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.
- 5. Services provided to farmworkers and agricultural employers through the one-stop delivery system
Describe the State agency's proposed strategies for:
- 5. Services provided to farmworkers and agricultural employers through the one-stop delivery system
- 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. 5. B. Marketing the employment service complaint system to farmworkers and other farmworker advocacy groups
Current Narrative:
The state has multiple resources available to provide information regarding the complaint system. Outreach workers and one stop partners encourage MSFWs to come to their local AJC or mobile location to register for all available services. For those who choose not to or cannot visit the AJC, the outreach worker provides on-site assistance for services including the preparation and acceptance of complaints or apparent violations.
Information about the complaint system is not only provided via outreach orientation of the services available through IDOL’s various locations, but also through various documents available in the AJCs and the Idaho Department of Labor’s website. This allows One-Stop partners’ access to those same documents to distribute to their customers. Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are also used to notify MSFW customers of available services, including the complaint system. The PSAs, distributed to Spanish-speaking radio stations across the state, are used to inform and educate farmworkers and their families about services and protection available in the state of Idaho. Ongoing efforts continue to improve outreach to inform MSFWs and the rest of the public about the state’s ES complaint system.
Over the last several years, a Spanish radio station in the city of Burley collaborated with its local AJC to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community. When originally aired, the employment-related segments generated more calls than usually received during the previously scheduled broadcast for that hour timeslot. Because of its popularity, the radio station established a regular Friday morning, hour-long show that continues to provide information to the public on a multitude of issues revolving around the area of employment. Since it began in 2013, the segments addressing the complaints system and worker’s compensation that have been periodically presented are likely to elicit more calls from the listening audience.
The efforts to inform Wagner-Peyser program users of these services found some success, as the Idaho Department of Labor processed 478 Employment Services complaints, four of which were MSFW complaints, accompanied by two apparent violations. Wages remain the number one issue cited by program customers, as the state’s Wage and Hour Section addressed 52 MSFW wage claims, which is an overall increase from PY19. During that period, 440 complaints were processed, none from MSFWs however, there were three apparent violations. Thirty-nine farmworker wage claims were also reviewed by the Wage and Hour Section.