Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities

Since 2016, the VDOL and WIOA One-Stop partners have realigned methods of outreach, collaboration, and service delivery to meet the updated performance goals. The VDOL, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), YouthBuild, JobCorps, and several AEFLA grantees have partnered in various initiatives to promote more intensive and individualized opportunities for at-risk youth.

Increased partnerships between WIOA required and voluntary partners helped align disconnected youth with basic and individualized career services and supported a more aligned delivery system. This allows participants to achieve both education and employment goals. In some regions of the state, local youth-focused teams have formed to coordinate services to youth and employers, develop new programs with braided funding, and promote the co-enrollment of participants in various programs. This approach has helped participants navigate resources more effectively with a coordinated support team. . The VDOL and partner programs who support youth in Vermont, use a “meet them where they are at” approach to career service delivery and case management.

The VDOL will be working on several initiatives to strengthen career support and service delivery to youth, particularly out-of-school youth. VDOL has established the Vermont Youth Employment Program (VYEP) as directed by the Vermont legislature VYEP serves as an umbrella program for all youth focused state and federal workforce programs, serving youth and employers. Implementing a new, customer-based service approach allows administrators to better leverage program funds, case managers to serve more youth and support cohort-based models, and employers to have a predictable method to engage in developing pipelines to employment.

By 2021, the VDOL expects to stand up a system to recognize pre-apprenticeship programs at career and technical education (CTE) centers, the Community High School of Vermont (Vermont’s recognized high school within the Department of Corrections), and with other training providers. The Agency of Education (AOE) and Vermont State Colleges (VSC) will also work with the VDOL to explore matriculation agreements that assist learners in moving into and through the registered apprenticeship program as they move through their career. 

Act 80 of 2019, was part of a comprehensive, multi-year initiative to bolster, integrate, and align the state’s workforce and training programs. The Vermont Legislature directed VDOL, AOE, VSC, and the Vermont Adult Technical Education Association to consider and report on the design, implementation, and costs of a fully integrated adult postsecondary CTE system.   Partners will be working on the development of one or more designs of a fully integrated adult postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) system that: 

1. provides Vermonters throughout the State with high quality programs that are standardized, replicable, and offered with regularity and consistency; 

1. coordinates, or integrates where appropriate, the many programs and providers into the state’s workforce education and training system to maximize the efficient use of training resources; and 

3. features a governance structure that provides consistency across the system whenever appropriate, but also provides the flexibility necessary to respond to local and regional workforce demands. 

This work is intended to further expand the coordination, alignment, and delivery of services to out-of-school youth (OSY).

Finally, VDOL will continue to locate case managers in addiction recovery centers, youth services locations, and adult education locations where disadvantaged youth are often found. Vermont continues to build partnerships with employers to offer work experience learning opportunities for disconnected youth. Vermont is continually looking to improve and develop partnerships with required partners and community-based organizations.