ECOSOC YOUTH FORUM 2024 Side Events Schedule-18 April.
Creating a volunteer connections program at your job center
1. Starting A Volunteer
Connections Program (VCP)
Presented by Wendy J. Gould and Amy R. Mosher,
Workforce Central Career Center (WCCC)
&
Jeff Turgeon, Central MA Workforce Investment Board
(CMWIB)
2. By Michael A. Fletcher, Published: June 17, 2013
**Source: Corporation for National and Community Service
Be a part of Workforce Central’s
Volunteer Connections Program (VCP)
Interested in developing your network while gaining
experience through community-based volunteer
opportunities?
Volunteering Lifts Job Prospects of the
Jobless
3. Webinar Agenda:
• Introduction – Who we are
• Program Background & data
• Program Development Process
• Legal Issues
• Program Benefits, Guidelines and Expectations
• Program Structure
• Sample VC Workshop & Exchange Agenda
• Outcomes and Testimonials
• Discussion
• Adjourn
Question: What would you love to gain from today’s webinar?
Starting a Volunteer Connections
Program
4. Central MA Workforce Investment Board
• The Central MA WIA Region
contains 38 communities and a
workforce of 300,000+.
• There are three American Job
Centers in our region (Workforce
Central)
5. Program Background
CMWIB and WCCC looking to address long-term
unemployment crisis;
Career Center job seekers in need of:
recent, relevant work experience;
chance to learn new skills/work tools;
networking opportunities
getting back into “the swing” of workplace culture
Increase work-readiness for this population
Additional programming developed;
Stress Reduction workshops
Entrepreneurship program
TV show
$0 (nada, zip) additional funding available
7. Percent Distribution of Unemployment by
Duration
December 2007-December 2012
7
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Less than 5 weeks
5 to 14 weeks
15 to 26 weeks
27 weeks and over
8. Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate
December 2007-March 2013
8
63
63.5
64
64.5
65
65.5
66
66.5
9. VC Program Development
Joint CMWIB/Workforce Central Career Center Career
Readiness Work-Group formed;
Meetings over 6 months regarding three tracks:
Track 1: Expand internships/WBL for local training
programs, including WCCC funded programs;
Track 2: Design the Volunteer Connection Program;
Track 3: Increasing volunteer opportunities at the
CMWIB/WCCC.
Work
Readiness
10. VC Program Development
Track 2: Volunteer Connections Program Design
Program scope:
Researched eligibility guidance with state and federal workforce
officials;
Internship vs. volunteership
For-profit vs. non-profit/public employer
Unemployment Insurance recipient guidelines
Program Process & Participant Flow
Staffing
Support Documentation
Outreach efforts
11. Legal Issues
Internship vs. Volunteership;
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines the employment very broadly --
to "suffer or permit to work."
Covered and non-exempt individuals must be compensated for the
services they perform for an employer.
Internships in the "for-profit" private sector will most often be viewed as
employment, unless the 6-point test below is met;
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the
facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be
given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works
under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer…derives no immediate advantage from the
activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may
actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion
of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not
entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.www.wagehour.dol.gov
12. Legal Issues
Volunteer Guidelines:
In general, people are NOT permitted to volunteer with for- profit
companies, but can volunteer for non-profits & public institutions:
“Individuals who volunteer or donate their services, usually on a
part-time basis, for public service religious or humanitarian
objectives…without contemplation of pay, are not considered
employees of the religious, charitable or similar non-profit
organizations that receive their service.”1
[note: non-profit staff not allowed to volunteer for their own
organization for the same type of work they are paid to do]
Unemployment Insurance recipient guidelines;
volunteering does not waive job search
requirement;
Volunteering limited to 19 hours per week.
13. Volunteer Connections Program
(VCP)
VCP is a 2-part program:
1. Volunteer Connections workshops (monthly)
2. Volunteer Exchange events (quarterly)
(Both are listed on our Career Center calendar.)
Question: What skills or experiences do you feel
jobseekers could obtain through volunteering?
14. What are the Benefits of the VCP?
Jobseekers
Connect to people and opportunities to build their
confidence and resumes
Gain recent, relevant work experience aligned with
career goals
Non-Profit Organizations
Connect with volunteer candidates
Network with other non-profit leaders
Both
Brings people together in a largely impersonal job
market
15. Suggested Volunteership Guidelines
• Volunteer opportunity related to career goals
o Offer skills enhancement and/or practice for
jobseeker
o Offer supervision/mentoring and allow for
networking
• Placements typically shorter-term (1 – 3 months)
• Placements under 20-hours per week (5-15 hours/ week
recommended, and offer some flexibility)
16. Participant Expectations
• View this process and volunteership as
professional development (practice success
skills)
• Attendance and punctuality
• Timely follow through
• Communication
• Committed to self-directed effort, including
career assessment and self-reflection regarding
desired skill gains
Photo from: modernservantleader.com
17. Host Site Expectations
• Provide opportunity to practice career related skills
• Understand and support jobseeker’s goal of returning to work
• Offer flexibility with scheduling (allow for continued job search
activities & wind-down if/ when job found)
• Provide open and honest performance feedback - informal
mentoring
• Offer letter of support/reference if asked
18. VCP Design Flow
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
VCP staff
person
provides brief
overview;
registers
candidate for
workshop
VCP staff
provides link
to
questionnaire
VCP staff
facilitates VC
workshop;
provides
contact list
and UW
website link
VCP staff
sends follow-
up email;
enters
attendee info
in database
VCP staff
contacts
attendees as
needed;
tracks
outcomes
VCP staff
facilitate
Volunteer
Exchange
event
Step 6
Candidate
contacts VCP
staff for
information;
Registers for
VC Workshop
Completes a
VCP
research
questionnaire
Attends VC
Workshop;
• Reviews org
contact list
• Registers
on local
United Way
website
Attends
Volunteer
Exchange
Event
(Optional)
Contacts host
site &
completes
their volunteer
application
process
Completes
volunteer
assignment
19. VCP Staffing:
Wendy Gould speaks individually with clients prior to VC
workshop, facilitates monthly VC workshops, and helps lead
quarterly Volunteer Exchange events
Amy Mosher coordinates and facilitates quarterly Volunteer
Exchanges
Support Documentation:
Use of VCP participant questionnaire to identify strategic
career learning objectives
VC workshop & Exchange attendees tracked in MA One-
Stop Employment System (MOSES) database
Outreach efforts:
Outreach conducted through Workforce Central staff
(word of mouth), website, and career center orientation.
