The Committee on Youth, Sports, Parks and Recreation met with the Department of Labor on Friday to discuss programs and issues impacting the youth and their job preparation skills.
The Youth Services Division of the DOL develops and administers workforce development programs for youth ages 14 to 25, providing year-round training, employment, and educational opportunities for in and out of school youth.
Available programs are the Virtual Work readiness Program that serves at-risk youth, Occupational Training, the Work, Learn and Earn Program, the Summer Youth Work Experience Program, and Jobs for America’s Graduate Virgin Islands Program. Other programs are the Registered Apprenticeship Program and the Skills for Today Program.
DOL Commissioner Gary Molloy and his team indicated that some of the programs are growing in terms of the number of participants and employment rates. However, it was noted that there is still a need for improvement.
“Outreach is the biggest challenge,” said Molloy. “Majority of the challenges that we’re having right now, though, is with the Skills for Today Program and making sure individuals take advantage of that opportunity.”
Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory asked about individuals who apply for programs, more specifically the Skills for Today Program, who are deemed ineligible. She inquired as to if they are placed in other programs.
“Every program isn’t the right fit for everybody. And so, for those individuals that don’t fit into this particular program, and the application information is submitted, we then glean that information and try to have one of our other programs, through our workforce or OneStop operator, be able to capture them and do follow-ups to be able to get them evaluated to see where else they can fit in,” said Molloy.
Molloy mentioned that coordination with the employers and class sizes for programs are challenges associated with youth who are unable to be placed for employment.
Sen. Alma Francis-Heyliger wanted to know how the DOL measures the successes of the program.