Alaska Wins $2.9 Million Grant for Health Care Workforce Training

DOLWD_NewsReleaseAlaska Wins $2.9 Million Grant for Health Care Workforce Training
State awarded competitive federal grant, will expand pipeline of skilled health care workers

ANCHORAGE: The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) has won a competitive federal grant to expand Registered Apprenticeship health care training in Alaska. DOLWD applied for the grant in partnership with the Southcentral Foundation and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. The grant will accelerate development of training programs for high demand health care occupations. The grant award was announced following a White House summit and Congressional briefing that featured Alaska as one of the leading states that uses Registered Apprenticeship. Click here to read the full press release.

Webinar for New Competitive Postsecondary RFP – September 4th

Please join EED  for an informational webinar on the release of the FY16 Perkins Postsecondary competitive grant RFP, September 4th at 3:00pm.

If you are interested in attending this Webex to learn more about the RFP, structure, funding, and expectations, please email Alaska Department of Education and Early Development at ctegrants@alaska.gov. They will respond by sending you the link to the Webex and the RFP document.

Should you be unable to attend the webinar, it will be recorded. If you have any questions, contact:

Bjørn Wolter, Ph.D.
Career & Technical Education
Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
907.465.6542
bjorn.wolter@alaska.gov

Eligible Training Provider List New Policies and Procedures Out for Public Comment

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employment and Training Services, is soliciting public comments on the draft Eligible Training Provider and Program List (ETPL) policy,  procedural guide and applications.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) replaced the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) on July 1, 2015.  WIOA requires States to establish eligibility criteria, policy and procedures for initial  and continued eligibility for training providers and their programs to be included on the State’s ETPL.

WIOA emphasizes informed consumer choice, job-driven training, training provider performance and continuous improvement in performance achievement and accountability.  A primary means WIOA employs to achieve these goals is through the ETPL.  The ETPL is designed to gather and display useful information on training providers, their services, and the quality of their programs.  It is a key piece of the State one-stop system and it must be made available to the public and specifically to individuals seeking information on training programs to be funded under WIOA title I-B programs.

Comments on the draft ETPL policy, procedures and applications are due to the Division by 5:00 pm, September 15th and should be emailed to Shawna Harper, Program Coordinator II, at shawna.harper@alaska.gov.

For more details and to download all related documents, please visit https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=177915.

Second Chance Pell Grants

Flash Edition

August 12, 2015
Second Chance Pell Grants

As part of the administration’s commitment to create a fairer, more effective criminal justice system, reduce recidivism, and combat the impact of mass incarceration on communities, the Department of Education has announced the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program. This program will allow individuals incarcerated in federal or state penal intuitions to receive Pell Grants and pursue a postsecondary education. Its goal is to help individuals get jobs, support their families, and turn their lives around. Participation in high-quality correctional education — including postsecondary correctional education — has been shown to measurably reduce re-incarceration rates. By reducing recidivism, correctional education can ultimately save taxpayers money and create safer communities. See the press release and an op-ed by Secretary Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch for more information.

This initiative, described in more detail in this fact sheet, builds on a Dear Colleague Letter that the Department of Education released in December 2014. The letter states that students who are confined or incarcerated in locations that are not penal institutions, such as juvenile justice facilities and local or county jails, and who otherwise meet applicable eligibility criteria, are eligible for Federal Pell Grants.

In 1994, Congress eliminated Pell Grant eligibility for those in federal and state penal institutions. Under the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, incarcerated individuals who meet Title IV eligibility requirements and are eligible for release, particularly within the next five years, could access Pell Grants. Incarcerated students who receive these grants will be subject to cost of attendance restrictions, so the grants will only be used to pay for the tuition, fees, books, and supplies required by an individual’s education program. These students will not be eligible to receive any other types of federal student aid.

The Higher Education Act authorizes the department to periodically administer experiments to test the effectiveness of statutory and regulatory flexibility for participating institutions in disbursing student aid. To determine which institutions will be selected for participation in this experiment, the agency will look for evidence that the institution has a strong record in student outcomes and in the administration of Title IV programs. The deadline for institutions to apply for this pilot program is October 2, 2015, for the 2016-17 academic year.

Educator camp helps teachers integrate Bering Strait culture into classrooms

Chip Sharpe tosses a fish back into the river while seining for silvers at Educator Cultural Camp. Sharpe is the new principal at Nome Beltz. (Photo by Laura Kraegel, KNOM)

Before they go back to school later this month, teachers and administrators have to go camping.

Organized by Nome’s Northwest Campus and funded through a grant, Educator Cultural Camp is for teachers with Nome Public Schools and the Bering Strait School District. Tom and BeeJay Gray hosted this summer’s cultural orientation — which gives teachers university credit to apply to their certifications — during the last week of August at their fish camp on the Niukluk River. Read more here.