Balanceo progresivo acotado (B P A)

Vermont Associates Training and Development, Inc.

Vermont

Grantee. Vermont Associates for Training and Development, Inc., a non-profit organization that coordinates and provides services to low-income Vermonters and serves as the state’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provider

Industry Focus. Any high-demand H1-B occupation with particular focus on, financial

and administrative services, healthcare, and information

Location(s) of Grant Activities. Service area was the entire state, with a population of approximately 626,000; project focused primarily on Burlington, Rutland and St. Albans

Grant Amount. $1,000,000 Project Goals

• _{Expand employment and training services to older workers by coordinating with existing} program providers like SCSEP and WIA

• _{Create a statewide model for coordinating people, institutions, capital, and existing} programs to meet the needs of aging workers

• _{Identify current and develop new employer responses to the aging workforce, focusing on} the needs of employers and the opportunities presented by the aging workforce

• _{Develop sustainable mechanisms to coordinate the various federal, state, and private} resources available to Vermont businesses and Vermonters 55+

Types of Participants Served

• Unemployed individuals 55 years of age or older, including disadvantaged workers and those with multiple barriers to employment

• Incumbent workers age 55 years of age or older • _{Retirees age 55+ interested in reentering the workforce} Project Services

• Assessment, career planning, case management • Specialized computer skills training

• Occupational skills training in one of the three targeted industry sectors offered through existing training programs by the community college or proprietary vendors

• On-the-job training and paid internships • Job placement assistance

• Services targeted to employers, including seminars to increase employers’ understanding of mature workers

Project Management and Staffing. Vermont Associates managed and provided direct services to grant participants through a 100-percent-time project director, and three 100-percent- time AWI training and employment coordinators (TECs).

Key Partners and Their Roles

• Partners in project planning and oversight. Vermont Associates solicited input from the state department of aging, state workforce development agency, national aging

organization, local workforce investment boards and American Job Center operators to market the AWI project and to provide guidance on serving aging workers.

• Partners in the recruitment of AWI participants. SCSEP program staff and other organizations played an active role in referring older workers to the AWI project. • Partners in the delivery of project services. Vermont Associates did not contract with

any outside providers to support the project. Rather, Vermont Associates used its partnerships with various organizations to actively serve aging workers through existing programs and funding sources.

• Partners in planning and carrying out community-wide events. A number of American Job Center partners provided support to the project’s Mature Worker Summit and Boomer Expo (described below, under “Other Outcomes.” Partners in these events included representatives from the state department on aging, national non-profits, the community college system, and the state department of workforce development, and a regional chamber of commerce.

Project Challenges

• Difficulty placing mature workers into employment. As a result of the economic recession, employers were reluctant to hire new employees. While employers in Vermont were fairly receptive to older workers, many were reluctant to employ older workers because they feared aging workers would retire after a few years of employment and the investment in training them would be lost.

• Lack of interest by aging workers in targeted industry training. In a number of

instances, aging workers were either not interested in pursuing training or did not want to pursue training in the demand occupations identified by the grantee.

• Difficultly with ETA’s optional reporting system and performance requirements. The emphasis placed on placements and credentials by ETA seemed counterproductive to the purposes of a demonstration grant. Vermont Associates encountered data validation problems with ETA’s optional reporting system and invested considerable staff time in ensuring the reports produced by the AWD system were accurate.

• Difficulty addressing the employment and training needs of aging workers in rural areas. Even though the grant was meant to serve aging workers from across the state, Vermont Associates had difficulty serving aging workers in rural areas because they did not have enough funds to market services and staff these areas.

Participant Outcomes

The following project outcomes are based on the data submitted on the grantee’s quarterly progress report for the period ending on September 30, 2012104_:

104 _{In this project profile, we compare grantee goals to the aggregate outcomes reported by the grantee on ETA}

Form 9134 for the quarter ending September 30, 2012. These were the most recent data available at the time we were revising this report. Therefore, the data presented in this table are from a more recent time period and a different data source than the outcomes data presented in Chapter V.

Goal Actual Percent of Goal Achieved Enrolled 300 254 85% Began education/training activities 300 193 64% Completed education/training services 285 196 69% Received degree/certificate 214 130 61% Entered employment (of those who completed education/training activities)

200 69 35%

Entered training-related employment

(of those who completed education/training activities)

180 62 34%

Entered training-related employment

(of those who completed education/training activities) 180 62 34% Enrolled 300 254 85% Began education/training activities 300 193 64% Other Outcomes

• _{Improved the effectiveness of employment and training services available to older} workers by training its AWI and SCSEP program staff on three separate occasions on how to work with aging workers to address employment and training needs and to find suitable employment.

• _{Created a “Maturity Matters Employer Award” that recognized the value local employers} place on mature workers through business led employment and retention efforts.

• _{Created two specialized Mature Worker Services Centers within the existing American} Job Centers in Burlington and Rutland, one within its own St. Albans office and one freestanding mature worker center in Swanton. The primary purpose of these centers was to enhance mature workers’ understanding of available employment and training

• Established mature worker “corners” in many of the existing American Job Centers to inform aging workers about available community resources and programs.

• Conducted numerous presentations for local boards and employers to increase employers’ understanding of mature workers and their unique skills. The grantee co-sponsored a “Boomer Expo 2011” with two partners and provided workshops at a Mature Worker Summit.

• Created a statewide Internet-based to provide employers and aging workers with valuable resources for connecting to one another.