TEGL_5_12_Acc.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington D.C. 20210 CLASSIFICATION WIA YOUTH CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL OWI-DYS DATE August 1 2012 ADVISORY TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 5-12 TO STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS FROM JANE OATES s Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Workforce Investment Act WIA Youth Program Guidance for Program Year PY 2012 1. Purpose . The purpose of this Training and Employment Guidance Letter TEGL is to provide guidance for the use of WIA Youth-funded activities in PY 2012. 2. References . Workforce Investment Act of 1998 WIA as amended 29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq. http www.doleta.gov USWORKFORCE WIA wialaw.pdf WIA Regulations 20 C.F.R. Part 664 http www.doleta.gov usworkforce wia finalrule.pdf TEGL No. 09-00 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 Section 129 - Competitive and Non- Competitive Procedures for Providing Youth Activities Under Title I http wdr.doleta.gov directives attach TEGL9-00.pdf TEGL No. 17-05 Change 2 Common Measures Policy for the Employment and Training Administration s ETA Performance Accountability System and Related Performance Issues http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm docn 2759 TEGL No. 27-09 Workforce Investment Act WIA Youth Program Guidance for Program Year PY 2010 http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 2900 TEGL No. 30-10 Workforce Investment Act WIA Youth Program Guidance for Program Year PY 2011 http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3034 TEGL No. 18-11 Improving Literacy and Numeracy Gains of Workforce Investment Act WIA Youth Program Participants http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 4054 TEGL No. 13-09 Contracting Strategies that Facilitate Serving the Youth Most in Need http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 2854 and TEGL No. 31-10 Increasing Enrollment and Improving Services to Youth with Disabilities http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3037 . RESCISSIONS None EXPIRATION DATE Continuing 2 3. Background . Passage of WIA led to major reforms in youth programming and placed new emphasis on serving youth within a comprehensive youth development approach. The focus of youth programming changed from short-term training and job placement to long-term services that provide the education skills work experience and support that youth need to successfully transition to careers and productive adulthood. Highlights of these reforms include the requirement of 10 program elements found in WIA Section 129 c 2 . As stated in TEGL 9-00 these elements can be grouped around four major themes I. Improving Educational Achievement tutoring study skills training dropout prevention strategies and alternative secondary school services. II. Preparing for and Succeeding in Employment summer employment opportunities paid and unpaid work experiences and occupational skills training. III. Providing Adequate Support in Completing Learning and Employment Goals supportive services adult mentoring appropriate follow-up services and comprehensive guidance and counseling. IV. Developing the Potential of Youth as Citizens and Leaders leadership development opportunities which may include community service and peer-centered activities encouraging responsibility and other positive social behaviors during non- school hours. Over the past few years the Employment and Training Administration ETA provided guidance on specific program elements included in the above themes. In an effort to focus on Theme I ETA released TEGL 18-11 Improving Literacy and Numeracy Gains of Workforce Investment Act WIA Youth Program Participants on March 2 2012. TEGL 18- 11 provides guidance to state and local workforce investment area staff and WIA Youth program service providers to increase literacy and numeracy gains of out-of-school basic skills deficient youth and further clarifies reporting policies and requirements. Program elements within Theme II are addressed extensively in PY 2010 and PY 2011 WIA Youth Guidance found in TEGLs 27-09 and 30-10 respectively. Both TEGLs discuss the importance of providing youth meaningful work experience opportunities and developing both work readiness and occupational skills in order to successfully move into permanent employment or postsecondary education. The focus of this TEGL is on Themes III and IV. It reiterates key legislative and regulatory language related to specific program elements builds on previously published TEGLs and provides strategies to incorporate or enhance these elements in local programs. Based on issues identified during monitoring visits and raised by states local areas and youth service providers this TEGL attempts to consolidate previous still relevant guidance and provide additional clarification related to the program elements listed in Themes III and IV. Please note that while this TEGL does not specifically address Themes I and II ETA continues to encourage state and local workforce areas to provide quality educational and employment related services to WIA Youth participants. 3 For informational and illustrative purposes this TEGL provides examples of and links to programs practices and strategies developed by WIA Youth programs and other organizations. This guidance is not intended to endorse any particular organization program or approach. 