WDC Announces Award for Youth Services Pilot
Workforce Development Council will pilot Rainier Community Services Office Youth Services project
Seattle, Wash. – The Workforce Development Council (WDC) of Seattle-King County, is pleased is to announce a $223,000 award from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Economic Services Administration, Community Services Division (CSD). The grant will fund education, employment, and work-based training opportunities for youth through the Rainier Community Services Office (CSO) Youth Services Pilot.
“This partnership will build upon our region’s robust youth employment system,” says Marléna Sessions, Chief Executive Officer of the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. “With this project, we hope to lead systems change efforts in serving youth and young adults who face barriers to employment and self-sufficiency.”
The one-year pilot will assist 40 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, ages 16-24, to connect to education, training, and work activities that will prepare them to engage in the workforce, build their network, and develop skills that will contribute to future employment and, ultimately, self-sufficiency. The WDC will provide a Career Specialist and specialized Business Services Liaison to lead this effort. Through the partnership with CSD, the WDC of Seattle-King County looks to achieve best practices to sustain this work. The lessons learned during the pilot will become the foundation for current and future work to serve youth and young adults who deal with employment barriers, as well as inform how best to help transition individuals from public assistance to self-sustainability.
“We are pleased to partner with the WDC on this tremendous effort to connect young people to education and jobs that ultimately lead to career pathways,” says Babs Roberts, director of DSHS’s Community Services Division. “This project builds on the WDC’s success in providing job-driven employment services to young people who have traditionally faced barriers to finding good jobs and accessing higher education, while helping the department to assist these young people in building a better future.”
For more information about the Workforce Development Council, job seeker programs and workforce initiatives, visit www.seakingwdc.org or call 206-448-0474.
The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County is a nonprofit workforce grant-making organization that oversees employment-related programs for youth, the adult workforce and employers in King County, with the goal of a strong economy and self-sufficiency for every resident.
Media Contact
Danielle Wallace, Project Manager
Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County
dwallace@seakingwdc.org
206-448-0474 x 3002
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