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Archive: January 2009 Minutes
02-25-09 Youth Council Quarterly Meeting
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Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board, Inc.
Youth Council Quarterly Meeting Minutes
02/25/09
GNB Career Center
NB: The next scheduled meeting will not be held at the Career Center due to space limitations. You will be notified of the venue prior to the May 27 meeting.
Members Present: John Fernandes, Chair; Kathleen Castro, Richard B. Colon, Nancy Feeney, Reverend David A. Lima, Elizabeth Lozano, Alice Oliveira, Pamela Pollock, Ronald F. Rheaume, Dianne Rivet, Ronald L. Rouillard, Donna Sachs, Emily Saunders, Christine Shannon, Cynthia Wallquist, Elaine Wilcox, Gloria Williams
Members Absent: Carl Alves, Lynn Donohue, Nelson Hockert-Lotz, Walter Jones, Jr., Dr. Jean F. MacCormack, Helena S. Marques, James H. Mathes, Gregg Miliote, Joan Ann Niles, Benita Santiago, Dr. John J. Sbrega
Workforce Development System Staff: Bridget Alexander, Wendy Andrade, Tanya Alves, Heather Cabral, Len Coriaty, Edward Dennehy, Jean Fox, Steve Grant, Steven Martins
Guests Present: Kristin Almeida, Peg Curro, Lisa Mello Frost, Florrie Reddish
Welcome and Introductions – Chair Fernandes opened the meeting at 3:30 p.m. and welcomed members and guests.
Approve Minutes from 11/19/08 Quarterly Meeting -- Mr. Colon made a motion to approve the meeting minutes, which was seconded by Ms. Wallquist. The motion carried unanimously.
Discussion of In-School and Out-of-School RFP Process/Plans – Ms. Fox noted the Youth Council’s affirmation of adopting new and innovative approaches to programming in an effort to attract new vendors and maintain currency and relevance in on-going programs. Although GED programs do not offer great flexibility, a strategy to partition those program elements that have some latitude will be discussed with the Planning Committee. The RFP seeks programs that will provide demonstrated 21st century skills components, inclusion of “green” jobs, and employer engagement. Inclusion of these elements may result in additional proposal evaluation points, depending on the Planning Committee’s determination. Mr. Fernandes added that he would like to see an English for Speakers of Other Languages component as well. He also noted that the inflexibility of WIA guidelines discourages potential applicants. Mr. Fernandes stated that this year’s effort will be a two-year funding cycle, with a mandatory second year match. Mr. Grant confirmed that all WIA grants are two-year awards, but awardees must demonstrate that most of the spending occurs in the first year. The spending plan will be included in the RFP. It is hoped that more applicants will submit proposals.
Macro Youth Summit – Ms. Fox informed the Council of the upcoming summit, slated for April 30 at the ATMC. Professor Andy Sum will be presenting national, state, and local data on dropouts, and there will be breakout sessions to discuss educational design and delivery strategies. Representatives from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Commonwealth Corporation, and Workforce Development will join Sum and elected officials, local youth, and guests from New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton, and the Cape for this event. All Youth Council members were encouraged to attend.
Junior Achievement -- Ms. Fox noted that she had met with representatives from Junior Achievement, in part in response to area students’ request for updates to the NBHS Career Dynamics course, and in part out of a desire to learn more about the programs conducted by business people through JA. Discussions will be taking place with the school to incorporate some of JA’s real-world courses. In addition, a local JA member had expressed interest in sitting on the Youth Council. Mr. Fernandes expressed his strong support of JA programming. Mr. Rouillard made a motion to appoint a JA member to the Youth Council. That motion was seconded by Mr. Rheaume and passed unanimously.
Coordinated Site Visit – Ms. Fox then briefly outlined the recent site visit conducted jointly by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Commonwealth Corporation, focusing on area youth programming. Both DESE and CommCorp have agreed that future technical assistance efforts will have local emphasis, rather than statewide functions that address a myriad of issues, many of which are not necessarily germane to a specific locality. Wendy Andrade, who convened New Directions staff and the Youth Council Director to complete a self assessment, reported on the visit, observing that the self assessment exercise revealed the great strides made in youth programming. Peg Curro of BCC praised the efforts of Zel LaGarde and Kristin Almeida, both of whom diligently and thoroughly completed the Connecting Activities self assessment. Ms. Fox stated that the WIB and the Chamber of Commerce supported retaining Christine Karavites to conduct enhanced business outreach for the Connecting Activities contract, and this effort has yielded strong results. The Chamber has begun completing regular quarterly updates for DESE. Ms. Fox noted that Nancy Feeney and Len Coriaty also attended the site visit. Six CommCorp managers were present, and Keith Westrich represented DESE.
Part of the meeting discussion involved job readiness. Mr. Westrich has proposed that a job readiness task force be convened to explore the many programs available for youth and make recommendations.
Donna Sachs observed that programs such as Connecting Activities provide “unbelievable” service to the schools, yet they are not compensated for many of the efforts they undertake on behalf of the students. Mr. Fernandes agreed and suggested compiling a list of the tasks being accomplished by Connecting Activities and submitting that list to the Mayors/town officials to make them aware.
