Advance Workers' Skills

According to a report done by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), "The most successful welfare-to-work programs - those that increased employment and earnings on a sustained basis - are those that provide a range of services, including job search but also education and training." Skill development is more critical than ever due to pending labor shortages and skills gaps. Skill needs for economic vitality can be filled in part by advancing low-income workers into higher skill, higher paying jobs. To advance workers' skills most effectively, programs must certainly provide skill training curriculum that meets employers and workers needs and portable credentials for career laddering. In addition, they must also embed soft skills into program design, ease the transition from survival-mode to work-mode for their customers, and enhance cross-cultural communication within their own organization.