Communities And Workforce Development Edwin Melendez by Edwin Melendez 9780880993173, 9781417596317, 0880993170, 1417596317 instant download after payment.

During the 1990s, several factors led to the emergence of a new breed of labor market intermediaries (LMIs). The growing demand for workers, the effects of welfare reform, and the revamping of federal employment and training programs under the Workforce Investment Act led LMIs to become more active, competitive, and specialized in their workforce development activities. This volume reveals how, as a result of policy reforms at the national, state, and local levels, programming by different institutions converged with innovative professional practices to transform the employment services industry. The contributors show how these reforms spurred employment service providers to substantially revamp their operations by promoting the principles of universal access, integration of federal funding streams, devolution of policy to local authorities, and work-first as a starting point for employment services. As a result, many new programs were started by nontraditional institutions, traditional programs underwent rapid transformations, and some providers exited the industry. The studies presented here constitute a first step towards a comprehensive assessment of the role that community organizations played in revamping the employment services industry. Most importantly, they show how a new style of labor market intermediary has evolved from focusing almost exclusively on the provision of employment services to job seekers to simultaneously addressing the needs of both job seekers and employers.