ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Adult and Community Programs includes
3 divisions: Adult Education; Workplace Education; and Employment and Training. We offer a range of free education classes to residents, ages 17+, from our 21 Adult Education Consortium-member towns. Classes include high school completion, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), American Citizenship, life and basic skills, and college transition support. Community Education offers certificate training and workplace education. Employment and Training manages 2 regional American Job Centers, provides free employment assistance and training for job-seekers, oversees the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and administers job-training programs for the region’s youth.
2020-2021 HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Adult Education
Our programs served 3,046 adults, including 541 who participated in free High School Credentialing, ESL, Citizenship and our Program Enhancement Project (PEP) grants.
High School Credential
We offered 3 ways to complete high school: the GED; the Adult High School Credit Diploma Program (CDP); and the National External Diploma Program (NEDP).
• GED: English and Spanish GED classes will graduate 37 students in June 2021.
• NEDP: Enrollment in this individualized, online portfolio option is expanding; 3 students are expected to graduate in June.
• CDP: Blended instruction and online classrooms increased course
“EASTCONN Adult
Education’s ability to adapt to this [pandemic] crisis built a support system for me that I can always depend on. My next step is enrolling in community college to study environmental science; then I plan to transfer to a state college to study political science.” – S.B., Adult GED Student
options for CDP students; 17 students are expected to graduate.
EASTCONN Annual Board Update 2021
Adult & Community Programs 1.
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS | 2020-2021
English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Programs
Online platforms supported by on-site learning labs, technology bootcamps, and distance-learning orientations supported flexible instruction that resulted in more than 75% of ESL students demonstrating improved skills. By leveraging the power of distance education and by providing access to technology loan programs, EASTCONN served 83 ESL students this year.
Multi-Generational Learning Initiative
This regional, multi-generational program combines academic instruction, work-readiness, and positive parenting strategies for parents, with high-quality educational programming for children. This year, we collaborated with partners throughout the region to Zoom both morning and evening “Story Time” sessions, as well as to sponsor guest speakers on important topics like housing rights, COVID updates and engaging science projects that can be created at home.
Citizenship & Immigration
Many of our students are non-U.S. citizens, who benefit from efforts to incorporate preparation for the Immigration and Naturalization Service exam into their English language classes. We are very proud of this year’s students, who persevered through the closures and were able to complete the citizenship process.
“The program is magnificent – every student can
work at their own pace ... Everyone at EASTCONN is wonderful – great community – they are very helpful and always happy to see us. It feels good to walk in the door here. The staff try to speak to you in English to help your learning, but will speak in Spanish if you don’t understand.” – Gnuyen Zugarazo, Adult ESL Student 2. Adult & Community Programs
“The most valuable part is, I’m feeling more secure about my future.”
Maria Lázaro, ESL/Spanish GED student; 2021 CAACE Learner of the Year Award Winner Program Enhancement Project (PEP) Grants
We were awarded 7 competitive PEP grants from the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). Through partnerships with the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board (EWIB), Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC), school districts, Family Resource Centers, libraries, and other non-profit and social services agencies, these funds provided specialized services to 147 eligible students. Highlights included:
• Integrated Education & Training: Through
increased access to technology platforms and tools, 5 students are simultaneously earning their GED and a nationally recognized manufacturing certificate in the Manufacturing Academy.
• National External Diploma (NEDP): Through
a partnership with ECSU, our NEDP students have access to individual tutoring; one of our NEDP graduates was named Learner of the Year by the Conn. Association of Adult and Continuing Education.
Technology Access
Through a technology loan program, we were able to loan out Chromebooks, iPads, and other necessary technology to nearly 100 individuals in our region, facilitating their access to classes and employability services. Through the Community Foundation’s Neighbor to Neighbor grant, we were able to give 30 Chromebook and 4 MyFi units to students and/or American Job Center customers to access adult education, post-secondary education and training, and employment services. EASTCONN Annual Board Update 2021
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS | 2020-2021
“In 2020 my life changed at almost 40 years old ... I lost my job.