Ms. Fox also informed the meeting that CommCorp had conducted a separate site visit during February as well. Their purpose was to visit program sites and conduct a thorough inspection of the programming in order to generate a report highlighting both best practices and local challenges. My Turn and TRA were the programs identified by Ms. Andrade and Ms. Fox. Sam Martin and Florrie Reddish conducted the site visit.
Green Jobs – Bridget Alexander then discussed the SEA-Green effort and the recent conference held on February 12, during which representatives from area WIBs, higher education, labor, and the private sector met to discuss green jobs, the utilization of stimulus dollars to prepare for the uptick in weatherization projects and alterative energy strategies, and the economic impact of President Obama’s overall approach to energy conservation, reclamation, and generation. When up and running, SEA-Green will be an online site dedicated to the Green Economy, with information on jobs, career pathways, and resources. According to Ms. Alexander, the Massachusetts Green Jobs Guide will be developed using the site. California has led the way with this kind of information. There is no such guide in Massachusetts. Ms. Alexander also noted that the WIB had partnered with the Bristol WIB, BCC, UMass and a number of contractors and consultants to submit a $315K grant targeted to the 11 Gateway Cities for weatherization training, using the model established through the pilot program in New Bedford. She expects to learn about an award soon. To her knowledge, the effort was the only one that partnered two Gateway Cities. Ms. Fox then shared some of her experiences attending the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference in Washington, DC, in early February.
Mr. Fernandes stated that the renewed focus on green jobs is most appropriate. Jobs, training, education, and wages are all part of the focus, and this will spur economic development.
Stay In School Initiative – In Nelson Hockert-Lotz’s absence, Ms. Feeney reported out on the recent meeting with the New Bedford School Committee in connection with the initiative. She and Mr. Hockert-Lotz presented the plan to the Committee, which was very supportive. It is anticipated that the program will be launched next September. Ms. Feeney indicated that Lynne Laberge has been recruited to assist with developing a formal marketing plan and materials. The precise program structure remains a work in progress.
Operations Review – Brief discussion ensued relative to a review of Career Center operations underway by the WIB and New Directions in response to a request from Mayor Lang to streamline procedures.
Youth Speaks – Elizabeth Lozano reported that Kathy Castro successfully arranged a meeting for student representatives with the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum at New Bedford High School. Students asked about summer reading and other curriculum-related topics. They were pleased to add their voices to education and communication-related topics at the school. Ms. Lozano also reported that the Mayor’s Youth Council seeks $3,000 to cover expenses related to speaker Jeff Yeldon at their Youth Summit. Mr. Yeldon is a nationally recognized inspirational speaker, knowledgeable about teen challenges. The MYC has been able to obtain support from the Sheriff’s Office, the school department, and the City of New Bedford. Additional fundraising efforts are underway. All supporters’ names will be listed in the program. The Summit is scheduled for April 14, from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the school. The events are typically sold out, as students may only attend one Summit while attending Middle or High School.
Site Visits – Chair Fernandes reminded members that site visits have been informative and asked if anyone could suggest a program for a site visit.
New Members – Chair Fernandes welcomed Rick Colon of Verizon and Chris Shannon, BCC Tech Prep Director, to the Youth Council.
Other Business/Stimulus – At Ms. Williams’ suggestion, discussion ensued relative to the WIB’s plan for utilization of stimulus dollars, specifically as they relate to youth. Ms. Fox stated that a meeting will be convened in March with youth service providers to discuss the inflow of dollars and how the region can best meet the needs of youth while optimizing stimulus funds. Ms. Williams stated that the funds are limited to summer programming. Mr. Dennehy noted that he has asked the federal government if students on free and reduced lunch will meet the income requirement, as the funding is for WIA only. He also noted that the age limit was extended to 24, and that he is waiting to hear if out of school youth will be included.
Mr. Coriaty said that there is no exact funding amount at this time, and the date of funding is likely mid-March, or 30 days following the act’s signing into law. He indicated that the first step must be outreach. All stakeholders must be involved in the implementation planning process. The WIB’s present focus in on a regional implementation team, comprised of labor, CBOs, the WIB, education, and economic development. Initial discussion will be about the numbers of youth that can be served and the types of projects that can be provided. All monies must be encumbered within 90 days. Thus far, most state strategizing has been at the WIB director level.
Ms. Williams asked about “shovel ready” projects; i.e., youth programs that will be ready to go in 30 days. Mr. Coriaty had spoken with the Mayor about this, and the March 4 Executive Committee meeting agenda includes discussion on this topic.
Ms. Williams then inquired about the $500 million in green jobs funding and how the WIB expects to take advantage of that opportunity. The task forces are addressing this funding, according to Mr. Coriaty, and attempting to isolate the number and types of jobs. Mr. Fernandes then suggested that a clear directive is needed so that programs can begin to organize for the inflow of funding. He indicated that he would mention this at the upcoming Executive Committee meeting.
Mr. Coriaty added that a direction will be developed in concert with Mayor Lang. Invitations will go out, and a date will be set, for some community forums.
Chris Shannon, of BCC, noted that she is on the state WIB Youth Task Force and pointed to the P21 Blueprint that was established some time ago and which identifies regional priorities. She suggested aligning stimulus dollars with those goals to ensure sustainability.
Respectfully submitted,
Dianne Rivet
Clerk
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