Approve Continuation Grant Application to the Florida Department of Education, and if Approved, Accept Funds for FARMWORKERS JOBS AND EDUCATION PROGRAM, 2007/2008 - $348,486 (Adult and Community Education)

The Farmworkers Jobs and Education Program targets farmworkers who have the following barriers to employment and are considered “hard-to-serve”: 1) English, reading, and math levels less than ninth grade; 2) school dropout; 3) Limited English proficiency; 4) handicapped; 5) lacks work history; 6) long-term agricultural employment; 7) single, head of household with dependent child; 8) offender, 9) pregnant/parenting youth; 10) substance abuse; and, 11) lacks transportation. The primary goals of the district’s Farmworkers Jobs and Education Project are to enable farmworkers and/or their dependents to obtain and retain full-time employment; to allow participation in other program activities leading to their eventual placement in unsubsidized employment; to allow activities leading to stabilization in agricultural employment; and to include related assistance and supportive services.

Grant funds will be used to employ two full-time resource teachers, a full-time vocational placement advisor, a half-time Manager I, a clerk, and a portion of the project coordinator’s salary. Services provided by grant staff include outreach and recruitment, eligibility verification, assessment, case management, and placement of participants into ABE, GED, and ESOL classes, postsecondary career/technical programs, and the workforce. Grant funds will also be used to pay for custodial supplies, utility costs, GED testing fees, instructional supplies for students, student work experience, student allowances, and computer technology equipment for classrooms.

During the funding year 2005/2006, the Department of Adult and Community Education successfully met all performance outcomes; supplemental funding and services provided by this project resulted in an increase in performance deliverables for the district. Actual deliverables reported for 2005/2006 are the following: 49 adult migrant students placed in unsubsidized employment, 76 adult migrant students placed in adult ABE/GED/ESOL classes, 106 adult migrant students trained in workplace readiness, and 60 adult migrant students placed in postsecondary or technical/career training programs. The Department of Adult and Community Education has successfully met performance deliverables to date for the current project period (2006/2007).