All at once I hit rock bottom. These people [at the American Job Center] probably to this day still do not even know the positive impact they had on my life and I will never forget them.” – Lisa Parks, American Job Center Client
Employment & Training
In Partnership with the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board (EWIB)
EASTCONN continued as the regional leader for workforce development in partnership with EWIB through the American Job Centers. Through EWIB funding, EASTCONN provides regional oversight in the delivery of programs and services for economically disadvantaged, unemployed and under-employed adults, as well as in-school and out-ofschool-youth job-seekers. To extend services throughout the eastern Connecticut region, EASTCONN subcontracts with Thames Valley Council for Community Action, Norwich Human Services and Adult Education, and New London Youth Affairs and Adult Education. The pandemic suspended mandatory job-search requirements for the Jobs First Employment Services (JFES) program; however, EASTCONN continued serving 390 individuals receiving cash benefits. Job search, training funding and support services were provided remotely to 36 job-seekers through the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program; and another 1,157 through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), 210 of whom found jobs, despite the pandemic’s impact on the local economy. Specialized Human Services Navigators referred 400 adult job-seekers to community programs.
In-Demand Services for Job-Seekers
In partnership with EWIB through our American Job Center locations: • 156 adults received person-centered case management, support services and job development through the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG). • EASTCONN provided Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative (MPI) and HPOG Health Career Pipeline
virtual bootcamps, merging students from across the region and state into a single, virtual classroom, expediting students’ access to classes and creating an efficient learning system. • 20 employment and training staff were trained to provide virtual case management services. These virtual service offerings, designed out of necessity, have grown into a valuable resource for job-seekers and adult students with child care, transportation and scheduling obligations that made in-person services difficult to access. • 21 students received their National Retail Foundation certificate in our Out-of-School Youth Program; 15 youth received COVID-19 and health-related, nationally recognized credentials as part of the CARES Act Youth Employment Program; and 402 young adults received soft-skills instruction in the Youth Employment and Training Program.
“I was able to complete the program and pass the national and state exam on my first try. I wouldn’t have been able to succeed without the help of the Job Center. I am more than grateful and thankful for all [they] have done for me to help me get my life back. I plan on going further and pursuing my goal to become a paramedic. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a fresh start and getting my life back.” – Denise O., American Job Center, HPOG Health Career Pipeline Adult Client
1,157 adults received job-search & training support through the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA); 210 participants found jobs EASTCONN Annual Board Update 2021
Adult & Community Programs 3.
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS | 2020-2021
“During the program, I received many forms of assistance, such as job employment seeking, résumé-building
workshops, driver education, technology assistance and career exploration. This organization helped me grow immensely because I started off without any knowledge of the working environment ... and now I can effectively seek out jobs and highlight my skills to better fit into a job position.” – Jasmine Rivard, In-School-Youth Student; Co-Enrolled with CARES Youth and HPOG
Customized Workplace Training
correctional residential services. Content included CPR/First Aid, applied digital literacy skills and career planning.
In addition to pre-designed virtual training, which served 18 individuals, staff developed contracts for customized, on-site and/or virtual workplace education programs, including:
• ESL for Supervisors: Provided contextualized
ESL instruction for 20 team leaders at Bob’s Furniture Warehouse.
• ServSafe: Trained 12 individuals in both Hartford
and Fairfield counties through partnerships with youth correctional residential services.
• Customer Service: Trained 39 individuals at
• Work Readiness: Provided long-term, scaffolded, work-readiness training to 4 individuals in Windham County through a partnership with local youth
residential treatment and recovery centers for women with children. This training included both Customer Service and Advanced Customer Service, as well as workplace readiness and basic work technology.
PLANS & IMPLICATIONS FOR 2021-2022
WORKPLACE
We will expand our collaborative relationships with area employers in order to provide contextualized, on-site academic skills enhancement, credentialing and/or training.
4. Adult & Community Programs
ADULT EDUCATION
We will implement the new PEP grants, strengthen systems to follow up with “exiters,” and prepare our Credit Diploma Program for increased credit requirements in alignment with changing state expectations.
EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING
We will develop EASTCONN’s Employment and Training Services to incorporate easily accessible, web-based, job-search service opportunities over the long-term.
EASTCONN Annual Board Update 2021