Program Model: SCP Cluster Entrepreneurship and Workforce Preparation

Selected Workforce Resources:

All Workforce Resources

Activities

Choosing a New Direction -- Making a Career Change
http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSHEC-119.pdf
A fact sheet from the University of Arkansas that discusses important things to consider when making a career change.

Finding and Keeping Your First Job
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/CONSUMER/09154.html
From Colorado State, a fact sheet that provides tips for finding, getting, and keeping a job.

Job-Seeking Strategies
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fy/fy35100.pdf
From the University of Florida, a tool designed to help job seekers find jobs.

Marketing Yourself
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fy/fy34700.pdf
From the University of Florida, a tool designed to help job seekers market themselves.

Planning the Interview
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fy/fy35000.pdf
From the University of Florida, a tool designed to help job seekers prepare for job interviews.

Writing the Cover Letter
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fy/fy34900.pdf
From the University of Florida, this is a tool designed to help job seekers write cover letters.

Writing Experience Resumes and Targeted Cover Letters
http://www.arfamilies.org/money/employment/Resumes_Cover_Letters/default.htm
From the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (2002)this fact sheet teaches how to write experience resumes and targeted cover letters. Includes sample resumes for an adult with a ragged resume and two teens, one with and one without job experience. Materials in html and pdf. Program is web based.

Putting 4-H Experience on your Resume
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/consumer/09150.html
This fact sheet from the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension provides information about how to write an effective resume.

Collaboration

A Rural Road: Exploring Economic Opportunity, Social Networks, Services and Supports that Affect Rural Families
http://www.kidscount.org/kcnetwork/meeting/documents/RuralRoad2001.pdf
This study examines social, medical and economic conditions affecting quality of life for low-income rural families in 3 states; tribal reservations are included. Policy recommendations are generated based focus group interviews and analysis of census data.

Serving High-Risk Youth: Lessons from Research and Programming
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/149_publication.pdf
From Public/Private Ventures (2002) this paper reviews the outcomes from most of the major federal programs designed to help youth connect with the labor force over the past thirty years. It identifies elements that increase the effectiveness of programs.

Working with Disadvantaged Youth: Thirty-Month Findings from the Evaluation of the Center for Employment Training Replication Sites
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/343/overview.html
From MDRC (2003) This study examines the experiences of youth in twelve Center for Employment Training (CET) sites outside San Jose: six in eastern states and the Midwest begun as part of the DOL-sponsored replication effort and six western programs operated as part of CET's service network. This report summarizes the implementation findings and presents initial impact findings based on a random assignment research design and a survey conducted 30 months after application to CET.

National Youth Employment Coalition
http://www.nyec.org/
The National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) is a nonpartisan national organization dedicated to promoting policies and initiatives that help youth succeed in becoming lifelong learners, productive workers and self-sufficient citizens. NYEC strives to develop and improve the capacity and effectiveness of youth-serving organizations to affect youth development through employment, education and training; improve the staff and leadership capacity of youth serving organizations; and influence and inform the development of public policy through research, information, advocacy and coalition-building.

Supporting Youth Employment: A Guide for Community Groups
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/19_publication.pdf
This guide from Public/Private Ventures (2002) highlights successful youth programs, provides tools for taking action and lists many other youth-related resources. Although public money is available for education, job training and youth programs throughout the nation, many young people in low-income communities do not acquire the skills and credentials necessary to get high paying jobs. The Guide is a resource for parents, youth workers, educators and young people who are concerned about this and want to take action. It also offers information on how to recognize effective programs, activities and supports for vulnerable youth. The Guide explains three major public funding sources that can support job-related training for youth: the WIA, TANF, and State Education Assistance.

TC and MN BEST Programs
http://www.extension.umn.edu/YouthWorkInstitute/
From the Centre for 4-H Youth Development, University of Minnesota Extension Service, TC / MN BEST programs, developed and delivered by youth workers, bring hands-on activities, research-based materials and a process of reflection and engagement that encourage youth workers to make direct connections to their daily work. Participants have opportunities to network with other youth workers and discover new ways to put their skills and abilities to work for the best in youth outcomes.

