Youth Transition Action Team
Initiative
California ILP Institute
Career Development, Quality
Work-Based Learning and
Preparing Youth for
Successful Employment
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work
Builds community connections that
prepare youth for success
• 25 years building comprehensive youth-serving
systems nationally
• Focuses on effectively targeting public resources
to prepare youth for the future
• Connects efforts to Economic Development
• Pioneered the All Youth-One System approach
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work
Where New Ways Works
• Supporting connections between schools,
community, and the workplace across the nation
• Building connected transition systems for all
youth in California
• Building community capacity through customized
technical assistance locally
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work
Outcomes
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High School Completion
College and Career Success
Reconnection and Transition
Prepared Workforce
Connected Communities
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work
Program Strategies
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High School Improvement/Alternatives
Multiple Pathways/CTE
Career Development
Workplace Connections and Community Partnerships
Quality Work-based Learning
Out-of-School Time Programs
Transition Centers
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Pathway to Adulthood
• What activities and opportunities helped you prepare
for a successful career?
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
ILP Enhancement
Vision shift
Move from a classroom-based service delivery
system to a system focused on preparing youth for
transition through career development and
employment readiness.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Role of ILP
System Connections
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Employers and workplace partners
Families and neighborhoods
Schools and training organizations
Social services and community organizations
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Quality Work-based Learning
Activities that occur at a workplace, providing
structured learning experiences for students through
exposure to a range of occupations. Students learn by
observing and/or actually doing real work. Learning
in the workplace is connected to and supports
learning in the classroom. Work-based learning
activities promote the development of broad,
transferable skills.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Why WBL?
Students who gain exposure to the workplace while
still in school:
• Make connections between real work expectations and the
classroom;
• Begin to pursue education with a greater sense of purpose;
• Interact with positive adult role models;
• Develop new skills and knowledge;
• Experience enhanced self esteem; and
• Expand their horizons and awareness of future work options.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Examples of taking work-based learning to the next level
Quality WBL
Traditional WBL
Foster youth and adult relationships
Young people work as individuals,
completing tasks that require little
interaction with supervisor.
Young people work on teams as well as
on an individual basis, and work on
complex activities that allow for regular
coaching and mentoring from their
supervisor and colleagues.
Support academic learning
Classroom and work-site learning are
disconnected from one another.
Learning opportunities between
classroom and worksite are unrelated.
Students’ academic learning drives
work-based learning objectives.
Experiences are designed to make
connections between worksite and
curriculum themes.
Individualized work-based learning plans
All students are expected to master the
same tasks and skills.
Individualized work-based learning
plans are developed for each student.
Quality documentation and evaluation
Students’ workplace experience is
known only to the student and
worksite supervisor.
Students’ workplace experience
documentation and evaluations are part
of the school portfolio.
Seven Simple Guidelines
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Plan and prepare for successful experiences
Maximize learning
Provide effective supervision
Promote safety
Manage the hours a student is at the worksite
Pay when required
Provide ongoing support
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
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Expose students to all aspects of the industry.
Make ties to the classroom.
Involve students in setting expectations.
Provide opportunities for reflection.
Document and measure learning.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
The 3 Key Elements to Learning:
 Intention
 Opportunity
 Reflection
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
Intention:
Awareness prior to the experience of the
knowledge and skills one intends to
acquire. All set intentions together:
 Employer
 Teacher
 Student
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Intention
Work-Based Learning Skills Checklist
serves client / customer
teaches others
works well as a team member
exercises leadership
knows how to negotiate
Employer SCANS Tool
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
PERSONAL SCANS SKILLS ASSESSMENT
This assessment lists the individual skills and talents that employers value. Read the list and assess your own strengths. Mark
each box that best describes your level of skill.
Skills for Basic Job Performance (1=lowest; 5=highest)
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SKILLS
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Resource Management - Time, money, and materials are resources. You can manage them
well.
Interpersonal Skills – You get along well with others. You can work on a team, teach
others, serve customers, or be a leader. You can also work well with people from different
backgrounds.
Information Management – You can find, interpret, and communicate information. You
can organize and maintain files. You can also use a computer and process information.
Systems – A system is the way things are done or organized. You understand social and
business systems. You can check and correct your own business performance. You can make
suggestions on how to improve the way things are done.
Technology – You can find and use the right tools for the job.
Basic Skills – You can read, write, speak, and listen well. You know your arithmetic.
Thinking Skills – You can think creatively. You can make decisions and solve problems.
You know how to learn.
Personal Qualities – You can take personal responsibility. You think highly of yourself.
You are also honest.
Student SCANS Skills Assessment
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
The 3 Key Elements to Learning:
 Intention
 Opportunity
 Reflection
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
Opportunity
The activities during the experience that
provide the opportunity to gain knowledge
and skills.
 The Nine Aspects
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Opportunity: The Nine Aspects
 Planning
 Management
 Finance
 Technical and Production Skills
 Principles of Technology
 Labor Issues
 Community Issues
 Health, Safety and Environment
 Personal Work Habits
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
The 3 Key Elements to Learning:
 Intention
 Opportunity
 Reflection
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Guideline 2: Maximize Learning
Reflection
The practice of formal and informal
reflection, both during and after the
experience that supports the awareness of
what actually has been learned and
documents the acquisition of knowledge
and skills.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Foster Youth Career Development and
Employment Summit Priority Actions
Prioritize Career Development and Employment
for every Foster Youth
• Develop a consolidation bill that creates a unified vision for transitioning
foster youth.
• Ensure that all existing laws directly related to transition issues, career
development, and/or employment preparation are fully implemented and
resourced appropriately.
• The Child Welfare Council should prioritize the creation of common
assessments and outcome measures in the areas of permanence, education,
and employment across all systems working with transitioning youth and
formalize MOUs among State Agencies and Departments that define ways
to allow for the sharing of data and information about common program
participants.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Foster Youth Career Development and
Employment Summit Priority Actions
Connect Youth to Education and Workforce
Development Programs
• Actively support cross-program collaboration in order to leverage and link
services across systems for foster youth.
• Establish a statewide program in which former foster youth are employed
as transition navigators in each county to link foster youth to systems and
(Modeled after the current Disability Navigators)
• Bring together the multiple plans that guide a youth’s transition by creating
a system for and requiring a common, youth-centered and youth-led
transition plan process.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Foster Youth Career Development and
Employment Summit Priority Actions
Support Emancipating and Emancipated Youth in their
Transition to Adulthood
• Support or establish comprehensive, youth-led transition centers.
• Expand eligibility and resources for career development and employment
supportive services and Independent Living Programs to ages 12-25.
• Build on the successes of the THP+ model and create additional transitional
housing opportunities.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
Foster Youth Career Development and
Employment Summit Priority Actions
Provide Work Experience and Job Opportunities that Lead to
Economic Success
• Encourage the hiring of youth in entry level, career pathway positions
through a subsidized, transitional work-experience program in partnership
with the private and public sectors, ILP, and Workforce Investment Boards.
• Encourage the State Youth Vision Team and the California Workforce
Investment Board to develop a statewide “Hire-a-Youth” campaign in
partnership with the California Chamber of Commerce and other state-level
business groups.
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
More Information
To join the YTAT initiative – contact Lisa Elliott at
lelliott@newwaystowork.org
To download WBL materials such as:
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The Student Guide to WBL
The Work Place Partner Guide to WBL
The How-To Guide for Job Shadows
The How-To Guide for Internships
Visit www.newwaystowork.org and go to the “library”
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008
New Ways to Work, Youth Transition Action Team Initiative
April 22, 2008