The struggle to find work has become a common problem, but resources are out there to aid job seekers. The Workforce Investment Act was created for just that reason.
According to the Wood County Employment Resource Center’s Web site, the ‘WIA is designed to streamline employment and training programs, help job seekers find work and help employers locate qualified workers.’
In an effort to expand the WIA in Wood County, the stimulus package has given $734,000 to the program to benefit those from ages 16 to 24.
The Wood County Education Service Center will use the money in its Youth Employment Program under WIA guidelines to hire students and send them out to workplaces.
Joy Torres is the Youth Employment Program Case Manager for the Wood County Educational Service Center.
‘Downtown BG is getting a couple students, so we’ll just send two or three students to them, they’ll do the work, send back the time sheet and we’ll pay the students,’ Torres said. ‘We’re sending students out to get job experience and paying them.’
The WIA requires that applicants meet certain guidelines in order for them to be eligible.
‘They have to qualify through income, they have to be at a low income level,’ Torres said. ‘Particularly for college students, their parents can’t pay more than 50 percent of their living expenses.’
Along with income level, applicants must have an additional barrier that has limited their ability to find work.
There is a list of barriers that range from trouble in school, to restraints caused by location, to recent firings.
Delaine Landry, Youth Employment Specialist at the WCESC, said the focus is to give students necessary life skills.
‘Basically, it’s just for those that are struggling a little bit,’ Landry said. ‘We help get them training and we’re there as a mentor also.’
Throughout their time in the program, students will be required to maintain contact with the Youth Employment Program to talk about their experience, with coordinators available to help guide them along the way.
Brittany Ford, a BGSU senior double majoring in Accounting and Finance, found out about the program after a visit to the career center.
‘I am looking to gain an enjoyable employment experience,’ Ford said. ‘I am hoping that the coordinators treat the students with respect and the students actually learn something from this work experience.’
Students like Ford will not be the only ones benefiting from the WIA stimulus money, as this will have a positive impact on the economy as well.
‘The plan was to get the money into the hands of kids who are willing to spend the money or who might not necessarily need to be saving it and putting it in bank accounts,’ Torres said. ‘So I think the plan was to get the money out there and get it out in the public so the economy could turn around.’
The stimulus money is to be used in total by December 31st, at which time the stimulus sponsored portion of the WIA will end.
‘After December we will be unable to pay for the wages of these employees,’ Torres said. ‘Our goal is for each of the kids to get hired on at their specific placement but it is not a requirement for each placement to hire on the students.’
Applications are still being accepted with 91 applicants already enrolled in the program, only five of which are college students, according to Torres.
It is surprising to some members of the Youth Employment Program that the program has not drawn more attention.
‘We’re kind of a secret, but not a secret. It’s a shame,’ Landry said. ‘You’d think that with this economy, people would be beating down our doors.’
