1005          JOB DEVELOPMENT

Alaska has a demanding and competitive labor market. Many ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program clients have strong skills, but for a variety of reasons may be competitive in the labor market. Other clients may have little experience in the labor market or the experience they have had may not be consistent or positive. Job Development (JD) is employment advocacy, connecting employers to workers that need assistance to have a competitive edge in getting jobs leading to self-sufficiency.

Job Development placements provide the opportunity for individuals to gain work experience and practical workplace skills in a range of occupations. The JDJob Developer placement can be a chance for people to gain exposure to the workplace or it can be part of career exploration for more experienced workers. It is important for the client, and the Work Services staff providing support, monitoring, and guidance, to consider the Job Development placement as employment. These placements offer opportunities to build skills and gain local and current work references.

There are two effective strategies for Job Development. A Work Services provider (WSP) may start with the client and explore their skills and interests first before seeking an appropriate work site. Alternately, the WSPWork Services Provider may develop multiple sites and have a variety of options available into which the client may be placed. The most successful JDJob Developer programs will use a mix of these two strategies.

Federal regulations require that clients who are not working, not exempt, and not otherwise meeting the participation rate by the time they have received their second month of assistance must participate in a minimum of 20 hours a week of one of the Job Development activities described in MS 1005-1 through 1005-5. If a client is meeting participation through other activities, see MS 1002 and MS 1003-2, they are not required to leave their activity to enter a Job Development activity.

Work Services providers must describe in their internal procedures manual how they will staff the various roles in the Job Development process and facilitate the communication between staff to ensure the success of clients and placements.

Note:

Clients working part-time should be assigned additional work activities so they can meet their 40 hour per week requirement.