May 2022

Happy 6th Anniversary!

It’s our 6th Anniversary here at WorkforceGPS and we are glad you are a registered user of our website. The purpose of WorkforceGPS—an online technical assistance website that helps build the capacity of America's public workforce investment system—continues to be more important than ever.

Over the past six years we have grown in both users—over 100,000--and diversity of content and continue to host hundreds of useful webinars each year. In addition, new content is posted daily that includes resources, promising practices, and relevant evidence-based research, all with the goal of giving you the tools you need to assist you in doing your job.

One of the major sections of WorkforceGPS are the Communities which offer you the chance to find resources on specific topics, programs, or initiatives—all while engaging with peers matters that most interest you. We currently have over 40 Communities that include several Department of Labor grantees that provide and promote interaction between grant colleagues. Some of the Communities serve as a centralized source of information on performance reporting or evaluation or funding programs that serve specific groups such as Veterans, Indian & Native Americans, and Job Corps. Each week during the month of May we will be highlighting these Communities.

As we look ahead into our sixth year, we look forward to continuing to provide you with a wealth of useful resources. Thank you for your continued interest and support and let us know how we can be of additional assistance by sending us an email at support@workforcegps.org.

Expanding the scope and scale of modern apprenticeship requires exponential growth in the number of Registered Apprenticeship Programs and apprentices. To achieve growth of this magnitude, apprenticeship teams need access to businesses and potential apprentices at scale, as well as federal and state funding to support apprentice success and business startup of Registered Apprenticeship Programs. The workforce development system can provide that. A new resource, Aligning the Registered Apprenticeship and Workforce Development Systems, helps state apprenticeship teams and workforce development system partners understand the structure of each other's work and explore strategies to strengthen alignment.

In related news, a new landing page on our Apprenticeship Community compiles and makes it easier to find this and many other resources on WorkforceGPS that support state efforts to better align Registered Apprenticeship with workforce development and educational systems.

The YouthBuild Office has created a video that features women from U.S. Department of Labor programs -- including staff, current participants, and alumnae -- sharing how YouthBuild has impacted their career pathway journeys. YouthBuild uniquely champions women through career exploration, partnerships, support, mentoring, leadership, and education. The video was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Throughout the month of April, the Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) Community highlighted resources and tools for the reentry population and service providers. This coincided with the celebration of Second Chance Month in April where the focus was on the importance of reentry and the individuals, communities and agencies who contribute to making reentry safe and successful. Check out this page to access a number of resources that have been created to assist individuals as they return to the workforce.