4. Provision of the 10 WIA Youth Program Elements . As outlined in WIA section 129 c 1 29 U.S.C. 2854 c 1 and detailed in the WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.405 a 1 - 2 the program design framework includes an objective assessment and individual service strategy development. These are integral components of the WIA Youth program and help determine the program elements that must be provided to youth participants. The WIA Youth program is intended to offer participants a range of services based on their individual needs from organizations or agencies in the community best suited to provide those services. As stated in WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.410 and outlined in TEGL 9- 00 Local Boards must make all 10 program elements available to all youth participants in the local area although individual youth participants need not participate in all 10. Local areas have discretion to determine the specific services provided to individual youth participants based on each participant s objective assessment and individual service strategy. However local grant recipients need not provide all 10 program elements with WIA funds if certain services are already accessible for all eligible youth in the local area. If certain services such as mentoring tutoring leadership development or other program elements are accessible to eligible youth in a local area local providers grantees and sub-grantees should work together to leverage those services. WIA Youth services can be provided in many ways including by local grant recipients or sub-recipients as well as through contracts for such activities as specialized services. For example eligibility determination can be provided by the local American Job Center while other services such as mentoring or leadership development activities can be provided through a partnership with a local non-WIA funded program where a memorandum of agreement is in place. As stated in WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.405 a 4 the requirement in WIA section 123 that eligible providers of youth services be selected by awarding a grant or contract on a competitive basis does not apply to the design framework component such as services for intake objective assessment and the development of individual service strategy when these services are provided by the grant recipient fiscal agent. In addition as stated in 20 C.F.R. 664.610 summer employment opportunities is the other program element that grant recipients are able to provide without awarding a grant or contract on a competitive basis. Ongoing relationships should be established and maintained with providers of non-WIA funded activities to ensure that those activities are closely connected and coordinated with the WIA system. These relationships should be established either through coordinated case management memoranda of understanding or some other vehicle as local program operators remain responsible for obtaining performance outcomes for all WIA participants. ETA encourages local areas to review WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.400 - .470 and TEGL 9-00 to ensure a clear understanding of the program design component. For more 4 information on contracts to provide the 10 WIA Youth program elements see TEGL 13- 09 Contracting Strategies that Facilitate Serving the Youth Most in Need. 5. Theme III Providing Adequate Support in Completing Learning and Employment Goals and Theme IV Developing the Potential of Youth as Citizens and Leaders . When designing youth employment and training programming ETA encourages states and local areas to focus on the following elements A. Conducting Participant Assessments B. Developing Individual Service Strategies ISS C. Increasing Youth Engagement and Retention in Programs D. Providing Quality Follow-up Services E. Offering Leadership Development Activities F. Offering or Partnering to Provide Adult Mentoring A. Conducting Participant Assessments A comprehensive assessment is the basis for good planning and overall quality case management. As stated in WIA Section 129 c 1 local areas must provide an objective assessment of the academic levels skill levels and service needs of each participant. The assessment shall include a review of basic skills occupational skills prior work experience employability interests aptitudes including interests and aptitudes for nontraditional jobs supportive service needs and developmental needs of participants. The assessment of a young person entering the program begins with the registration process initial interview and documentation of eligibility. This process identifies the factors listed in 129 c 1 as well as barriers to employment and training. As described in the Toolkit for Effective Front Line Services to Youth located at http www.doleta.gov youth services Toolkit-improve.cfm when developing a comprehensive assessment strategy it is important that case managers counselors or job coaches 1 utilize a comprehensive and exploratory approach 2 administer assessment instruments under conditions that do not adversely affect performance and 3 seek opportunities to embed assessments within program activities. The assessment process involves gathering information from observations and personal interviews youth-completed forms and any activities or tools designed to determine a young person s career interests. It may also include more formal assessments which generally involve the use of standardized tests to assess specific abilities such as literacy and numeracy skills for out-of-school basic skills deficient youth. For policies on formal assessments of literacy and numeracy skills see TEGL 17-05 Change 2. Important considerations when conducting participant assessments include ensuring active involvement of the young person in developing specific goals within his or her ISS 5 using a variety of methods and tools including questioning observations self-assessment checklists worksheets internet resources and tools that assess the occupational and employability levels of the youth documenting and assessing the youth s strengths abilities and environment e.g. supportive parents or other family members connection to the community through a faith-based organization