Growing evidence suggests that Positive Youth Development (PYD), a holistic approach to developing assets and competencies, can help prepare young people for success in adulthood, including success in the workplace. At its core, PYD focuses on creating a supportive, developmentally appropriate learning setting by emphasizing positive…

The National Fund for Workforce Solution's Young Adult Initiatives aim to test and implement new strategies for targeting America's young adults and share this information so that employers and workforce development can join forces in investing in the millions of young adults across the nation. This case study focuses on promising findings from…

The workforce development system in Chicago and nationwide is multifaceted and includes public and private training providers that work with individuals of all ages and abilities. Broadly, the programs within the system aim to train their participants while preparing them to (re)enter the workforce, graduate them from the programs, and place them…

This article describes one assessment that provides a college- and career-ready individual for employers. In Illinois, workNet is the state's primary online workforce development Web site and resource for Workforce Investment Act services. With help from NOCTI, workNet offers assessments that identify the skills and interests of participants,…

This paper presents the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Job Corps to the Secretary of Labor pertaining to the review, development and implementation of policies, legislation and regulations for the Job Corps program. This document represents the culmination of an intensive and comprehensive nine-month process undertaken by the…

A review of Florida's work force development (WD) system focuses on state-level entities and programs involved in providing job training services, workforce education services, and other services to help persons obtain and retain jobs. State-level WD entities consist of 10 state agencies and public-private partnerships, 2 primary state-level…

The impact of 1996 federal welfare reform legislation on state work force development programs was examined through a study of work force development programs and policies in 13 states: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The study focused on…

In 1986, three neighborhood development organizations in Cleveland, Ohio, created the Westside Industrial Retention Network (WIRE-Net) to retain manufacturing jobs on the city's West Side. In 1989, WIRE-Net launched its Hire Locally program, which was designed to provide local business with candidates judged to be effective workers and help…

The Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership has taken actions to resolve issues raised in a previous report. The legislature has expanded the partnership's work force development (WFD) role; assigned it a role in implementing the state's welfare-to-work program; and established additional incentive funding for WFD program outcomes. The…

This brief provides information about the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, how it will be implemented in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area, and the program's relevance to business. The brief also discusses the current work force development system, including information on these five areas of interest: (1) what the literature says about…

This document explains the concept of sectoral employment strategies and profiles 13 successful work force development programs based on such strategies. The first half of the document examines the increasing need for sectoral employment strategies and their key characteristics, role in achieving systemic change in work organizations, and…

This guide describes common One-Stop Career Center system-building goals and summarizes strategies used by states and local One-Stop sites to further each goal. Part I, Organizing and Governing One-Stop Systems, has these two chapters: Guiding One-Stop Systems: The State Role; and Building Local Partnerships and Governing One-Stop Systems. Part…

The Workforce Investment Act represents a total customer-driven overhaul of the U.S. job training system that will help employers obtain needed workers and empower job seekers to obtain the training needed for the jobs they want. The Department of Labor will implement the Workforce Investment Act in cooperation with the Department of Education.…

The Jobs Initiative, an eight-year demonstration, helps low-income residents find jobs that pay family-supporting wages in Denver, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Seattle. "Entrepreneurial intermediaries," ranging from a private foundation to a city agency, manage six sites that take a dramatically different,…

Progress in integration of state-level welfare and work force development systems in the Midwest was examined through case studies of 10 communities in 7 states. The case studies focused on local-level coordination and/or integration between the welfare and work force development systems. Despite legislative mechanisms to encourage collaboration,…