01
DOES PROGRAM GUIDE
Fiscal Year 2018
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Department of Employment Services
The Department of Employment Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Provider.
Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to persons with disabilities.
4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20019
P. (202) 724-7000
F. (202) 673-6993
TTY. (202) 698-4817
E. does@dc.gov
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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Washingtonians:
Under the guidance of the
Honorable Mayor Muriel
Bowser, I have the pleasure of
leading the DC Department of
Employment Services (DOES).
Our focus is ensuring that District
resources are leveraged to ensure
equitable opportunities and
high-quality service is delivered
to residents across all eight
wards. Key activities within this
broader effort revolve around
job training and employment
services. DOES has developed and implemented a diverse suite
of services that prepares the District’s workforce for the many
growing opportunities available through our thriving economy.
Our investments ensure that residents have access to occupational
skills training, needed supportive services, job coaching, and
mentorship. These investments are essential to supporting the
developing needs of our region’s economy.
This program guide was designed to clearly display FY18
programmatic offerings, providing the necessary insights for
residents to pursue the next steps in preparing for career
opportunities. It also serves as a key tool for businesses to
understand the skills that District job seekers attain prior to joining
their ranks. Innovative programs such as Apprenticeship DC and
the DC Infrastructure Academy (DCIA) are coupled with long
standing successful initiatives (e.g., Project Empowerment and the
Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program) to ensure that
our residents are being placed on the pathway to the middle class.
I am proud to have the opportunity to empower job seekers
to move forward along their desired career paths and become
entrenched contributors to the District’s economy. DOES is proud
to lead concerted efforts in support of world-class skills training
and employment driven initiatives that will create a world-class
workforce system. As such, I am honored to present our
FY18 offerings.
In Service,
Odie Donald II
Director
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Table of Contents
ADULT WORKFORCE PROGRAMS
American Job Centers 3
Workforce On Wheels (W.O.W.) 3
Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) 4
Learn Earn Advance Prosper (LEAP) 4
Occupational Skills Training | ITAs 4
DC Infrastructure Academy 4
Project Empowerment 5
Aspire to Entrepreneurship Program 5
DC Career Connections (DCCC) 6
Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) 6
BACK TO WORK 50+ DCDOES 6
DC Jail Work Readiness Program 6
BUSINESS SERVICES
The Ofce of Apprenticeship, Information and Training (OAIT) 7
Job Bank 7
Rapid Response (RR) 7
Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) 8
Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) 8
Foreign Labor Certication (FLC) 8
On-the-Job Training Program (OJT) 8
YOUTH WORKFORCE PROGRAMS
Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program (MBSYEP) 9
The Pathways for Young Adults Program (PYAP) 10
Youth Earn & Learn Program (YEALP) 10
Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI) 11
Seeds For Success 11
The Department of Employment Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer/
Provider. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to persons
with disabilities.
3
ADULT WORKFORCE PROGRAMS
The American Job Centers (AJCs)
are the “DOES gateways” to
workforce development programs
and services. AJCs offer a myriad of
resources to District residents, including but not limited to career counseling
and planning, resume assistance, workshops, interviewing, job placement
assistance, occupational skills and on-the-job training, assigned case manager
to assess and develop employment plan and provision of information
about local and national labor markets and unemployment compensation.
Unemployment compensation benets can be led at the centers from
8:30am-4:00pm. There are a total of four (4) centers located throughout DC.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Federal / $10,439,802.58
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
American Job Center Headquarters
4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20019
American Job Center Northeast
CCDC - Bertie Backus Campus
5171 South Dakota Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20017
American Job Center Northwest
Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center
2000 14th Street, NW 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
American Job Center Southeast
3720 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20032
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 4:40pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:40pm
Main: (202) 724-2337
TTY: (202) 546-8879
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 4:40pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:40pm
Main: (202) 576-3092
TTY: (202) 576-3102
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 4:40pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:40pm
Main: (202) 442-4577
TTY: (202) 481-3451
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 4:40pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:40pm
Main: (202) 481-3920
TTY: (202) 481-3923
Workforce On Wheels (W.O.W.),
launched in late 2015, is a team of mobile
workforce specialists recruited to expand
service delivery in the District’s most
vulnerable areas in order to provide the
workforce services of the American Job
Centers (AJCs) in the community These
workforce specialists serve as an “on-the-ground” task force throughout the
community – their services are available during scheduled times at satellite
ofces or as needed per request of partner agencies, community-based
organizations, or DC residents. This exibility enables the AJCs to connect
more people in disenfranchised communities to DOES resources and services.