or assistance with child care and identifying and documenting challenges in the youth s life including homelessness residing with a substance user or in an unstable home environment in order to determine if the youth needs supportive services such as transportation child care assistance or counseling services. ETA encourages case managers and other youth providers to review the Toolkit for Effective Front Line Services to Youth for effective approaches to conducting participant assessments. This Toolkit is designed to enhance the quality of youth services and can be useful to all professionals assisting youth in developing the knowledge and skills to succeed in a 21 st century economy. A number of online tools are available to assess interests abilities career maturity or work readiness skills. For example The Casey Family Programs Foundation http casey.org Resources Tools has a number of life skills assessment tools available for free online. Additional resources are listed in the Tools and Resources section of this TEGL. When barriers to employment are substantial it may be necessary to seek assistance from external resources such as professionals in special education the behavioral substance abuse and mental health fields or experts on physical and mental abuse. Case managers can benefit from training in recognizing the need for a more specialized formal assessment. Examples of barriers include Learning disabilities There are ways in which a youth can compensate for the challenges of a learning disability through identification and appropriate accommodations. Many state and local literacy councils have expertise in recognizing disabilities and assisting in minimizing the impact of these types of disabilities and can prove to be a valuable partner. To identify assistance in this area you may search the Literacy Information and Communication System LINCS Web site at http lincs.ed.gov programs learningtoachieve learningtoachieve.html . See the Toolkit for Effective Front Line Services to Youth and TEGL No. 31-10 Increasing Enrollment and Improving Services to Youth with Disabilities at http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3037 for more information on identifying and serving youth with learning disabilities. Potential behavioral health issues including substance abuse e.g. risky alcohol use and mental health issues e.g. depression Since behavioral health issues are complex and can impact the overall health and well-being of the youth WIA youth providers should have a list of mental health and substance abuse professionals who they 6 know can respond to the needs of these youth. Developing partnerships and leveraging resources within these fields at the local and state levels can result in a wrap-around provision of services to the youth and support desired outcomes for youth in the WIA program. ETA recommends local providers consider using brief screening tools to help identify behavioral health issues followed by a referral to appropriate providers if needed. To learn more about the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration s SAMHSA Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment approach see SAMHSA s Web page at http www.samhsa.gov prevention sbirt . For a list of mental health facilities in your area see the SAMHSA Mental Health Service Locator at http store.samhsa.gov mhlocator . For a list of substance abuse treatment facilities in your area see SAMHSA s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator at http findtreatment.samhsa.gov . B. Developing an ISS The WIA Youth program requires every youth participant to have an ISS. As outlined in WIA section 129 c 1 B the ISS represents an individual plan for each young person that includes 1 an employment goal including when appropriate employment in a non- traditional vocation 2 appropriate achievement objectives including educational goals and 3 appropriate services that take into account what is learned from the objective assessment. The ISS is the basis for the overall case management strategy. The case manager should utilize the ISS to update strategies and activities as they occur and to document referral and contact information for services obtained from partner organizations. When reviewing the ISS case managers should document a youth s progress activities completed benchmarks reached and any other accomplishments. Additionally the ISS should be developed in partnership with the youth used as a tool that can and will change over time as necessary to meet the needs of the young person used as a roadmap to achieve measurable and attainable short-term and long-term goals and designed to reflect the young person s interests and incorporate career pathway planning. ETA encourages case managers and other youth providers to review the Toolkit for Effective Front Line Services to Youth for effective approaches to developing an ISS. For sample ISS documents see ETA s Youth Connections Community of Practice on Workforce 3One at https youth.workforce3one.org page resources 1001200332592308266 . Additional samples are provided in the Tools and Resources section of this TEGL. C. Increasing Youth Engagement and Retention in Programs Due to many of the previously discussed issues and challenges facing young people in the workforce system engaging and retaining youth participants in a WIA Youth program can be challenging. ETA encourages providers to explore strategies that have been found to increase engagement and retention such as 7 integrating work experience and training with academic instruction offering career pathways options see the Career Pathways Toolkit for a step-by-step outline to building career pathways at https learnwork.workforce3one.org view 2001134052969836533 info providing WIA Youth program staff with strategies for developing caring and sincere relationships