Adult school steps up to fill role held by one-stop workforce center.
Submitted By: Bill Bettencourt
Sierra Joint Consortium
Type of Practice: Learner Transition
Program Area(s): CTE / Workforce Prep / Pre-apprenticeship
Region: Northern California
Consortia Involved: Sierra Joint Consortium
Program Overview
Members of the Sierra Joint Consortium partnered to continue providing workforce development services and to launch additional adult education programming when previous center had to scale back.
The Challenge
The Sierra Joint Consortium, which serves the Placer County and Nevada County regions, was on the verge of losing a one-stop workforce center, Golden Sierra Connections. Due to decreased funding, Golden Sierra was going to have to scale back operations to its primary location in Roseville. That meant the center would have to close its secondary location in Auburn, which would have left a huge gap in workforce support and services in the Greater Auburn area, and the thought of that created concern among agencies within the region.
The Solution
The Placer School for Adults (PSA), a consortium member, stepped in to strategically address the challenge, in partnership with other stakeholder entities. The school leased the building that Golden Sierra Connections had used, just as the center was vacating the premises, and launched the Placer School for Adults Career Center. In a leveraging of resources, PSA worked with partner agencies to serve as visiting instructors/trainers. The collaboration and leveraging of resources has been very successful. The new center offers short courses that support CAEP workforce reentry and career education. Dozens of new free classes and workshops were launched for those seeking employment or advancement in their current job. The center offers a long list of diverse course offerings, ranging from building a resume and dressing for success to managing family with a new job and setting SMART goals. The center also offers free career counseling and an open lab for job seekers who need access to computers and the internet for their job search.
The Outcome
Not only has the Auburn area been able to continue receiving workforce development services as a result of The Placer School for Adults Career Center, but more people have the opportunity to be served. The center is open five days a week, compared with the two half days the previous agency was open, allowing the center to reach more adult learners and job-seekers. Also, participation from partner agencies has been strong and continues to grow.
The Data
In the center’s first half-year, during the spring semester of 2016-17, it served 1,047 students. The center anticipates continued growth as more adults in the region become aware of the center and how to access the support they need to be successful in transitioning to work or advancing in their current jobs.