In 2016, the W.O.W. team deployed a Mobile AJC, a full-service bus that
houses AJC staff and a computer lab. W.O.W. has expanded its focus to
better concentrate a minimum of half its resources on older youth.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Local & Federal / No individual budget
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
American Job Centers
Workforce On Wheels (W.O.W.)
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Learn, Earn,
Advance,
Prosper
(LEAP) Academy
The LEAP Academy is a network
of interconnected District
partners working together
to refer, train, support, and
employ residents in District jobs.
Through extensive coordination
of efforts, DC government
agencies, educational
organizations, community
partners, and employers leverage
their resources to provide LEAP
participants with paid on-the-
job work experience at District
agencies for up to one (1) year.
Individuals in the program
earn wages, accumulate work
experience, and obtain stackable
credentials toward an obtainable
career pathway.
Program Duration/Capacity:
Year-round / 50 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local /
$1,991,000,36
Point of Contact: Charles Jones
Deputy Director of State Initiatives
The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment
(RESEA) program addresses the individual reemployment
needs of individuals receiving unemployment insurance
compensation and works to detect and prevent improper
unemployment insurance (UI) payments. RESEA participants
are active job seekers and UCX (ex-service members) who are
receiving UI benets. Program services include enrollment
in the states’ Job Bank, one-on-one coaching for developing
an individual reemployment plan that includes work search
activities and assessment for UI benet eligibility.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Federal / TBD
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of
Workforce Development
Customers who demonstrate the need for occupational skills training can
qualify for an Individual Training Account (ITA) to assist with training costs
from an Eligible Training Provider approved by the Workforce Investment
Council (WIC). ITAs for up to $5,000 are provided for training in a variety
of elds including IT, Home Health Aide, Phlebotomy, Paralegal, Child
Development, Medical Assistant, EMT and other occupations that fall within
an in-demand industry. The ITA represents a cornerstone of self-sufciency
established by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
For more information or to see if you are eligible, please call (202) 724-7000 or
visit one of our American Job Centers.
In Quarter 1 of 2018, DOES is launching
a District of Columbia Infrastructure
Academy (“Infrastructure Academy”), a
partnership between DC Government
and public and private sector partners
that will create a pipeline to in-demand
infrastructure jobs for District residents.
The Infrastructure Academy will be
launched in Ward 8, the ward with
historically the highest unemployment rate
(14%) of the eight wards in the District of
Columbia. As part of the Infrastructure
Academy, DOES’s vision is to implement
IT infrastructure related programming, including utility, energy efciency,
automotive, transportation and logistics and other infrastructure related
training in one location.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Private / TBD
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
Reemployment Services & Eligibility Assessment (RESEA)
Occupational Skills Training/ITAs
DC Infrastructure Academy
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Project Empowerment provides job readiness and life skills
training, work experience, job search assistance and a variety
of supportive services to District residents who face multiple
barriers to employment. Participants attend an intensive three (3) week
training course and, upon completion, have the opportunity to be placed
in subsidized employment for up to six (6) months. Participants must be
District residents between the ages of twenty-two (22) to fty-four (54) who
are unemployed and are not recipients of government assistance, such as
TANF or unemployment benets. In addition, participants must demonstrate
a substantial need for intensive employment assistance by exhibiting at least
three (3) of the six (6) barriers recognized by Project Empowerment.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / 700 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local / $10,035,135.13
Point of Contact: Charles Jones, Deputy Director, Division of State Initiatives
The Aspire to Entrepreneurship Program was established to promote the
pursuit of entrepreneurship among the District’s returning citizen population.
Aspire provides work readiness and entrepreneurship training, mentorship,
nancial management counseling, business development support, and
nancial backing to returning citizens who wish to pursue entrepreneurship
as a means of reentry into the workforce. The various components of Aspire
work in conjunction with the multitude of supportive services available
through each partnering agency to provide a solid foundation for program
participants to grow and thrive.
Program Duration/Capacity: TBD / TBD
Funding Source/Amount: Local / $200,000.00
Point of Contact: Charles Jones, Deputy Director, Division of State Initiatives
Project Empowerment
Aspire to Entrepreneurship
Program
DC Career Connections (DCCC)
is a work readiness program
designed to provide more than
four hundred (400) out-of-school
and unemployed young adults
with opportunities to gain valuable
work experience, skills training,
and individualized coaching and
support to obtain employment.