with youth during the program and throughout the follow-up period considering strategies that allow participants to earn a wage or stipend connecting youth to outside organizations and agencies that can provide supportive services and providing opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills team-building attributes and positive peer support to create a sense of belonging and assist in the development of positive relationships with staff and peers that will continue into the follow-up period. Local examples of strategies to engage and retain youth include Offering Career Pathways Opportunities The San Diego Workforce Partnership s Bridges to Success Career Pathways Program. http workforce.org . This program allows students to complete their high school diploma and or earn a license in an allied health field while also providing them with a paid summer internship opportunity in a health care setting. Student participants receive extended training in skill development summer classes that link content with careers and individual tutors to increase their knowledge in the Science Technology Engineering and Math STEM fields. Providing Services at Flexible Meeting Locations The Coastal Counties Workforce Investment Board - Goodwill. http coastalcounties.org workforce dev page.php id 15 . Goodwill WIA staff work to retain youth in programming by meeting youth at convenient locations in their communities. If youth are unable to meet at a Workforce Solutions Center staff will meet youth in a variety of locations to ensure geographical limitations are not an issue. Locations for meetings include local businesses libraries other service provider offices schools work experience sites shelters jails and detention centers. D. Providing Quality Follow-up Services As stated in WIA section 129 c 2 I providing follow-up services is one of the 10 program elements for all local workforce areas that serve WIA youth participants and follow-up services must be provided for not less than 12 months after the completion of participation. WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.450 further state that all youth must receive some form of follow-up services and that the types scope and duration of services must be based on the individual needs of each youth. ETA monitoring reports show that follow-up as a program element continues to challenge local workforce systems. When making distinctions between follow-up services and follow-up activities states and local areas should remember that Follow-up services provide support and guidance after placement to facilitate 1 sustained employment and educational achievement 2 advancement along a job and or 8 educational ladder and 3 personal development. Follow-up services include a broad range of activities identified as effective approaches such as a developing a close trusting relationship before and after placement b providing intensive support and case management during the first part of the follow-up period since job loss and other setbacks may occur early in the post-program time period c providing engaging activities to help young people stay connected to program staff d providing supportive services as appropriate and e maintaining contact with employers of youth and providing the necessary support to both employers and youth to ensure that youth remain employed. Follow-up activities refer to contacts or attempted contacts for the purpose of securing documentation for the case file in order to report a performance outcome. Follow-up activities can assist with the provision of follow-up services however a follow-up activity is not a follow-up service and should not be recorded as such. In PY 2011 WIA Youth Program Guidance TEGL 30-10 http wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3034 ETA provided examples of follow-up services strategies to encourage local areas to go beyond capturing participant data to help local practitioners ensure participant success. ETA encourages local areas to review TEGLs 9-00 and 30-10 for follow-up strategies. TEGL 30-10 also addresses the use of social media for engaging youth. Additionally strategies for addressing follow-up services can be found in the Toolkit for Effective Front Line Services to Youth. Local examples of strategies to reach youth and stay connected during the follow-up period include Providing a Safe Drop-In Resource Center Cleveland Ohio s Employment Connection. http www.employmentconnection.us en-US youth.aspx . The local workforce investment area provider in Cleveland Ohio Employment Connection has established a Youth Resource Center YRC . The YRC is a drop-in location safe place that young people can gather while enrolled in the program and during the follow-up period. It operates as a mini-one-stop center and provides access to case managers workshops access to GED preparation job postings and job search tools and referrals to and from other partner programs among other services. By offering this extra layer of support staff is more successful in providing extended and quality follow-up services. Integrating the Use of Social Media Eastern Maine Development Corp. http www.emdc.org index.php id 37 sub id 167 . Case managers at Eastern Maine Development Corp have integrated the use of social media primarily Facebook into their daily work as a communications tool. Participants who do not respond to traditional outreach methods e.g. phone text message email or in-person meetings have shown an increased willingness to respond to electronic inquiries made via Facebook. This tool also allows for more frequent communication with both enrolled participants and those receiving follow-up services particularly those who are transient or who have transportation barriers. 