Celebrating 40 Years 1980~2020
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Adult and Community Programs includes
3 divisions: Adult Education; Community Education; and Employment and Training. We offer a range of free adult 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.
COVID-19 Response
Adult Programs students, graduates and staff participated in the statewide No Excuses March for Education this year, representing a range of EASTCONN programs that served thousands of NE CT adults.
These Program Goal Highlights represent descriptions and data from the education and employment programs that EASTCONN provided its adult students and job-seekers both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, Adult Programs quickly shifted its educationdelivery methodologies as staff turned to distance-learning and new communication strategies in order to continue serving the training and education needs of adult residents across the region. Learn more about Adult & Community Programs and its work during the pandemic by reading the COVID-19 Response Supplement insert.
2019-2020 HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS Adult Education
• GED: English and Spanish GED classes will graduate
Our programs served 2,651 adults, including 652 who participated in free High School Credentialing, ESL, Citizenship and Program Enhancement Project (PEP) grants.
• NEDP: Enrollment in this individualized, online
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); altogether, 404 students enrolled pre-COVID. (Please see the COVID-19 Response Supplement for more data.)
32 students in June 2020.
portfolio option is expanding; 3 students are expected to graduate in June.
• CDP: Blended instruction and online
classrooms increased course options for CDP students; 13 students are expected to graduate.
www.eastconn.org 1.
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
Over 400 students enrolled in EASTCONN’s free Adult Education high school credentialing programs this year. By making the decision to complete their high school education, newly minted graduates expand their options, with clearer paths to post-secondary education and skills-building programs, as well as to better-paying jobs and greater lifetime earnings.
English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Programs
We continued expanding the integration of workplace readiness into our ESL classrooms. Online platforms and community partnerships supported flexible instruction that resulted in more than 75% of ESL students demonstrating improved skills. By mid-March, Community Learning Centers had served about 210 ESL students. After COVID-19 closures, we continued to serve 85 ESL students virtually, 4 of whom were new registrants.
Multi-Generational Learning Initiative
This regional, multi-generational program combines GED, Spanish GED and/or ESL instruction for parents. Parents and children can access essential education services, while parents develop work-readiness skills and positive parenting strategies. Child care is included through partnerships with Head Start, Early Head Start, Family Resource Centers, member districts and Eastern Connecticut State University. Using a family-centered model also creates opportunities for the collaborative delivery of other services, such as transportation and credentialing classes.
Citizenship & Immigration
Many of our students are non-U.S. citizens, who benefit from efforts to integrate preparation for the Immigration and Naturalization Service exam into their English language classes.
Literacy Tutors
We launched a Literacy Tutors program to help our preliterate students prepare for success in beginning ESL classes. This program provides training and supervision for tutors, pairing them with individuals in our ESL pathway. Our first volunteers came from ECSU and have paired with students in our Windham Family Literacy class. We will continue to expand Literacy Tutors regionally.
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 150+ eligible students. Highlights include:
• Transition to Post-Secondary Opportunities:
5 students enrolled in a CDP class held at ECSU in order to bridge the transition from Adult Education to the college experience.
• Integrated Education & Training: Through a
partnership with Windham Heights, 6 students are simultaneously earning their GED and a nationallyrecognized manufacturing certificate in the community-based Manufacturing Academy.
• National External Diploma: Through a partnership
“Now I can read to my children in English.” - Vivian Nieves, Adult ESL student 2. www.eastconn.org
with ECSU, NEDP students now have access to a robust tutoring center; 2 students have enrolled in NEDP through a national pilot program that allows accelerated access to the assessment process.
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
The Customer Service Academy provides both unemployed and under-employed adults with a career pathway in customer service and the opportunity to earn a National Retail Foundation credential. With no income eligibility requirements, the program also offers paid internships, job development, child care reimbursement and transportation, all funded by a generous Walmart grant.
Employment & Training
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 Center. EWIB subcontracts with Thames Valley Council for Community Action, Norwich Human Services and Adult Education, and New London Youth Affairs and Adult Education, and gives EASTCONN regional oversight in the delivery of a wide variety of programs and services for economically disadvantaged, unemployed and under-employed adults, as well as in-school and out-of-school-youth job-seekers. EASTCONN served 156 individuals through Jobs First Employment Services (JFES); 38 job-seekers through the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program; and another 1,241 through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), 330 of whom have found jobs. Specialized Human Services Navigators referred 450 adult job-seekers to community programs. American Job Centers provide employment assistance to job seekers through free employment and career guidance, job search information, skills-building courses, and on-the-job training opportunities. See the COVID-19 Response Supplement for AJC services data during the pandemic.
2,600+ Adults served through Adult & Community Programs
In-Demand Services for Job-Seekers
Pre-COVID-19, and in partnership with EWIB through our American Job Center locations:
• 134 adults received person-centered case management, support services and job development through the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG). We piloted a Health Career Pipeline Initiative, involving a soft-career-skills workshop. • 19 adults attended basic skills boot camps in preparation for the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative (MPI), while 70 prepared for HPOG participation. • 116 adults received technical assistance and education in creating effective résumés through the Résumé Writing Lab and Résumé Critique Services. 22 students received their National Retail Foundation certificate in the Out-of-School Youth Program, and 50 teenagers received soft-skills instruction in the In-School Youth Program.
““I’m working full time at a job I couldn’t be happier with! I’m able to support my children and myself with certainty that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the American Job Center.” - Amber L., HPOG participant www.eastconn.org 3.
ADULT & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
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Students were enrolled in our English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Programs
English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes improve adults’ communication skills, helping them to navigate challenging bureaucracies, advocate for their children and families, and in many cases, obtain better, higher-paying jobs.
Customized Workplace Training
Community Education
Pre-COVID-19, staff developed contracts for customized, on-site, workplace education programs, including:
At the start of the school year, our regional, non-credit, community education program was eliminated because of budget cuts. Currently, registrants may still register for certificate programs through online providers and on-site contractors. The program served 28 students this year.
• Work Skills Preparation: Trained 12 individuals at Natchaug Hospital in CPR/First Aid/AED, ServSafe and Customer Service.
“Being a part of the Family Literacy Program has been a wonderful experience... It has been a privilege to be able to help [area residents] and teach them new skills.” - Jenny Zamudio Pardo, ECSU volunteer in Windham
PLANS & IMPLICATIONS FOR 2020-2021 • Workplace We will expand our efforts to grow more collaborative relationships with area employers. • Adult Education We will implement the new PEP grants and strengthen systems to follow up with “exiters,” per WIOA guidelines. We will continue to expand our Literacy Tutors program, regionally.
• Transitions We will continue to implement the Walmart-funded Customer Service Academy for the first half of the calendar year, and will investigate and secure funding sources for ongoing sustainability.
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