WIA (Workforce Investment Act)

The Workforce Investment Act Program (WIA) is implemented through a variety of service structures to youth and adults in Carter, Elliott and Lawrence counties. By partnering with individual job seekers and employers to provide the best possible outcomes, one of WIA’s goals is  “Jobs for People and People for Jobs”.  WIA is funded by Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP, Inc.), through allocations from the United States Department of Labor, of the Kentucky Education Cabinet, Division of Workforce Services.

Adult Program - Clients served through the Adult Program who has an interest in furthering their education through college, technical school or short-term specialized training may receive financial assistance for tuition costs based on funding levels.

Incumbent Worker - Incumbent Worker Training is specifically designed to be an employer service, and as such is inherently different from job seeker services. Included in this division are On-the-Job Training options.

Work Experience - As funding is available, paid Work Experience services are provided for eligible individuals. Participants earn minimum wage (or in some cases the normal base pay that would be offered by the employer) while they learn new work skills, develop a sense of self-esteem and apply learned values and ethics.

Dislocated Workers - WIA assists Dislocated Workers to find new employment for those who have lost their jobs.  Career Advisors provide assistance for clients in identifying specific needs for upgrading their skills to qualify for new and optimistically better jobs.

In-school Youth Program - WIA operates the Xcel Youth Program which offers comprehensive services to high school juniors and seniors, age 16 years and older.  These services provide career, education and leadership opportunities to students and serve as a springboard into the world of independence.

Out of School Youth Program - This program serves Out-of-School youth ages 16-21. Those served may be high school graduates or drop-outs who are seeking employment assistance or training to enable them to obtain full-time sustainable employment. Work Experience placement or short-term certification training for individuals are provided for enhancement of employability enrichment and preparation for the workforce.

Career Resource Centers - WIA Career Resource Centers are located in Grayson, Olive Hill, Louisa and Sandy Hook. These centers provide in-depth services and are available to the public. Staffed by Global Career Development Facilitators,they offer education and career development information and assistance. State of the art technology provides the public and WIA clients with access to the internet for Job Search and many other career development tools and methods. 

Job Clubs 

A job club is a group of job seekers who meet weekly with local workforce professionals to improve their job searching skills. The group members provide support for each other while networking and learning techniques for improving their job searches from the workforce professionals, area partners and invited guests. This combination of support, networking, and job-search education makes job club members much more successful at getting a job than job seekers who search alone.

In addition to the Job Club meeting, each member is assisted by a personal Career Advisor who first enters individual information into “Focus Career”. Focus Career is a state system that connects job opportunities to match the member’s skills interests and experience. It is a resume’ builder and job matching tool for our job seekers and a registration for job posting and resume’ search tool for employers. Each Job Club attendee leaves their first meeting with job leads in hand, a basic resume’ and a scheduled appointment to return for individual assistance with a Career Advisor who will provide services to meet their specific career, job search and employability needs.Those services are accomplished in a timely manner to engage the job seeker in productive activities that may lead to employment.  All services are provided at no cost to the member. 

For more information, contact  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Links:
Eastern KY Concentrated Employment Program www.ekcep.org
Job Sight Information for Eastern KY www.jobsight.org