9 E. Offering Leadership Development Activities Making leadership development opportunities available to youth is a required element of WIA Youth programming. Leadership development opportunities are defined in the WIA regulations 20 C.F.R. 664.420 as opportunities that encourage responsibility employability and other positive social behaviors such as a exposure to postsecondary educational opportunities b community and service learning projects c peer-centered activities including peer mentoring and tutoring d organizational and team work training including team leadership training e training in decision-making including determining priorities and g life skills training such as parenting work behavior training and budgeting of resources. Hands-on and youth-led types of activities are key components of leadership development programs. Opportunities for youth to take on various roles such as leader organizer speaker and evaluator are integral to leadership development programs. Additionally youth leadership programs should have an obvious connection to the community at-large and relationships with other youth-serving organizations. Other examples of appropriate opportunities for youth include serving on boards or committees or participating in the leadership development process and strategic planning. ETA encourages local areas to review the resources provided in this TEGL to identify effective strategies for offering leadership development activities. Examples of leadership development strategies include Establishing Leadership Development Groups Central Minnesota Jobs Training Services CMJTS . http www.cmjts.org . CMJTS has several Leadership Development Groups throughout the local workforce area. A Leadership Development Group is youth-focused and youth-driven and is facilitated by CMJTS Youth Program staff. The purpose of the Leadership Development group is to bring a small group of youth together to learn leadership skills teamwork and communication skills by planning community service and volunteer projects and field trips for the group and their peers to community businesses and or postsecondary institutions. The group establishes their own visions and goals for the program. As a group youth plan community service projects which involve research organization and completion of the project. Youth meet with staff twice a week after school. Offering Leadership Development as a Key Program Component YouthBuild. https www.workforce3one.org view 5001032645768451617 info . YouthBuild a program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor offers leadership development as a key component of the program. YouthBuild participants share the governance of their program and active participation in community affairs. Youth identify improvements that could be made in their communities through service projects. Youth connect with community groups working on similar issues and learn practical strategies for affecting change in the neighborhoods and communities where they live and work. Many YouthBuild programs also run Community Leadership Committees that offer community projects outside of the YouthBuild program. These committees often run tutoring programs coach little leagues give presentations in local public schools and 10 sponsor city-wide conferences on issues of critical importance to the community such as staying in school teen pregnancy drugs and other health issues. YouthBuild Atlantic City for example organized a citywide conference of about 200 youth on crime and violence drugs and AIDS homelessness and jobs. F. Offering or Partnering to Provide Adult Mentoring Mentoring is another one of the 10 program elements that must be made available to youth under the WIA Youth program. As stated in WIA regulations at 20 C.F.R. 664.410 local programs must make adult mentoring services available to youth participants for at least 12 months. These services can occur both during and after program participation. It is important to remember that providing adult mentoring services is not the same as providing case management and should not be recorded as such. As defined in WIA section 101 5 case management is designed to prepare and coordinate comprehensive employment plans for participants to ensure access to necessary workforce investment activities and supportive services and to provide job and career counseling during program participation and after job placement. Adult mentoring services can include matching a youth with an employer in a workplace- based mentoring model in which the focus is on career development positive adult professional role models and the work environment. It can also include a commonly used model in which a youth is matched with an adult who focuses on the social development of the youth assists the youth in building positive self-esteem and encourages family support. Adult mentoring can be implemented in a number of ways a in a group where one mentor has several mentees b by a small team of partnering mentors where a mentee may have more than one mentor or c one-to-one mentoring where one mentor is matched with one mentee. WIA programs can either seek to connect to existing mentoring services or provide mentoring services using WIA Youth funds. Under either approach programs must establish partnerships and engage the community to identify key persons and resources to help structure the mentoring services. A survey of the literature including literature from the Federal Mentoring Council www.federalmentoringcouncil.gov finds successful mentoring programs conduct thorough screening orientation and training as well as provide support and supervision to potential mentors. Other key components to explore when providing mentoring include utilizing stable networks to recruit mentors including the faith-based community professional organizations and businesses providing separate mentor and mentee orientations where roles and expectations are clearly outlined providing intensive supervision by paid staff to support mentors and the mentoring relationship and encouraging parental support and the infusion of the mentoring relationship into the youth s larger family school and community life. 11 To increase the quantity and quality of mentoring services available for WIA Youth ETA encourages local workforce investment areas to identify existing mentoring programs and connect WIA youth to those services. If those programs are not serving older or out-of- school youth partnering with the organization in order to strategize how they may expand services may also be beneficial. For additional information on mentoring services there are a number of resources and tools on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website www.FindYouthInfo.gov in the topic section titled Mentoring that can assist in structuring the program. 