An integral component of Mayor
Muriel Bowser’s Safer, Stronger,
DC plan, DCCC actively seeks
to engage District youth in
targeted Police Service Areas
(PSAs) across the city, including
but not limited to Langston/
Carver, Lincoln Heights, Benning
Terrace, Woodland Terrace, and
Congress Park. With the help
of stakeholders throughout
the District – business leaders,
community leaders, and service
providers – DCCC provides young
adults ages twenty (20) to twenty-
four (24) with the opportunity to
earn and learn while receiving
the support they need to be
empowered and connected to
rewarding career opportunities.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-
round / 400 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local /
$4,492,000.00
Point of Contact: Charles Jones,
Deputy Director, Division of State
Initiatives
DC Career
Connections
(DCCC)
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The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) offers
subsidized skills training and job placement assistance to disadvantaged
residents ages fty-ve (55) and older. The program tailors recruitment,
training, and employment strategies to help place seniors with host
agencies for training and employment in growth industries. SCSEP aims to
strengthen host agencies’ responsibilities to provide sufcient skills training
and professional development that will lead to employment; and to actively
engage and coordinate with employers during the transition of participants
into unsubsidized employment, as well as secure permanent unsubsidized
employment. SCSEP also provides job-matching assistance to employers
who are interested in hiring qualied, trained, mature workers and no-cost
community service assistance to government or non-prot agencies that host
SCSEP trainees.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / 30 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local and Federal / $644,770.93
Point of Contact: Charles Jones, Deputy Director, Division of State Initiatives
Senior Community Service
Employment Program (SCSEP)
DC Jail Work
Readiness
Program
The DC Jail Work Readiness
program was launched in July 2015
as a collaborative effort between
DOES and the Department of
Corrections (DOC). This program
provides six (6) weeks of intensive
work-readiness and life skills training
to District residents approaching
release from incarceration, as well as
post-release support and subsidized
employment. The program aims
to ease the personal, nancial, and
emotional stresses that returning
citizens face upon release by
bringing tailored services directly
to them. A critical benet of the
program is that participants have
the opportunity to start earning
a wage almost immediately after
being released, providing nancial
stability during a critical transitional
period. The DC Jail Work Readiness
Program is an optional program
that is available to interested
eligible residents of all ages who are
incarcerated at the DC Jail Central
Detention Facility.
Program Duration/Capacity: 6 weeks
/ Work in progress
Funding Source/Amount: Local / No
individual budget
Point of Contact: Charles Jones,
Deputy Director, Division of State
Initiatives
BACK TO WORK 50+ promotes the full reintegration of talented
job seekers, ages fty (50) to sixty-four (64), into the workforce.
The program was created in partnership with the AARP
Foundation in an effort to enhance opportunities for mature job seekers by
broadening access to critical employment resources and to connect senior job
seekers from all Wards of the city with services supporting their reentry into
the workforce.
Program Duration/Capacity: 4 weeks / 75 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local / No individual budget
Point of Contact: Charles Jones, Deputy Director, Division of State Initiatives
BACK TO WORK 50+
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BUSINESS SERVICES
Apprenticeships combine on-the-job learning with classroom instruction,
teaching workers the practical and theoretical aspects of highly skilled
occupations. Apprenticeship programs are sponsored by employers, labor
groups and employer associations.
The Apprenticeship program provides oversight of the apprenticeship system
in the District of Columbia. The Apprenticeship Program safeguards the well-
being of apprentices, ensures the quality of programs, provides integrated
employment and training information to sponsors, employers and trainers.
Prospective employers work with the Apprenticeship program to develop
on-the-job learning plans, related classroom instruction and operating
procedures. Apprenticeship training programs are an extension of education
and are available for out-of-school youth and adults. Currently, there are
apprenticeship opportunities in construction, IT, automotive, barbering
and cosmetology. The apprenticeship ofce is working to expand areas for
apprenticeship to include hospitality, healthcare and security. .