Curriculum

Career Awareness for Business and Industry
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/Y/YFCS-0005/
From the Alabama Cooperative Extension System this is a program overview for Career Awareness for Business and Industry. Career Awareness for Business and Industry is an educational program that teaches junior high and senior high school students how to realistically plan and prepare for future careers.

African American Inventors Curriculum
http://www.cyfernet.org/diversity/inventors.html
The African American Inventors Curriculum was designed by a team from the Ohio State University Extension Service to encourage 4th through 8th grade youth: to develop creative and critical thinking skills; to encourage young people to view themselves as inventors and problem-solvers; to increase youth's awareness of African American history and cultural pluralism; and to comprehend and apply scientific principles in everyday life.

Ready for Work -- Action Brief #2
http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/Ready_for_Work_for_web.pdf
From the Forum for Youth Investment (September 2006), this article describes facts that relate to teen employment.

Adolescent Employment
http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm01/FS08.html
A fact sheet from Ohio State University Extension (2001) that provides information on the positive and negative effects of employment on teens. Also provided is information on why teens work.

Ready for College
http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/ReadyforCollege.pdf
The Forum for Youth Investment (April 2006) provides this review of information about factors that contributes to and create barriers to college success. Explanation of the skills that contribute to college success are the same ones needed for workplace success.

School to Career and Postsecondary Education for Foster Care Youth
http://www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/CW3622H363.pdf
Produced by the Workforce Strategy Center, this report examines best practices for preparing foster youth for career opportunities and economic self-sufficiency.

What Works: Programs that May Influence Educational Attainment
http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/WhatWorks/6EducationalAttainmentww.cfm
Child Trends (2003) summarizes the best available program evaluations to determine what works, what doesn't work and what are some "best bets" (or promising practices) for youth with respect to educational attainment. Academic Achievement, Civic Engagement, Mentoring, Employment, and Older Youth programs are included in these tables.

Taking Stock: A Review of U.S. Youth Employment Policy and Prospects
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/150_publication.pdf
From Public/Private Ventures (2003) this paper reviews which young adults are most likely to have major problems connecting with the labor force and proposes a series of programs and policies to respond to this population's needs. Specifically, the author asks: How do we define the youth employment problem? What is the history of policy efforts responding to the problem, and how successful have these efforts been? What do history and experience suggest as the most appropriate and feasible policies to pursue?

The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation
http://www.nga.org/cda/files/050102ARTSED.pdf
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (May 1, 2002) provides information on arts education programs in relation to youth preparation for participation in the workforce. Programs incorporating the arts have proven to be educational, developmentally rich, and cost-effective ways to provide students with the skills they need to be productive participants in today's economy according to this NGA Issue Brief.

Evaluation

Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/176_publication.pdf
To determine the impact of the Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP), a privately funded summer jobs program for low-income teens, Public/Private Venture (2004) examined the lives of over 1700 applicants. These youth were randomly assigned to participate or to not participate in SCEP in the summer of 1999, and their outcomes were compared at four and twelve months after program application.

Featured Web Sites

The Black Collegian Online: The Career Site for Students of Color
http://www.black-collegian.com/
The electronic version of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine is the first web site dedicated to providing rich content and resources to Black collegians and all people of color seeking career and self-development information. We have broadened our reach to include not only college students, but also career professionals.

Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives, 109th Congress
http://edlabor.house.gov/
The official website for the Committee on Education and the Workforce, this site contains information on decisions and issues facing the US Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Youth Rules!
http://www.youthrules.dol.gov/
From the U.S. Department of Labor, the YouthRules! web page is a gateway providing quick access to information about Federal and State labor laws that apply to young workers. The web page includes information designed to educate teens, parents, educators and employers about the hours youth can work, the jobs youth can do, and how to prevent workplace injuries.

The Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet)
http://nyec.modernsignal.net/page.cfm?pageID=110
This website from the National Youth Employment Coalition provides descriptions of youth employment and training programs.

Sustainability

Measuring Community Success and Sustainability
http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/Community_Success/entry.html
An interactive workbook that describes how to measure impacts of economic and community development processes that enhance rural community sustainability.

Snapshots of Sustainability: Profiles of Successful Strategies for Financing Out-of-School Time Programs
http://www.financeproject.org/Publications/SustainabilityProfilesOST.pdf
The sustainability successes of out-of-school time programs are captured in 32 profiles. They include school-based programs, community-based programs, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLCs), city-wide initiatives, and intermediary organizations. The profiles highlight initiatives ranging from single-site programs to large-scale, multisite operations.

Sustaining 21st Century Community Learning Centers: What Works for Programs and How Policymakers Can Help
http://www.financeproject.org/publications/sustaining_21cclc.pdf
A report by The Finance Project synthesizes what was learned through interviews with current and former 21st Century grantees and state grant administrators. True collaborative partnerships, support from school administration and other champions, a diverse base of funding resources, as well the engagement of parents and community members, were some of the factors that program leaders pointed to as key to their sustainability. The brief also explores several of the policy dimensions that impact sustainability including the length of grant periods, the use of declining grant awards, and the potential for using 21st Century funds to provide some level of support to programs beyond an initial grant period.

Technology

Community Improvement Through Youth--CITY Project
http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/about/pod-leadership/CITY.pdf
The Community Improvement Through Youth (CITY) Project uses one of Cornell Cooperative Extension's Signature Programs, Youth Community Action (YCA) as a model for promoting civic engagement, workforce preparation, and asset development among youth (13-18 years old) in New York State's CYFAR Project. Using Public Adventures: An Active Citizenship Curriculum for Youth and a broad-based community collaboration approach, the CITY Project is working to empower at-risk youth to become community change agents. CITY Teen Leaders are identifying issues in their community through community mapping and the use technology to set achievable goals and work with caring adults to create lasting, sustainable changes in their communities. During summers, the CITY Teen Leaders are gaining job skills through paid employment as they carry out planned community improvement projects. In Broome County, the CITY Project is partnered with the Broome County Urban League and Binghamton Housing Authority, Broome County Gang Prevention Program. In New York City, the CITY project is partnered with Henry Street Settlement and the Police Athletic League. The National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) Urban 4-H Programs Task Force designated the CITY Project as a 2007 Successful Urban 4-H Program.

Techbridge: Encouraging Girls in Technology, Science, and Engineering
http://www.techbridgegirls.org/
Techbridge: Encouraging Girls in Technology, Science, and Engineering Techbridge is an NSF-funded program to encourage more girls to become interested in technology, science, and engineering. Its web site offers a description of the program and a variety of useful, well-annotated resources to accomplish Techbridge's mission.

4-H Tech Wizards
http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/about/pod-set/tech_wizards.pdf
4-H Tech Wizards is a bilingual, family-supported, after school program capitalizing on youth interest in technology as a way to engage low-income Latino youth in learning basic life and workforce skills and aspiring to post-secondary education, productive jobs and careers, and community engagement. High-tech professionals specializing in emerging technologies connect with youth in a group mentoring setting. Youth are in cohorts of 10-12, with 3-5 mentors per group. The curriculum has three skill levels delivered over 3 years. Youth develop skills in website development, video and podcast production, GIS/GPS technologies, Lego robotics, and newer technologies through real-world situations. Youth also volunteer 15 hours annually in technology-related service learning benefiting the larger community. Home visits and other culturally appropriate methods are key elements in the program design. Major program collaborators include Extension 4-H, local schools, a local Latino community center, and Intel Corporation. In the program's 8 years of delivery, about 95% of participating youth have completed the program, 95% have demonstrated mastery of all skill level competencies, 85% have annually completed 15 hours of service learning, 95% have graduated, and 70% have pursued post-secondary education.

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