External press coverage being sought
Volunteer organizations identified through personal
networking and local United Way database
VCP Structure
21. Sample Agenda for VC workshop
1. Introductions
2. VCP Overview
3. Video (http://www.workforcecentralma.org/additional-
programs/volunteer-connections)
4. Questionnaire
5. Why Volunteer?
6. Paired Share/ Group Discussion
7. United Way website (www.unitedwaycm.org)
8. Volunteer Exchange- list of openings
9. “Action Plan” (identifies Priority, Action, By When)
10. Thank You and Evaluations
24. Sample Agenda for Volunteer
Exchange
1. Welcome and Overview of Volunteer Connections Program
2. Jobseeker/ Volunteer 30-second introductions
(name, industry background, volunteer goals)
3. Nonprofit organizations provide 2 minute mini-presentation
(organization’s mission and target audience, with more
focus on the specific, current volunteer openings)
4. Group Q&A and Discussion
5. Speed Networking session! Goal: speak with your top 3
people and exchange contact info with at least 2 people
6. United Way website (www.unitedwaycm.org) for both
volunteers and nonprofits
7. Discussion and Next Steps, including your Action Plan
8. Networking and Wrap Up
25. Outcomes and Testimonials
Participant Testimonials:
I really learned a lot as a volunteer assisting in classes to first-time English
learners. As a result of my positive experiences, I was hired to do some per
diem work. I will be taking tutor training with a goal to be able to expand my
business being either a paid tutor or teacher in Spring 2014….Robin M.
Volunteering as an assistant to an Activities Director has given me the
opportunity to not only use my own skills but to learn other aspects of being an
Activities Director in a Nursing Facility….Bruce B.
Host Site Testimonials:
“It is such a pleasure and great use of my time to attend the Volunteer
Exchanges at Workforce Central because I have met some of my most
enthusiastic volunteers there! I’ll be back!” --Emma, Volunteer
Coordinator, Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester
“I am always so impressed with the quality and willingness of the volunteers I
meet through this program.” --Ray, Program Coordinator, Red Cross of
Central MA
Number of workshop & exchange attendees since program launch in
Feb. , 2013 -- 217
27. Discussion Points
Program is self-directed
Career Center’s role as a connector, not the
ultimate decision maker or placement agent
Value for participant is strategic career
experience and networking
Program is efficient and financially sustainable
Q&A
28. Feel Free to Contact Us
Wendy J. Gould
Program Specialist , Workforce Central Career Center
wgould@detma.org 508-373-7640
Amy R. Mosher
Strategy and Innovation Leader, Workforce Central Career
Center
moshera@workforcecentralma.org 508-373-7641
Jeff Turgeon
Executive Director, CMWIB
turgeonj@worcesterma.gov 508-799-1509
Notas do Editor
BLS data on the average duration of unemployment. So once more, from the start of the recession until roughly the current time, this graph shows the average duration of unemployment, in weeks. At the start of the recession, average duration of unemployment was about 16.5 weeks. However, by late 2011, this figure had peaked at nearly 41 weeks. It has since come down by about a month with average duration of unemployment currently at about 37 weeks.
Similar data from BLS, just displayed in a different fashion. Each set of 4 bars represents a complete set, so 100%, of the unemployed, for December 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.So of those unemployed in December of 2007, about a third were unemployed for less than 5 weeks, while less than 20% were what’s referred to as long-term unemployed, that is, unemployed for 27 weeks or longer.The pattern here is pretty striking, while the orange and gray bars don’t change much from year to year, the proportion of those unemployed for less than 5 weeks dropped significantly as the proportion of those long-term unemployed increased.That’s the yellow and blue lines essentially headed in opposite directions.The short-term unemployed reached its low in 2010, the same year the long-term unemployed reached its peak. Since then the short-term figure has increased slightly while the long term figured has dropped about 5 percentage points.
Here we can see that since the start of the recession in December of 2007, the labor force participation rate has dropped about three percentage points.Now, there are varying explanations for this drop. Some of it could certainly be attributed to people giving up looking for work. Remember, you have to be looking for work to count as unemployed. So that includes the recent college graduate we spoke about earlier who may have given up looking for work.However, it could also include someone who may have been close to retirement. This person may have got laid off and proceeded to look for a job for a while. So they were in the labor force both while they were working and while they were looking for work afterwards. If that person then decide, you know what, I have enough saved up, I am tired of looking for work and they decided to retire, well, they are now out of the labor force.So some of this is people giving up looking for work, and some of it could also be related to demographic shifts.