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Local / $1,150,163.18
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
The Office of Apprenticeship,
Information and Training (OAIT)
The DC Network Job Bank, is an online, computerized national labor
exchange network that serves as a virtual recruiter and matches employers
with job seekers. Any employer, local or national, can use the Job Bank to
post job orders, review resumes and applications and search for candidates
who t their needs. The Business Services staff provides guidance, training,
and technical assistance to employers who are seeking to post job openings,
identify potential employees, research current and local job market data, and
assess the effectiveness of hiring incentives.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / No participant limit
Funding Source/Amount: Local / No individual budget
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
The Rapid Response (RR) program responds to Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notications (WARN) of layoffs and plant closings. The delivery of
services is timed to occur before the workers are laid off The RR unit works
with employers and employee representatives to maximize public and private
resource distribution in order to minimize disruptions associated with mass
layoffs. RR services are tailored to meet the needs of the employer, with
services delivered on-site while accommodating work schedules and assisting
workers through transitions associated with job loss.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / Participant limit varies due to federal budget
Funding Source/Amount: Federal / No individual budget
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
Job Bank
Rapid Response (RR)
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The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program provides aid to U.S. workers
who have experienced job loss as a result of foreign trade. Through federal
funding, the TAA Program attempts to provide trade-affected workers
with opportunities to obtain the skills, resources, and support needed
to achieve reentry into the workforce. Program benets and services to
individual workers are administered by the states, while technical assistance
and oversight is provided by the US Department of Labor Employment
and Training Administration, Ofce of Trade Adjustment Assistance. The
DOES TAA team intakes and processes the Trade Readjustment Assistance
(TRA) application, provides reemployment services, provides information
for liable state determinations, and
procures and funds the approved
training, including subsistence and
transportation assistance.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-
round/ Participant limit varies due to
federal budget
Funding Source/Amount: Federal /
$342,851.41
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld,
Deputy Director of Workforce
Development
The Work Opportunity Tax
Credit (WOTC) is a federally-
funded program that reduces
the federal tax liability of private,
for-prot employers that hire new
employees from selected target
groups. Individuals in these target
groups have consistently struggled
to gain employment. The program
provides an opportunity for
targeted workers to achieve self-
sufciency by receiving a steady
income and resume federal and
local tax payment. Credit amounts
are based upon a percentage of
wages paid to, and hours worked
by, properly certied employees.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-
round / Participant limit varies due to
federal budget
Funding Source/Amount: Federal /
$66,000.00
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld,
Deputy Director of Workforce
Development
Trade Adjustment Act (TAA)
Work Opportunity
Tax Credit (WOTC)
Foreign Labor
Certification (FLC)
On-the-Job Training Program (OJT)
The Foreign Labor Certication (FLC)
program process varies depending
upon the program utilized by the
employer. Information regarding
the specic application process is
available on the U.S. Department of
Labor’s (DOL’s) website. Applications
are led and initiated by the employer,
based on their individual needs.
The DOL works to ensure that the
admission of foreign workers to
work in the U.S. labor market will not
adversely affect the job opportunities,
wages, and working conditions of
native-born workers.
Program Duration/Capacity:
Year-round / Participant limit varies due to
federal budget
Funding Source/Amount: Federal /
$54,103.74
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld,
Deputy Director of Workforce Development
On-the-Job training (OJT) is a program in which employers have an
opportunity to train, mentor and hire candidates who are not fully procient
in a particular skillset or job function. Through the OJT model candidates
receive the hands-on training necessary to increase their skills, knowledge
and capacity to perform the designated job function. OJT ensures
unemployed and underemployed jobseekers have a chance to enter / re-enter
the workforce through an "Earn While You Learn" model. This streamlined
approach allows employers to be reimbursed up to 75% of an established
wage rate in exchange for the training provided to participating candidates
for up to six (6) months.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round / Employers & Participants limited by
available funding
Funding Source/Amount: Local and Federal / $1,000,000
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of Workforce Development
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OFFICE OF YOUTH PROGRAMS (OYP)
The Ofce of Youth Programs (OYP)
develops and administers workforce
development programs for District
youth ages fourteen (14) to twenty-
four (24). OYP provides occupational
skills training, work experience, academic
enrichment, and life skills training to facilitate
the development of work habits and skills that
are essential for success in the workplace. The
following programs are currently offered through
the OYP:
The Marion S. Barry Summer Youth
Employment Program (MBSYEP) is a
locally funded initiative administered
by DOES that provides District youth
ages fourteen (14) to twenty-four
(24) with enriching and constructive
summer work experiences through
subsidized placements in the private
and government sectors. Through
MBSYEP, DOES strives to provide young people with the opportunity to earn
money and gain meaningful work experience, learn and develop the skills,
attitudes, and commitment necessary to succeed in today’s world of work, gain
exposure to various exciting career industries, and interact with dynamic working
professionals in a positive work environment.
