Reentry Employment Services
Seeking employment after an extended period of absence from the workforce is not always an easy task. Employers may have decreased interest in applicants with significant gaps in time between jobs and those with outdated qualifications. Reentry and employment complications can leave individuals feeling lost and doubtful about their futures.
Fortunately, there are several reentry employment services dedicated to helping people deal with the obstacles associated with finding employment. Programs span across national, state, and local levels; with many working in partnership with each other to strengthen the American workforce system and create more positive outcomes.
Services for Individuals Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment:
- Skills assessments (free & paid)
- Free and low-cost training and certificate programs
- Apprenticeships opportunities and programs
- Professional development programs: designed to update you on modern technologies, trends, as well as help you build and learn new and in-demand skills
- Resume building: Learn how to approach gaps in skills training and long periods between employment
- Comprehensive job search tools
- Special assistance for vets and seniors returning to work
- Career options: Help for individuals wanting to change career paths
- Ready to Work Programs and information
Reentry into the workforce after prolonged unemployment does not have to be difficult or stressful. There is help available to everyone. In today’s connected world, more reentry employment services and resources are available than ever before.
Reentry Employment Opportunities Programs and Services
Career One Stop, One-Stop Career Centers
The Career One Stop website and local One-Stop Career Centers are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Both are the central point of the nation's workforce programs. They provide a large range of reentry employment and training services for workers, including compulsory Workforce Investment Act (WIA) partners. These services provide access to many options, including training and referrals, counseling, job search tools, and other related services. The centers also offer essential services to employers and businesses.
Ready to Work Program
This reentry and employment program is dedicated to individuals struggling with long-term unemployment. The Ready to Work Program brings employers, federal training programs, and nonprofits together in partnership to provide training and specialized services to those needing reentry employment services.
Services include work-based, on-the-job training, opportunities for long-term employment, apprenticeships, paid-work experience, skills training, and more. Each state has its own Ready to Work Programs. Contact your state’s local Workforce Development Office for more Ready to Work program information.
Training to Work Program
Services provided under the Job Workforce Development Service’s Training to Work Program aim at offering reentry employment assistance to impoverished, low-income, high-crime-offense areas, as well as to individuals who live in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-designated Promise Zones. The goal of this program is to assist people on a career path by providing them with education and skills training that are in demand within their local communities.
Training to Work reentry and employment programs are mainly directed toward ex-convicts, but are also available to anyone who falls under the program guidelines. Most services are free to qualified participants. Find out if you are a qualified participant.
Current Reentry Employment News
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a press release on June 24, 2016, announcing the award and distribution of $64.5 million in grants to 40 organizations across 26 states to aid at-risk-youth as well as presently and formerly imprisoned individuals needing reentry employment services.
These grants will provide job training, reentry employment services, and educational programs that would not otherwise be available to many exiting the criminal justice system. Eligible individuals may find transitional housing opportunities and additional counseling during readjustment periods.
Note: The services and programs discussed in this article are all intended to guide you and decrease the stress of seeking reentry into the workforce. Many services are free, while information and guidance for paid programs is also available.
Sources:
- http://www.careeronestop.org/jobsearch/findjobs/job-fairs.aspx
- https://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/
- https://www.workforcegps.org/online-training
- https://www.doleta.gov/REO/eta_default.cfm
- https://doleta.gov/readytowork/
- https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20160624
- https://www.doleta.gov/eta_news_releases/