine student movement to the next phase of the career development services system.

Career Development Period (CDP) During the Career Development Period, students will acquire academic and career technical training in an integrated learning environment. CDSS was designed to fully involve each student in planning his or her career goals and to provide each student with individualized services. During CDP students are expected to play an active role in developing their training schedules and will be encouraged to pursue training interest off center incorporating work-based learning and related principles. During this time, greater focus will be placed on providing an individualized mix of services intended to meet each student's needs. Center staff will continue individualized personal counseling started in CPp,and expand services to include a focus on career planning and guidance as well as provide students with intensive instruction in academic and career technical curricula, exposure to interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills, and provide opportunities to practice social and personal management skills in an integrated learning environment.

Students will be exposed to on-center and off-center work sites to teach required skills and competencies. Staff should continually assist students in setting short- and long-term goals associated with a Personal Career Development Plan and earn the respect and trust of the student in achieving the plan. The content of training, student schedules, method of delivery and pace will be tailored to the individual needs, abilities and career goals of each student. Flexibility will allow skills attainment tailored to each student's needs and learning capabilities. Work-based learning opportunities and associated employer connections, such as visits to work sites to support career development, will allow students to see their academic skills as an integral part of the development of their career technical skills.

During this phase, center staff, as well as WBL sites and employers, will provide students with instruction in academic and career technical curricula, instruction and practice in communication, problem-solving, and Career SuccessStandards to include social and employability skills.

Region 3

In order to provide Region 3 students the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge learned on center, CDP is designed to integrate academics, career technical skills and independent living skills to impart knowledge and to develop appropriate attitudes and behaviors in the context of the workplace. Students will begin the job search process and planning for independent living. During this phase, staff will continuously assessthe student's needs, capabilities, and progress utilizing a case management approach. An integral part of the process will be the sharing of information with students and staff and positive reinforcement associated with successful outcomes. Information sharing will include all program components, and the assigned counselor will serve as an advocate and clearinghouse for information gathering and dissemination for each assigned student.

Counselors will provide structured personal and career counseling, monitoring CIScase notes from other program components in order to provide timely feedback to the student and to assist students in connecting to resources (e.g., tutoring, childcare, transportation sources) to address potential barriers to successful program completion. The case management approach utilized will incorporate the basic precepts of the process to include goal setting, action planning and follow-up which requires students set timeframes for accomplishment, and to participate in the planning of strategies to move toward desired outcomes, teaching each how to plan, own, problem solve, make decisions and commit to personal success.As the student completes various objectives, the student's Personal Career Development Plan and Employability Kit will be updated to reflect progress and achievements, processes useful to the assessment of readiness to move toward transition from center life to independent living.

The transition to post-center services must begin before a student departs the center. Centers must develop protocols to identify when each student is nearing completion, e.g., when a student takes the GEDtest, or when a student is 80 percent complete on his or her development plan, and must begin transition activities at this point. On-center Career

Transition Specialists (CTs)will ensure each student has an established relationship with his or her post-center Career Transition provider, including those who move to a different Service Delivery Area within Region 3 or any other region. On-center CTSstaff will work with the post-center CTSstaff to coordinate job development activities and ensure a smooth transition of information and services occur between the two providers. Region Job Corps Instruction No. 03-004 "CTS Communication Forms Implementation" requires use of CTSforms to increase internal and external communication and assist post-center service providers to effectively deliver services to separating Job Corps students. This instruction included the "Employability Readiness Feedback" form and the "Notification to Center of Non-placement."

Career Transition Readiness Sixty days or more prior to completion of the program, students will work with the assigned on-center and post-center Career Transition Service provider to prepare the final post-center transition plan utilizing the PCDP,to determine support services, review job readiness skills, job develop and search. During the exit phase, it is expected that students will play an active role in assessing remaining needs prior to leaving the center environment. Career Transition Readiness is not a class,but a structured process which allows staff to assessreadiness to transition utilizing information from a variety of sources to include academic and career technical skills, WBL participation, independent living, etc., and demonstrating the standards.

Region 3 centers must refocus efforts on ensuring that we effectively utilize assessment and evaluation processesto determine student progress in meeting goals and readiness to transition. This will include review of the PCDPwhich is indicative of a student's progress on center and how the student has worked to acquire the skills necessary to transition to CTP.Case notes on the student will provide insight on the student and assist the student in creating planned change utilizing the processes associated with case management.

Center staff and the assigned CTSwill work with the student in the transition to his/her home/chosen community and obtain permanent full-time employment and/or enrollment in school prior to center departure. During this period students should be given an approximate date for departure. This date of departure is to be based on an appropriate, well-documented assessmentof readiness and demonstrated academic and career technical capability.

Job Corps has an obligation to assiststudents formerly in the foster care system who are eligible for transition services and the following case note is required in their electronic files:

"This Job Corps student has been identified to be a part of the foster care system and may be eligible for additional federal funds and grants to assist with independent living, known as the John H.

Chafee Foster Care Independent Living Program. Check with your state's Independent Living coordinator by visiting http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/yd/resources/ilcoords.php.

As foster care children begin transition readiness, Job Corps centers and Career Transition staff shall contact their state's Independent Living Coordinator to connect eligible graduates and former enrollees with additional transition resources.