Through MBSYEP, DOES strives to provide young people with the opportunity to:
Earn money and gain meaningful work experience;
Learn and develop the skills, attitudes, and commitment necessary to
succeed in today’s world of work;
Gain exposure to various exciting career industries; and
Interact with dynamic working professionals in a positive work
environment.
Program Duration/Capacity:
6 weeks / 14,000+ participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local
/ $18,549,444.34
Point of Contact: Unique
Morris-Hughes, Chief Strategy
Ofcer, Ofce of Youth Programs
Marion S. Barry Summer Youth
Employment Program (MBSYEP)
10
The Pathways for Young Adults Program (PYAP) is designed to assist out-
of-school and unemployed District residents ages eighteen (18) to twenty-
four (24) through combined occupational training, life skills development,
and work readiness instructions to connect them back to the world of work
successfully. The three (3) areas of occupational training include allied health,
administrative services/technology, and basic IT.
Through PYAP, DOES strives to provide youth with the opportunity to:
Gain meaningful work experience through a paid internship;
Learn and develop skills, attitudes and commitment necessary to
succeed in today’s world of work while interacting with dynamic working
professionals in a positive work environment; and
Receive occupational training necessary to gain a nationally recognized
credential within the specialized eld of interest.
Program Duration/Capacity: 6-7 months / 100-200 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local & Federal / Budget embedded within Year-Round Youth
Point of Contact: Unique Morris-Hughes, Chief Strategy Ofcer, Ofce of Youth
Programs
The Youth Earn & Learn Program
(YEALP) is offered to up to two
hundred (200) District youth
ages sixteen (16) to twenty-
four (24) who are out-of-school,
unemployed, and facing
signicant barriers to employment
as dened by WIOA based on
a two-tiered approach. YEALP
participants are expected to
achieve several outcomes that are
measured by the U.S. Department
of Labor (DOL). The outcomes
include improving literacy and
numeracy skills (if they are
identied as basic skills decient
upon enrollment) as well as
obtaining their secondary school
credential or GED, an industry-
recognized credential, and full-
time, unsubsidized employment
or enrolling in post-secondary
education or advanced training
upon program completion.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-
round / 200 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local &
Federal / Budget embedded within
Year-Round Youth
Point of Contact: Unique Morris-
Hughes, Chief Strategy Ofcer,
Ofce of Youth Programs
The Pathways for Young Adults Program
(PYAP)
Youth Earn & Learn
Program (YEALP)
11
The Seeds for Success program is a partnership
involving the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning
Center (MAYALC), Department of Public Works (DPW),
and DOES to expand workforce development offerings
to include a landscaping employment training program.
Seeds for Success is a pathway for young adults in the
District of Columbia to continue their education while
starting a career. The participants engage in a three
(3) week paid training that offers a combination of
academic instruction, employability and occupational
training in landscaping, and the opportunity to
participate in a paid internship with DPW.
Program Duration/Capacity: 3 weeks / 28 participants
Funding Source/Amount: Local / No individual budget
Point of Contact: Melanie Wineld, Deputy Director of
Workforce Programs
Seeds for Success Youth Program
Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute
(MBYLI)
The Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI) was founded in 1979
as a year-round program to train District youth in the elds of leadership
and self-development. The MBYLI training model emphasizes practical,
hands-on experience and a holistic approach to developing leaders for
the 21st century. Each year, one hundred and fty (150) young people
participate in the year-round program and three hundred and fty (350)
youth participate in the Summer Training Program.
Youth leaders are active in a variety of programs and special projects that
allow them to demonstrate their acquired skills. These activities include:
MBYLI Youth Government – a replication of the District government;
Overnight residential training on local college campuses and local
camp sites;
Serving as hosts to youth visiting the Nation's Capital from cities
across the United States and from countries around the world;
Developing and publishing an MBYLI newsletter;
Hosting an annual public speaking competition for youth;
Hosting an annual Community Awards Banquet;
Performing community service work; and
Sponsoring issue forums with local government ofcials and
prominent industry professionals.
Program Duration/Capacity: Year-round & summer programs / 150 participants
for year-round & 350 participants for summer
Funding Source/Amount: Local / $1,087,247.57
Point of Contact: Unique Morris-Hughes, Chief Strategy Ofcer, Ofce of Youth
Programs
12
4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20019
P. (202) 724-7000
F. (202) 673-6993
TTY. (202) 698-4817
E. does@dc.gov
