The Bradford Era - Breaking Down Barriers: Help Arriving for Young People Having Trouble Finding a Job

News Article

By Alex Davis

Federal, state and local leaders are looking to break down barriers in the way of area young people landing gainful employment.

Plenty of jobs do exist, just people aren't qualified, said U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion held with area young people, local leaders and several workforce development board members at the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission in Ridgway.

In fact, across the region, many young people find themselves being blocked from securing employment due to a lack of career and technical knowledge, transportation or work experience, according to officials at Wednesday's event.

"That skills gap is what the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act fills," said Thompson, who is a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which went into effect July 1, aims to enhance coordination between federal, state and local workforce training programs and services helping the workforce training system better identify employment in high-demand industries. The law covers individuals 16- to 24-years-old who are not in school and those between 14- and 21-years-old who are not in school and on a low income.

"Many students and job-seekers are not aware of the resources available to help connect them with jobs, which in many case are family supporting," Thompson said. "Organizations throughout Elk, Clearfield and McKean counties are working hard to spread the word about the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the resources available to connect residents of our communities with greater opportunity."

A job needs to lead to a path of better opportunity, which could be more education, and ultimately to a promotion, for example, Thompson said.

"In the northcentral region of Pennsylvania, we have worked to connect students with these in-demand technical jobs for the past three years," North Central Workforce Investment Board director Susan Snelick said in a statement after the event. "Youth across the area need to know that there are more options available to them, following high school, than just a four-year university program. There are so many options in our region that this new law will help workforce investment boards promote."

It takes teamwork to fix some of the employment blockers, said Bob Esch, who is prominent in the Bradford community and is a member of the North Central Workforce Investment Board.

In one example, Esch mentioned a several-year push to establish a community college in this section of the state.

"We're close, but we're not there. And the only way we'll get there is that collaborative effort and the partnering that brings this together," Esch said. "And we really have to keep focusing on that."

Also during the session, Esch, an official at American Refining Group in Bradford, touched on an industry perspective.

"It's evolved over time, but there is a misalignment between what the educational system is teaching and what's needed at the workplace," he said.

The workplace is rapidly changing, thanks to technology and worldwide demands, something that Esch says local, state and federal officials need to remain focused on.

And that appears to be happening -- at least at the federal level, Thompson indicated.

About four weeks ago, Thompson said federal lawmakers in the House passed a remake of the No Child Left Behind Act.

"We created an education system where we teach so the kids can do really well on test questions," he said. "No application life success at all. The Student Success Act flips that upside down."

Under that proposal, the adequate yearly progress requirement is taken away, and there would be more teaching and less testing days.

"You only need to test so much. If you're testing solely for the purpose of looking at punishing schools that's not why we educate. We educate to get the maximum benefit of every individual child. Every youth has different gifts, and we should be educating to those gifts."

Career and education training has been squeezed out, Thompson said. And children with special needs have been placed "in a horrible situation," he said.

"The good news is, we have passed our version and the Senate has passed their version," Thompson said. "When we get back in September, we'll be conferencing that and we will put a bill on President Obama's desk that actually ends and allows that we begin to address both the needs of, quite frankly, the students, but I would also say the workforce needs of the nation."

Already in place, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is designed to streamline workforce development through the elimination of programs that have not worked in the past, replacing them with a system empowering local workforce development boards to serve their region's employment and workforce needs, according to information from Thompson's office.

Thompson said one of the greatest resources is a qualified, well-trained workforce.

For Esch, he said that entry-level positions are non-existent. Job skills and requirements are more comprehensive today than decades ago, Esch said.

He pointed out that career and technical positions are "really, really good jobs," adding the value of those positions needs to be known.

"I look forward to continued discussions with our local leaders, in order to eliminate the barriers between our young people and these jobs -- and to make sure they have the assistance necessary to reach their full potential," Thompson said.

Before the meeting Wednesday with area leaders, Thompson hosted a discussion with several local young people.

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