All Region 3 center program components will refocus efforts on establishing and effectively utilizing performance assessmentprotocols which support readiness to transition between phases which is clear, unambiguous, and consistent in order to ensure students are trained with appropriate workplace readiness skills. Counselors and the student's designated career management team will review case notes recorded in CISand evaluations of student progress to determine if the student is ready to enter the exit or career transition phase. After the determination that a student is ready to enter the exit phase, Career Manager/Counselor will work intensively with students to seek employment (either work-based learning or permanent full-time employment) and work in conjunction with the student to make arrangements for post-center needs.

Region 3 centers are to refocus attention on employability readiness reviews conducted to assessthe knowledge of the student relative to the job/career technical training to ensure that all graduates are prepared for the world of work. Assessment of readiness should also include:

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Centers, again, have great flexibility in designing the exit phase;

however, all centers will have a program design which contains structured career transition readiness activities to include the availability of additional support to students to further reinforce the concepts of career development and to facilitate the transition to a productive life after departure. The readiness phase presents an excellent opportunity to enhance student motivation and mentoring opportunities utilizing the STARSinitiative. During this phase Career Managers will encourage students to re-connect to One-Stops and to develop relationships with support providers in their home communities in order to seek employment and identify support services before leaving the center.

Region 3

Career Transition Period (CTP) "Beginning with the end in mind" is the focus on successful employment, career progression and long-term attachment to the workforce for program graduates. The PRHrequires that career transition service contractors provide Job Corps students personalized career transition services that lead to long-term employment, earnings growth, career progression, and further education with the additional requirement that Job Corps connects them to transitional support services within their communities to assist them in remaining successful. With the New Vision focus on rigor and relevance, the intent is to better prepare Job Corps graduates for more options in the job market. This will require a more focused effort in the provision of career transition services. Employers expect employees to arrive at the workplace with a set of basic and applied skills, and Job Corps must make sure the expectation matches the reality.

The expectation is career transition involvement beginning in OA with the collaboration on lMI and career technical training applicable to the place to which the student returns after graduation. In Region 3 CT staff will be involved throughout students' stay on center, to include involvement in the assessment of readiness to transition from the center environment. CT staff will coordinate with center staff to ensure continuity of services to separating students. CTSstaff will participate in OA orientation. OA collaboration will include employer-focused career technical training recruitment with the intent to enlist and obtain commitment to have the employer hire students upon graduation.

Eligibility for post-center services and the duration of the service period are outlined in the PRH.

At a minimum, CTSstaff are to make direct contact with graduating students before separation from the center. The CTSis to continue the case management process utilizing the ePCDPto assist the student in setting goals and monitor student activity during the service period as prescribed by the PRH.

Refocusing Regional Effort in Preparation for Change In this CDSS Plan we seek to briefly reiterate principles the PRH clearly defines; however, experience has taught us the expectation of implementation is not as simple as the expectation. In our efforts to be ready to implement change and do the best we can for the youth in our charge and become New Vision ready, we as a region will focus on placing a renewed emphasis on that which will drive us toward program improvement as a region.

Key areas of focus for Region 3:

Alttorn;:ltivl> Source of High-quality

Employee Partnering

The expectation is that center and OAtCTS contractors will develop results-focused strategies to improve, accomplish, implement or otherwise assure focus on these program components and that these key areas of focus are addressed and incorporated into all CD55 plans and subsequent center practices.

Why choose these areas of focus?

Marketing Job Corps as an Alternative Source for Education and Training With the New Vision focus on rigorous and relevant academic and career technical training and the successof our program dependent of the involvement of employers using Job Corps as a referral resource and source of skilled trained workers, a key element will be how we market the program and connect to the community at large. The vision of Job Corps has changed. We are no longer a vocational training program for the "at-risk" population. We are a career technical training program designed to attract "at-promise" applicants from a wide range of sources to include high schools, colleges, technical schools, unions and apprenticeship programs, employer referrals and all other appropriate sources. This means we have to transform the public perception of our program with marketing, targeted recruitment, and viable community connections. Our focus will be to increase industry and employer involvement to assist program graduates in obtaining and retaining employment, enrolling in advanced education or joining the military.

A related program goal is to increase and strengthen industry, education and workforce partnerships to enhance and expand delivery of student services while on center and as resources to support independent living after center departure. Again, we must engage employers and businesses on our centers to assist us in increasing workforce readiness, to include providing opportunities for WBL, internships, job shadowing, mentoring, and tutoring, in order to provide Job Corps students opportunities to obtain needed skills. We will enhance relationships with employers in Region 3 to support the education of students on our centers, connect to employers, unions, apprenticeship programs and educational institutions, to include high schools, and to expand opportunities for applicant referrals, which means we must develop new marketing and outreach strategies to make our individual centers attractive to the community, its people and the local economy.

Diversity in Recruitment Review of statistical data and Outcome Measurement Standards (OMS) reports continues to reveal that our program continues to lack diversity, and all indications are we need to increase the representation of those not present on Region 3 centers to a proportion which reflects the diversity in the community, state, or county of service. Demographic data should drive recruitment efforts as the viability of our program is dependent on our ability to attract and maintain diverse student populations which reflect our community at large.