About the Training

The OWDS Partnership Training Program consists of three blocks, each 4 1/2 days in length, totaling 112 hours of classroom instruction. In addition, 68 hours of practicum and homework assignments must also be completed.

The three training blocks are scheduled approximately 5 weeks apart to allow participants to return home and take care of critical job responsibilities. Trainees complete mandatory practicum and reading assignments during these intervals. Before a trainee applies for the program, he or she should read the Administrative Guide: Offender Workforce Development Specialist Partnership Training Program and thoroughly discuss the course requirements with his/her administrator. Together, the administrator and the trainee should outline a plan to ensure that the trainee completes the practicum work between classroom training sessions.

The OWDS training program addresses the following competencies: career development theory and application, understanding and using facilitation skills, the role of assessment in career planning and job placement, instruction and group facilitation, designing and implementing training and work development services, barriers to employment, ethics of the career development facilitator, transition interventions for the offender population, job-seeking and employability skills, job retention, and the role of information and computers in career planning.

Blocks one and two of the program (Weeks 1 and 2) address the program’s core competencies. Following that mastery, the third training block (Week 3) includes an action planning process to design training for service providers in the participant teams' jurisdictions.

Primary Sponsoring Agency

The OWDS Partnership Training Program is available to primary sponsoring agencies that have formally expressed an interest in building the local capacity to provide competency-based training for practitioners who meet the course requirements for certification as Global Career Development Facilitators through the Center on Credentialing and Education, Inc.

The primary sponsoring agency for this program must be a state, or local public correctional agency that provides direct or indirect employment services for individuals with criminal records. The primary sponsoring agency must submit a Statement of Interest (Form A). Contact the National Career Development Association (NCDA) to obtain a Statement of Interest (Form A) at 866-367-6232 or 918-663-7060.

If the agency is invited to apply for training, the primary sponsoring agency is responsible for submitting all requested information. The agency may determine the composition of the 12-person team. Teams must consist of employees from multiple agencies and organizations in collaboration on offender workforce development.

Upon a participant team's successful completion of the OWDS Partnership Training, the primary sponsoring agency may apply to NIC for a cooperative agreement not to exceed $25,000 for a period of 18-months to defray the cost to the jurisdiction of replicating the OWDS training program. Each partnership is responsible for providing this training to a minimum of 25 trainees during the project period. NIC will provide monitoring for the initial training.


Co-sponsoring Agency

Co-sponsoring agencies may include organizations that work with public corrections to assist individuals with criminal records in one or more of the following areas: job training skills development, job placement, retention, and advancement services, or career counseling. Locations where these services are provided may include other correctional agencies (jails, prisons, including correctional industries- and community corrections) as well as colleges, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, Department of Labor’s One-Stop Career Centers, departments of vocational rehabilitation, faith-based and community organizations, and other related agencies.

Objectives

OWDS program objectives are to:

• Provide participants with the knowledge and skills required to deliver effective workforce development services.
• Promote collaborations that will result in increased positive employment outcomes.
• Prepare trainees to be instructors of the OWDS curriculum.

Audience

This training program addresses the competencies required for certification as a Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) through the Center for Credentialing and Education, Inc. (CCE). Teams selected by invitation only will subsequently be provided Offender Workforce Development Specialist Instructor (OWDS–I) training onsite within their respective jurisdictions.

The training is designed for 12-member teams and each team must meet the following requirements:

• One or more members of the team must hold a master’s degree in counseling (e.g., educational psychology, vocational rehabilitation, career counseling, or another field that includes career counseling course work).
• One or more members of the team must be designated as the training event coordinator(s).
• One or more members of the team must be designated as the evaluation coordinator(s).
• All team members must have the education and experience to qualify for either full or provisional certification as a GCDF. Each trainee is strongly encouraged to apply for certification or provisional certification upon completion of the program.
• Five or more members of the team must meet the education and experience requirements to qualify for certification as an OWDS–I. These trainees must apply for GCDF certification upon completion of the program.
• Each team member must have basic skills as a trainer; however, experience is preferred.
• All members of the team must represent organizations that are directly or indirectly responsible for providing employment services for people with criminal records (i.e., job training, skills development, job placement, retention and advancement services, or career counseling).
• This training qualifies for continuing education units (CEUs), and qualified applicants may apply for undergraduate or graduate credit.