FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) provides support to education providers, workforce trainers, and their local partners to improve education and employment outcomes for youth aged 18-24 involved with the criminal legal system. Using a statistical lens, this document details the impact of NIWL’s five U.S. Department of Labor-funded Compass Rose Collaborative re-entry programs operating between 2017 and 2024.
Audience: Youth Navigators (Counselors, Parents, Service Providers, Volunteers)
Next Engineers inspires young people to pursue engineering through hands-on activities, skills development, and career coaching. Funded by the GE Aerospace Foundation, the $45 million, 10-year program equips young people with the tools and the opportunity to advance along the pathway towards a career in engineering.
FHI 360’s team of education and workforce development experts designed programs to propel students towards further engineering education, developed a library of teaching and learning materials, and currently manages a network of organizations worldwide that delivers these programs alongside GE Aerospace and GE Vernova volunteers.
For Second Chance month, we spoke to Olivia Murphy, who serves as senior career coach (and now youth program manager) for The Spot: Young Adult Opportunity Center in Louisville, KY. The story highlights how KentuckianaWorks navigates the challenges of life after incarceration, and how their impact encourages people to embrace second chances.
Read the full story to learn more.
Honoring the Past to Empower the Future reviews the landscape of holistic and inclusive approaches to trauma-informed and healing-centered care for youth as implemented by tribal governments and organizations. Approaches that incorporate medicinal practices and cultural values, focus on the healing power of empathy, draw on the wisdom of elders and spiritual leaders, and embrace the rehabilitative potential of community engagement help to promote an environment of healing, recovery, and growth. Read the article to learn more.
As part of our Apprenticeship Programs, FHI 360 is partnering with New Ways to Work to develop a Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Counselor Apprenticeship. This apprenticeship equips direct services employers with the resources they need to recruit workers with life experiences relevant to the communities they serve.
Through a combination of paid on-the-job learning (OJL) and coursework, apprentices will gain an alternative, rigorous, and rewarding point of entry into a profession that traditionally requires post-secondary education. Upon completion, program participants receive a national credential from the U.S. Department of Labor. To learn more, read our fact sheet.
As part of our Apprenticeship Programs, FHI 360’s Peer Support Specialist Apprenticeship partners with the Public Works Alliance (PWA) to train apprentices who have experienced recovery from personal and societal challenges. These include substance use disorder, PTSD, the re-entry process, and many other challenges. This shared experience enables apprentices to support others who are going through similar hardships.
By partnering with FHI 360, employers can use this apprenticeship to reinforce a holistic approach in their mental health services. Apprentices who complete their apprenticeship earn a national credential from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). To learn more, consult our fact sheet.
FHI 360’s NIWL Apprenticeships bring together experts in workforce development to expand existing nationally registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs), such as the Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship (YDPA) and develop new opportunities within the care economy such as youth services, peer support, substance-use counseling, and mental health counseling.
Upon completion, apprentices receive a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor. Read the fact sheet to learn more.
“To me, that’s the biggest message with this apprenticeship — this is the perfect way to learn how to change lives.”
As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2024, we highlight two Lake County Youth Development Practitioner Apprentices who use their work to break the cycles of trauma and heal their communities: Luis Garcia Jr. and Jenessa Armstrong. Click here to read about their journeys in becoming the person they wanted to have in their corner growing up.
FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) partners with federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, community-based organizations, education and workforce agencies and community members to design, implement and evaluate social programs. Along the way, we and our partners learn alongside one another to develop our collective capacities to advance well-being through data-driven, locally led solutions — so that humanity thrives.
FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning partners with federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, the private sector, and civil society to improve the education and employment outcomes of young adults, ages 18 through 24, during and after involvement in the U.S. criminal justice system. Read this overview of our comprehensive services.