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For December, 2009 Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center in West Chester was awarded $114,633.00 in Community Service Block Grant funding for the 2010 program year by the Chester County Board of Commissioners. Community Service Block Grants are awarded each year after a competitive review process in response to a Request for Proposals issued by the Chester County Department of Community Development. The Chester County Department of Community Development (DCD) administers Federal, State and County funds to address affordable housing, homeless assistance, community and economic development, job training and provides career services at the CareerLink in Coatesville. Chester County OIC's Preparing for Independence Program will receive $41,235.00 to continue providing work-readiness skill building and employment counseling activities to low income unemployed and underemployed Chester County residents. The Certified Nurse Assistant Program will receive $43,398.00, which is an increase of over $15,000.00 from the 2009 program year to train eligible Chester County residents to become licensed direct care workers in this high priority health care industry. The GED/MoveUp Program will receive $30,000.00 in CSBG/ARRA funding for the period from January 1 through September 30, 2010 to provide GED instruction and contextualized workplace readiness skills to EARN (an adult welfare to work skills training program) recipients and Coatesville area community members. This is the first year that this activity has been awarded funding from this source. These funding awards recognize that Chester County OIC has provided high quality, effective programming that has served the needs of the Chester County community for the past 30 years. New Weatherization Program The Weatherization Program which is managed by the state Department of Community and Economic Development, partners Chester County OIC, The Chester County Workforce Investment Board, PA CareerLink in Coatesville and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology of Lancaster to train Chester County residents, who pass the program's assessments and receive a voucher letter from the state, as certified weatherization technicians. There are three levels of certification: installer, crew chief and auditor. Each level will require a specific assessment level to enter, as well as, a specific length of training time before achieving certification. Chester County OIC is coordinating the Weatherization Program, which includes recruitment, case management and work-readiness and remediation services. The PA CareerLink in Coatesville is providing the student eligibility assessment. The Chester County WIB assisted OIC in organizing the orientation session held in December at the CareerLink in Coatesville. Over 60 people attended the information to learn about the training program. Candidates were informed about the possible working conditions and the amount of physical labor that a weatherization job entails and the type of homes, especially older homes that may be in significant disrepair. CC-OIC will be working closely with area employers to transition the certified workers into jobs. Please contact Ceil Harkness or Lorraine Fillippo at 610-692-2344 for further information. |