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2019 was an impactful and busy year for YouthBuild technical assistance. We really focused on the shift toward apprenticeship alignment and partnership, as well as the expansion into additional in-demand industry training. We also continued to emphasize the transition to WIOA performance indicators. To kick off 2020, we are highlighting the diverse and important topics covered in the monthly newsletter last year, and we encourage you to revisit these resources as you plan for this next year. Happy new year! ~ Jenn Smith, National YouthBuild Director, U.S. Department of Labor
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DOL YouthBuild Newsletters: 2019 Year in Review
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Below is a compendium of the topics we have shared over the year, as well as links to each newsletter. These monthly newsletters contain valuable information to help strengthen different aspects of YouthBuild programs, from building apprenticeship partnerships and pathways to developing strong program models to support participants for successful program completion and placement.
January – 2016-2017 WIOA Performance Updates and Timing
After the launch of the WIOA performance reports in 2018, grantees began diligently submitting and resubmitting reports to close out reporting for Program Years 2016 and 2017. At the beginning of 2019, we had two years of aggregated performance data to look to for information on how the transition from WIA was working and how programs were doing in meeting the goals of WIOA. This newsletter reviewed current WIOA grant class outcomes and the timing of performance to understand WIOA outcomes, identify early challenges, and focus on technical assistance to support stronger outcomes.
February – Starting Out Strong: Using Your Grant Planning Period
Built into the DOL YouthBuild grant period of performance is a four–month planning period to support hiring activities, solidifying partnerships, and program launch activities. Using this period, in accordance with the timeline of critical activities submitted with the grant proposal is crucial to program success. In this newsletter, we covered some of the key areas that require attention during the planning period, such as revisiting your grant application’s program narrative, which becomes the grant Statement of Work (SOW), as a guide in planning and program design.
March – Construction Plus Framework
This month’s newsletter described the requirements of Construction Plus, highlighting some grantee best practices and sharing resources to support effective Construction Plus programming. Even if you aren’t currently running a Construction Plus YouthBuild program, this newsletter is informative for programs who may consider expanding into Construction Plus in the future.
April – Leadership Development Approach and Strategies
Leadership development better prepares youth participants to successfully transition into and through post-secondary education and career training. YouthBuild program staff members are charged with deepening their understanding and adoption of positive leadership development practices that support participants and alumni to have positive outcomes. This month’s newsletter detailed the approaches and competencies YouthBuild programs can utilize to develop leaders from within, including personal, small group, and community leadership competencies.
May – How to Successfully Integrate and Implement the YouthBuild Construction Component
Construction, a core component of YouthBuild, provides youth participants with hands-on work experience as they pursue an industry-recognized construction credential. This newsletter focused on the use of a pre-apprenticeship model in YouthBuild’s construction component. A strong construction program must adhere to the pre-apprenticeship model to ensure successful implementation by integrating the training component into the educational and leadership components of YouthBuild.
June – Substance Use, Trauma, and Other Challenges: Effective Case Management Strategies
YouthBuild participants may have multiple challenges that they bring with them at enrollment. Recognizing and assessing the individual and personal history of each participant to effectively address these challenges before they become barriers to success requires an effective and comprehensive case management approach. This newsletter highlighted some of the biggest and most common challenges with which programs are presented and identifies some specific strategies to address them. Awareness of the specialized needs of participants is integral to developing effective tools and resources to overcome them.
July – Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of All Learners
YouthBuild programs serve participants with multiple barriers to future employment success – the lack of a high school diploma due to struggles with traditional classroom learning is one of the largest. Universal Design for Learning is one approach to help teach learners with diverse learning styles and comfort levels. This newsletter highlighted the UDL approach to deeply engage and contextualize the teaching subject in an applied learning environment, which can help to strengthen credential attainment and measurable skill gain outcomes for YouthBuild programs.
