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NEW ORLEANS — The Office of Workforce Development has established an ambitious set of priorities for 2020 after scoring several wins in 2019 to fulfill its commitment to provide residents as many employment and other professional opportunities as possible. Priorities for 2020 include combating generational and economic poverty, increasing the awareness of JOB1 services and resources throughout the metro area, and expanding access to youth services.
Workforce development is a major priority for Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
"There’s a tremendous skills gap in terms of ensuring that our young people are prepared for the jobs that are growing in the city of New Orleans," said Mayor Cantrell.
(WATCH: Mayor Cantrell speaks at the Results for America Summit panel discussion, "Advancing Economic Mobility: The View from Cities")
Partnerships will be key to achieving many of these goals, according to Sunae Villavaso, Director of the Office of Workforce Development. For example, in the battle against generational and economic poverty, Workforce Development partnered with Delgado Community College to launch an industry-based credential certificate course at JOB1, which will go live in March. Similarly, Workforce Development is partnering with Kingsley House, Catholic Charities, LCMC, the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families and Delgado to provide an instructor to assist with obtaining a high school diploma and customized training to provide participants with a highly demanding/high-wage occupation as a patient care technician.
“Information plus access equals opportunity,” said Villavaso, who credited Ava Dejoie, Secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, as a key partner in this work.
To increase awareness to JOB1 and other services, the regional public libraries in New Orleans East and Algiers will provide Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) services. Workforce Development also will work with Bright Moments to assist with community outreach and a rebranding of JOB1, and leverage the City’s Information Technology Department to provide WIOA services to graduates with work experience that will lead to permanent employment with Civil Service.
Finally, to enhance youth services, Workforce Development is partnering with the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center to implement a Work Experience Program to youth who are aging out. After the Work Experience Program in partnership with Delgado Community College, RTA and hopefully UPS, the youth will enroll in a customized training that will lead to a high wage/high demand career with either of those employer partners.
This is just a snapshot of some of the work in the pipeline for 2020, but it serves as a logical progression from a productive 2019, in which Workforce Development celebrated several successes; most notably, Orleans Parish was ranked No. 1 out of all 64 parishes in Louisiana for 1st Quarter Workforce Development Performance. Also, in 2019, Workforce Development:
- Provided more than 1,350 new job seekers with employment and training services of which 71 participated in the STRIVE Work Readiness Program
- Placed 762 job seekers in employment
- Enrolled more than 308 individuals in skills training for high-growth/high-demand occupations and on-the-job-training opportunities
- Hosted 109 on-site employer recruiting events
- Employed 600 youth, of which 100 were system involved youth in the Mayor’s 2019 Summer Youth Employment Program through traditional placements, internships and educational programs
- Enrolled 182 youth in the year round WIOA employment and training program of which 118 participated in skills training in demand occupations and On the Job Training opportunities
- Trained 483 unemployed and under-employed individuals in high demand/high wage occupations in the advance manufacturing, information technology and health care industries
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