Workforce Development is the coordination of education, training, and employment programs and policies in order to reduce poverty and enable low-income individuals the opportunity to realize a sustainable livelihood. The workforce development system provides a variety of services such as:
Adult education including GED preparation and ESOL
Hard skills training in high demand sectors such as health care and the green economy
Work readiness preparation
Recent Advocacy:
The Youth Education and Employment Campaign is an initiative that seeks to assist disconnected youth, especially those aging out of the foster care system, access education and employment benefits.
FPWA initiated the New York Green Pathways Out of Poverty (GPOP) team with the mission of promoting economic and environmental justice by creating, for individuals in poverty and those who face the greatest barriers to employment, green collar jobs that improve the economy, mitigate climate change, conserve the environment, increase community empowerment, and improve public health. Read more about this initiative:
We are planning the Maximizing Demand Citywide & Bronx Green Owners Forum to increase the number of energy efficiency audits in the Bronx by informing Bronx residential property owners of issues such as green financing, water & energy conservation, weatherization, utility incentives and more.
New York City "Green Job Corps Initiative" Concept Paper: May 2009 | Green Job Corps pdf (152904 bytes)
Recommendations:
Expand education and training opportunities for those with greater barriers to employment, including public assistance recipients, disconnected youth, single parents, previously incarcerated, survivors of domestic violence, and people with disabilities or substance abuse issues.
Extend the scope and capacity of existing workforce development programs so they can have the greatest impact in improving employment outcomes among those currently living in poverty.
Provide incentives for collaborations between community-based organizations, community colleges, training programs, and employers to develop effective career pathways models that blend basic and higher education with vocational training in high-demand sectors.
*Nearly half the U.S. workforce has only a high school education or less. Yet, most of the fastest growing occupations will require at least an occupational certificate or post-secondary degree.
*New York State and New York City have the widest income gap of any state or city in the United States.
*Increasingly, there are larger numbers of youth between the ages of 16 to 24 who are considered “disconnected,” since they are neither in school nor in the workforce. There are close to 200,000 disconnected youth in New York City.
Where We Stand:
FPWA believes that all individuals, spanning from youth through adulthood, should have the opportunity to access education, job readiness services, vocational and job training, and career advancement services essential to rising out of poverty and making gains to achieve long-term economic security. The goal of workforce development systems and public policies should be to expand access to these services, particularly for those populations facing greater barriers to employment. Workforce Development Policy Statement pdf (50232 bytes)
Strategic Collaborations:
FPWA is a member of Campaign for Tomorrow’s Workforce, a coalition of organizations and leaders committed to envisioning, championing, and building a system to solve the crisis of "disconnected" young adults aged 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor engaged in work.
Workforce Development
Workforce Development is the coordination of education, training, and employment programs and policies in order to reduce poverty and enable low-income individuals the opportunity to realize a sustainable livelihood. The workforce development system provides a variety of services such as:
