Tag Archives: youth

Idaho youth continue growing through Idaho Job Corps

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 4, 2022
Media Contact: Tina Polishchuk, Ed.D, tina.polishchuk@labor.idaho.gov

When Idaho Job Corps welcomed its first group of students in October 2019 at its first location in Nampa, it was a three-year national demonstration project, piloting a new approach to serving youth. Idaho Job Corps is now readily accessible to Idaho’s youth in four locations across the state.

The overall goal? Eventually Serve 750 income-eligible students, ages 16-24, by training them for the workforce.

photo: girl sitting at computerToday, the program is thriving. Idaho Job Corps and the Idaho Department of Labor partner with the College of Western Idaho, College of Eastern Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and North Idaho College to deliver education, training and a whole host of wrap-around services to low-income students with barriers to employment.

To date, some 145 students have already moved through the program, and Idaho Job Corps is serving 195 students throughout the system – 43 of those enrolled just this year. Continue reading →

Idaho Labor Seeks Youth in Need of Employment, Career, Education Support

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Nov. 22, 2021
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov

Out-of-school youth between ages 16 and 24 now have numerous opportunities to learn new skills and increase their earnings through apprenticeships, on-the-job and vocational training and much more thanks to a federal program managed by the Idaho Department of Labor.

“Qualified individuals have so many options with this program,” said Keith Whiting, career planner.

We can open doors to new skills, job opportunities and better pay!Hundreds of young people are already benefitting from the program, with more than 1,000 served during the past two years. The state of Idaho receives annual funding – around $2.8 million in 2021 – in Idaho Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to offer these services.

Continue reading →

Labor Seeks Out-of-School Youth for Employment, Training Programs

Idahoans who are out of school and between ages 16 and 24 can learn new skills, discover more job opportunities and earn better pay through two federal programs managed by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Each program has unique characteristics, qualifications and offers on-the-job and vocational training, apprenticeships and advanced education to low-income youth.

Workforce consultants meet with the job seekers to identify interests, goals and develop an individual career plan. Sometimes the plan involves finishing high school or earning a GED. Other times it means skills testing, advanced training and education and paid work experience. Continue reading →

Discovering What Idaho’s Youth Need to Succeed at Work

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2021
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov

The Idaho Department of Labor is asking Idaho youth between the ages 16-24 who are out of school to talk about what they need to succeed in the workplace.

Participants will share their thoughts during six focus group sessions scheduled for April 19-30 at local Labor offices and several postsecondary schools throughout the state.

The results will be used to improve the recruitment and service delivery methods for youth employment and training programs funded by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Continue reading →

NIC Joins Other Community Colleges Enrolling Idaho Job Corps Students

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Oct. 15, 2020
Media Contact: Tina Polishchuk, (208) 442-4500

North Idaho College is the state’s latest community college to open its doors to Idaho Job Corps students.

The state-run Job Corps program –  designed to help low-income youth obtain higher education and on-the-job training – is also available at the College of Western Idaho in Nampa, the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls.

Each college is set up to serve 50 additional low-income youth. Idaho Job Corps applicants are enrolled as college students and work toward careers in high-growth jobs like nurses, pharmacy techs, welders, information technology specialists, carpenters, HVAC technicians, electricians, engineers and more. For some programs and students, dual enrollment is an option. Continue reading →

Idaho Labor Encourages Youth to Apply for Job Assistance

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 14, 2020
Information Contact: Windy Keele, (208) 557-2500 ext. 3053

The Idaho Department of Labor is actively recruiting youth for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program in most regions across the state. Grant money is available through the WIOA program to help youth and young adults who are struggling in their career due to a lack of education or job training.

The WIOA program provides qualifying young adults with career guidance and financial assistance to help achieve their educational and employment goals. Services are customized to meet the needs of each applicant and may include job search assistance, work experience, apprenticeships or formal training programs as well as a variety of other assistance.

Continue reading →

Idaho Job Corps Seeks Youth with Barriers to Education, Employment

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Feb. 4, 2020
Information Contact: Tina Polishchuk, (208) 442-4500

Program expands to colleges in Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and Coeur d’Alene

Idaho Job Corps Center staff are looking for income-eligible candidates to fill 70 openings at the state-run facility in Nampa. Idahoans between the ages of 16–24 who are interested in the program, designed to help low-income youth obtain higher education and on-the-job training, should call the center or take a campus tour offered every Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Sixty-eight students are enrolled and receiving services. Some are earning their high school diploma or a GED. Others are enrolled as college students at College of Western Idaho and working toward careers in high-growth industries such as nurses, pharmacy techs, welders, information technology specialists, carpenters, HVAC technicians, electricians, engineers and more.

“We’re looking for young Idahoans who are facing barriers to education and employment,” said Idaho Department of Labor Director Jani Revier. “Our goal is to remove those barriers, put people on a solid career path, find them technical training and make sure they have a job and an hourly living wage of at least $16 by the time they graduate.”

Continue reading →

Idaho Job Corps Program to Begin Offering Services for Students

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Oct. 22, 2019
Information Contact: Tina Polishchuk, (208) 442-4520

The Idaho Job Corps program will begin offering services for its first group of students today, Oct. 22, at the Centennial Job Corps facility, located in Nampa.

The program is funded by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, awarded to the Idaho Department of Labor, to serve income-eligible youth age 16-24 by connecting them to training and workplace opportunities.

“This demonstration project between the Department of Labor and the state of Idaho is intended to meet the specific workforce needs of the state and take Job Corps into the future,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training John Pallasch. “Welcoming students to their program marks an important moment in this new endeavor, and the Department of Labor is rooting for the success of each and every student who arrives to take control of his or her future.”

Students could be enrolled in the program 3-24 months, depending on their career trajectory, and the goal of the program is to place every student into a sustainable job by the time they graduate from the program.

Continue reading →

Fewer Idaho Teens Working Summer Jobs

In the summer of 2017, thousands of Idaho teens took jobs. But the percentage of teens participating in the labor force remains far below its level in earlier decades. In Idaho, just as nationwide, there’s been a long-term decline in teen participation. Does that decline matter?

Summer Jobs

Summer jobs in Idaho typically peak in July. In the past four summers, Idaho employers added an average 12,600 jobs between April and July. Only one sector usually decreases employment between April and July – education. Between 2014 and 2017, it lost an average of 8,500 jobs between those months. The sectors that typically add the most summer jobs are leisure and hospitality — restaurants, hotels and recreational facilities; federal agencies — the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management; retail — especially gas stations, convenience stores and specialty stores serving tourists; and wholesale — especially those serving the construction, forestry and agricultural industries.

Many of those jobs are taken by teens. Between the second and third quarters of 2016, the number of 14- to 18-year-olds on Idaho payrolls grew from 18,531 to 26,069, according to the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators.

Continue reading →

Career Information is For Adults Too

Idaho’s Career Information System is not just for kids. The free, customized online tool also helps adults stay on a solid path toward a successful future while they are in school, training or pursuing a new career.

AdultCISUser copyStudents and adults with career plans are more likely to stay in school, pursue a higher education and once they enter the world of work, see greater promotional opportunities. Accessing Idaho’s Career Information System is free and can help both parents and children:

  • Understand how interests and strengths connect to the world of work
  • Define a career path
  • Decide areas of study to pursue in middle/junior high, high school and college
  • Find the training, education, knowledge – and money – necessary for following their dreams.

Continue reading →