August – The Job Developer: A Crucial Staff Role for Program Success
The Job Developer position can go by several different titles, including Career Specialist, Transition Coordinator, and Placement Coach, each of which emphasizes a different facet of this key role. This newsletter highlighted the key responsibilities of the Job Developer, including developing active partnerships with employers, American Job Centers (AJCs), and post-secondary institutions to support participant placement. The Job Developer develops work experience opportunities and targeted professional training, and ensures credentialing is aligned with the needs and expectations of employers or other post-exit partners.
September – Supporting YouthBuild Students Using the YouthBuild Mentoring Model
Mentoring is an integral supportive service for YouthBuild participants. The impact of a caring adult on the success of opportunity youth is well documented and our September newsletter highlighted a specific YouthBuild Mentoring model that has been shown to have beneficial impacts. For programs not currently using a formal mentoring practice, the information provided may help to guide and focus mentoring efforts.
October – Incorporating Service into Your Construction Plus Programming
This newsletter described the natural connection between AmeriCorps, a voluntary civil society program supported by the Federal government through the Corporation for National and Community Service, and YouthBuild programs. The goal of AmeriCorps is to help others and meet critical unmet community needs, and these are key components of the YouthBuild model, with its focus on increasing the supply of affordable housing in local communities.
November – Emerging Approaches to Apprenticeship Pathway Development
Apprenticeship is the clear focus of much of the work currently being done in YouthBuild programs across the country. This newsletter documented some of the creative and innovative ways YouthBuild programs are connecting to apprenticeship pathways. The Department of Labor has made an increase in meaningful apprenticeship placements one of our key missions and YouthBuild is an important and recognized partner in this work. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a dramatic impact from YouthBuild programs as they’ve turned their focus to connecting to, and strengthening, apprenticeship pathways, both internally to the program and externally with partners.
December – Sustaining and Growing Your YouthBuild Program
For many years, the Department of Labor has emphasized the importance to YouthBuild grantees not to rely on Federal grant funding for sustainability. YouthBuild grant organizations need to plan ahead for the possibility of a period without Federal YouthBuild funding or some other portion of funding support that may be inconsistent. The strongest organizations are those that have multiple funding options that they can control and grow independently of Congress or private foundations. This month’s newsletter highlighted some of the innovative sustainability approaches savvy YouthBuild programs have used successfully.
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National Mentoring Month
January is National Mentoring Month; a campaign held every year to advance youth mentoring in the United States. The National Mentoring Resource Center recently released a National Mentoring Month Toolkit to help programs promote their programs and recruit mentors through social media and other means.
The YouthBuild USA National Mentoring Alliance has designed and implemented a YouthBuild Mentoring Model (YBM) for YouthBuild programs that focuses on supporting mentoring participants by coaching them on soft skills, exposing them to employment and education opportunities and offering ongoing transition support. Below are some resources, beyond the September newsletter described above, to give you more information on mentoring at YouthBuild programs:
YouthBuild Mentoring Made Easier: A Quick Reference Guide
Ready for Success: A Profile of YouthBuild Mentoring Students
YouthBuild Series: Using Mentoring for Employer and Alumni Engagement
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Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA)
Since May of 2019, New America and the eight other National Partners in the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) have supported nine grantees representing the country's most ambitious and innovative youth apprenticeship programs. But while the PAYA Grantees form the initiative's core, they're far from the only hotbeds of youth apprenticeship development in the United States.
The PAYA Network, a national learning collaborative comprised of the nine PAYA Grantees and 40 other state- and city-based youth apprenticeship partnerships, serves as a forum for practitioners to learn about and share accomplishments and best practices in youth apprenticeship. Bringing together programs working across a variety of economic geographies and in dozens of different industry sectors, the PAYA Network works collaboratively to attack policy barriers and programmatic challenges in emerging youth apprenticeship models.
You can view all of the connected youth apprenticeship partners and their target industries here.
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Are you registered for the YouthBuild CoP?
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Visit the CoP for access to more resources.
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