Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP). Each State agency must develop an AOP every four years as part of the Unified or Combined State Plan required under sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. The AOP must include an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
- 4. Outreach Activities
The local offices outreach activities must be designed to meet the needs of MSFWs in the State and to locate and contact MSFWs who are not being reached through normal intake activities. Describe the State agency's proposed strategies for:
- 4. Outreach Activities
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP). Each State agency must develop an AOP every four years as part of the Unified or Combined State Plan required under sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. The AOP must include an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
e. 4. A. Contacting farmworkers who are not being reached by the normal intake activities conducted by the employment service offices
Current Narrative:
Indiana has one fulltime and two part time (during peak seasons) outreach specialists who conducts outreach statewide.. During peak season, the outreach specialist conducts joint outreach to significant large numbers of MSFWs with the following agencies: the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Migrant Education Program, Indiana Legal Services, The National Farmworkers Jobs Program (NFJP), and the Mexican Consulate. Additional partnerships and stakeholders are sought throughout the year in order to expand on the outreach plan for the upcoming season. The Migrant Education Program is under the umbrella of the Indiana Department of Education (DOE). This program provides education services to MSFWs during the peak season. DWD and DOE staff conduct joint outreach every year.
Recently, the state’s outreach program has been working on a systematic approach for engaging MSFWs for services at our local WorkOnes. A weekly report from Indiana’s labor exchange/case management system is completed in search of MSFWs who have completed a registration within the system. As part of our outreach efforts, staff communicate with potential MSFWs to determine if they fall into this category. They also inquire about the type of farm work being performed and update their employment history to reflect the seasonal farm work. During this communication, the outreach specialist provides an overview of the employment and training opportunities available at the nearest WorkOne and a brief overview of farmworker rights, along with awareness of the complaint system process.