Alameda Workforce Development Board partners with Berkeley Adult School to connect students with skills employers are looking for
It’s a match made in heaven: employers looking for skilled workers and skilled workers looking for careers. Partnerships between adult schools and local workforce development boards are dedicated to ensuring such connections happen.
“One of the ways that workforce development boards and adult schools missions are aligned is that we’re trying to help adults get living-wage jobs … really, more than just jobs, but real careers with growth pathways over the course of a person’s life.” says Beth Cutter, director of Castro Valley Adult and Career Education.
“If you look at the staff that works in workforce development and the staff that gets drawn to working in adult education, in both systems you end up with people who are really passionate about serving the community and wanting to help people have a life where they can take care of their families and feel fulfilled.”
“One of the ways that workforce development boards and adult schools missions are aligned is that we’re trying to help adults get living-wage jobs … really, more than just jobs, but real careers with growth pathways over the course of a person’s life.”
Beth Cutter, Source Director, Castro Valley Adult and Career Education
The relationship between Berkeley Adult School (BAS) and the Alameda County Workforce Development Board (ACWDB) is mutually beneficial. Students can go through one of the many career technical education (CTE) courses offered at BAS and graduate with the skills to start a new career or advance their existing one. Industry employers not only have a qualified field of candidates, but can also collaborate with adult schools to ensure their methods, practices, programs and curriculum are up to date and in-line with industry needs.
“We work with the employers,” says Rhonda Boykin, director at the ACWDB. “We include on-the-job training, or up-skilling, through incumbent worker or cohort training programs, so we’re able to support employers with the training of their workforce. We also work with businesses to learn their hiring needs and identify individuals in our programs to connect them to those job opportunities.”
The ACWDB also oversees local implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program, a national program designed to connect those with significant barriers to employment with education, training and job search support. Organizations including One Stop and Tri-Valley career centers and the American Jobs Center of California work with and commonly refer students and job seekers to CTE programs.
“Our career center works closely with adult schools referring clients, and it’s kind of a two-way street. If there’s a client that’s identified for training that would be ideal for the adult school, we’ll make that connection and then vice versa,” Boykin says. “If the client is not connected to WIOA, the adult school will make that referral so that the client can have a range of support available through both programs while they’re working or completing a program at the adult school.”
Boykin explains that WIOA also benefits both employers and job seekers with supportive services. Smaller businesses can make use of no-cost HR hotline resources as well as job training. For students and job seekers, it can provide connections and wraparound services that help them succeed in and out of the classroom.
“Wraparound services are very critical to enable individuals to be able to complete programs, especially those that have barriers to employment. If they need transportation assistance, or they may need assistance with their books and supplies or any school or training-related expenses that they may have,” Boykin says. “It’s important in order for them to have success, so we provide those services.”
For more information about how the Berkeley Adult School can help you meet your educational and career goals, go to bas.berkeleyschools.net. To learn more about services provided by the Alameda County Workforce Development Board, visit acwdb.org or call 510-259-3842.
Written by Anne Stokes
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Bay Area California | Careers in Manufacturing-Construction – Variety of Classes |