6. Tools and Resources . Below are resources related to topics discussed in this TEGL to help better serve WIA Youth participants. Youth Connections Community of Practice CoP Created in July 2010 this resource provides an interactive platform for youth workforce and youth development professionals to discuss and share promising practices and provide technical assistance on workforce issues targeted toward youth. http youth.workforce3one.org . Find Youth Info This resource was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs IWGYP which is composed of representatives from 12 Federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth. IWGYP promotes the goal of positive healthy outcomes for youth. http www.findyouthinfo.gov . National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials NCRTM NCRTM serves the profession of Vocational Rehabilitation as a centralized resource for the development collection dissemination and utilization of training materials as a forum for advancing knowledge through applied research and open dialogue and as a marketplace for career and staff development. https ncrtm.org . Career Pathways Community of Practice A diverse collection of resources and materials has been compiled by ETA to help states and local areas develop effective career pathways initiatives. https learnwork.workforce3one.org . Career Assessment Systems Provides resources on vocational services and services for the injured and disabled. http www.careersystem.org index.htm . LearningWork Connection Center for Learning Excellence The Information Brief Goal Setting in WIA Youth Programs produced by the Ohio State University provides information on how to assist youth in setting goals when developing an ISS in WIA Youth programs. http jfs.ohio.gov owd WorkforceProf Youth Docs Infobrief39 GoalSetting 20Final.pdf . Wisconsin Division of Workforce Development DWD DWD developed this PowerPoint which describes for workforce professionals how to develop an ISS in WIA Youth programs. http dwd.wisconsin.gov dwdwia youth ppts iss.ppt . 12 Oklahoma Employment and Training Issuance 07-2006-Change 1 The state of Oklahoma created this policy to establish the minimum standards for ISS procedures to be developed and adopted by each WIA Title I Youth program. http www.ok.gov oesc web documents 07-2006 Change 1.pdf . Follow-Up Services Handbook - A Technical Assistance Guide for Minnesota WIA Youth Practitioners This Handbook contains a compilation of resources to assist caseworkers and staff with follow-up procedures. http www.positivelyminnesota.com Programs Services Youth Services PDF WIA Follow -Up Services Hbook.pdf . YouthBuild - Leadership Development Learning Community This site provides access to leadership development resources and allows users to interact with participating YouthBuild programs to learn about other leadership development activities. https youthbuild.org leadership-development-community-resources . Leadership Link The Ohio State University Extension Leadership Center has developed the Five Principles of Effective Youth Leadership Development Programs. Twenty-five leading practitioners participated in a survey to attempt to identify a limited set of core principles that guide the development and assessment of youth leadership programs. http leadershipcenter.osu.edu library publications leadership-link 1996 files spr 96.pdf . Youth Development Youth Leadership The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth created this paper to assist youth service practitioners administrators and policy makers in defining differentiating and providing youth development and youth leadership programs and activities which are important components of WIA. http www.nj.gov dcf behavioral providers YouthDevelopment.pdf . Paving the Way to Work - A Guide to Career-Focused Mentoring The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth developed a guide intended for individuals designing mentoring programs for youth including youth with disabilities in the transition phase to adulthood. http www.ncwd-youth.info paving-the-way-to-work . Blazing the Trail - A New Direction for Youth Development Leadership Call to Action National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth Institute for Educational Leadership developed this report which provides a summary of a national event aimed at enhancing youth development and leadership strategies for youth with disabilities. http www.ncwd-youth.info sites default files Blazing the Trail Youth Call-to-Action.pdf . OnGuardOnline OnGuardOnline.gov is the Federal government s website to help youth be safe secure and responsible online. The resource provides guidance on how to avoid scams secure your computer protect kids online and be smart online. This website is managed by The Federal Trade Commission in partnership with a number of other Federal agencies. http onguardonline.gov . 13 7. Inquiries . Questions regarding this guidance should be directed to the appropriate ETA regional office.