Resources for Green Jobs Training and Career Pathways

We recommend that you begin with the following resources produced by Green For All and members of the Community of Practice:

Workforce development practitioners face a set of common questions about services, partnerships, curriculum, green credentials, links to employers, funding and measuring their results. Green For All convened a working group of training providers focused on providing green pathways out of poverty to start developing answers to these shared questions. This document is a product of that convening and identifies five keys to success for green workforce development. These keys, when combined with effective leadership and staff, help programs serve the workers they train, the businesses and industry they support, and the environment they aim to protect.

This guide includes a short list of federal discretionary funding resources (mostly that existed before the Recovery Act) that may support a diverse array of services and activities for participants in green jobs training programs. This list is not meant to be exhaustive but to encourage broad and creative thinking about strategic planning for the financing and sustainability of green pathway out of poverty programs.

This report provides a description of the type of jobs available to workers in the deconstruction and reuse industries, as well as the advancement opportunities trainees are equipped to pursue following their training.

We also recommend that you listen to past Green For All conference calls on topics ranging from program funding to green curriculum.

Below we have linked to resources that have been recommended by members of the Green Pathways Out of Poverty working group, including training programs run by community colleges, community-based organizations, YouthBuilds, Conservation Corps, apprenticeship preparation and apprenticeship programs.

This page will be regularly updated with new resources. If you have a resource to recommend here, please email a description along with a link to ladan(at)greenforall.org

Resources for Serving Workers Re-entering from Incarceration

• DOL Evaluation of the Prisoner Re-entry initaitive – Department of Labor reports on Prison re-entry programs:
  http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/keyword.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_resultDetails&pub_id=2405
• Best Practices in Working with Jobseekers Newly Released from Prison:
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/58856257/Tips-for-Working-with-Jobseekers-Newly-Released-from-Prison
• Tips for Working with Noncustodial Fathers:
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/58855103/Tips-for-Working-with-Noncustodial-Fathers
• Ensuring that the Transitional Job is a Developmental Experience:
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/61239699/Ensuring-that-the-Transitional-Job-is-a-Developmental-Experience
• Getting and Leeping a Job - Best Practices for Employment Retention and Advancement
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/59499220/Getting-Keeping-a-Job-Best-Practices-for-Employment-Retention-and-Advancement

Resources for Diversifying Funding

• Federal Resources to Enhance and Sustain Green Pathways Out of Poverty Programs - A Green For All Resource on discretionary federal funds (mostly that existed before the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to support green jobs training programs.
• Department of Labor Green Jobs Training Grants - A page on our website with updated information about the Recovery green jobs training grants available through the Department of Labor. 
• Weatherization Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (WAPTAC) - This site provides technical assistance and support to the DOE national headquarters, state and local WAP agencies, and other stakeholders. WAPTAC also coordinates an orientation for new WAP staff. Weatherization Assistance Program Ramp Up Tools is a page of information, tools, templates, and materials designed to ease the ramp up process.
• Nonprofit Social Enterprise: Models and Funding -  Leaders in the non-profit community are increasingly embracing social enterprise models in order to create opportunity in the green economy.  Their growing use of market-based strategies is driven both by of the success of socially responsible business models and by the recent downturn in philanthropic funding.

Re-Entry and Barrier Removal Resources

• Best Practices In Working With Jobseekers Newly Released From Prison: http://www.scribd.com/doc/58856257/Tips-for-Working-with-Jobseekers-Newly-Released-from-Prison
• In-Depth Information on Re-Entry: http://www.hirenetwork.org/
• More Best Practices from the National Transitional Jobs Network: http://www.heartlandalliance.org/ntjn/program-resources/best-practices.html
• Excellent website with reports and research on barrier removal for target populations: http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications.asp
• Driver's license restoration program model from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice – a primer on how to get people back on the road so they can get back to work
•  Center for Law and Social Policy Numerous resources on TANF and how to strengthen policies for low-income families
  
• CLASP Report on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Recovery Act - Questions and Answers about TANF emergency funds
  
• On sector based workforce development- report from Public/Private Ventures: http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/294_publication.pdf

Resources for Connecting Graduates to Jobs

• Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership: example of a regional partnership that brings together employers at a large scale to identify training needs.
• Oakland Green Job Corps: example of a program with strong ties to employers and labor
• From Policy Matters Ohio, (Apollo Alliance Ohio Chapter) comprehensive report documenting the potential investment and job growth opportunities in every Ohio county. An example of job potential http://www.policymattersohio.org/apollo/generating.htm

• The New Apollo Program is a national strategy for job creation through clean energy.
• A practical guide to help workforce, education, economic development professionals (and any other sort of career counselor) understand green jobs and be able to offer solid advice to young people and jobseekers so they can get on the right track and in the context of the demands of the regional economy. http://www.economicmodeling.com/resources/1370_green-jobs-part-5-how-to-prepare-jobseekers-for-the-green-economy/ 
  
• National Transitional Jobs Network: A link to a network for workforce strategy designed to overcome employment obstacles by using time-limited, wage-paying jobs and combining real work, skill development, and supportive services to transition participants successfully into the labor market. 
• Employ America: Agency acts as a third party employer of record to assist training programs and employers to accrue tax benefits and incentives when hiring eligible populations.

Job Readiness Resources

• A core curriculum for new and experienced adult educators for use as a professional development program in teaching adult literacy: http://www.lacnyc.org/profdev/ALECC
  
• A report on national survey for Career Pathways for High School Dropouts: http://lacnyc.org/resources/publications/update/Update2008-9/Apr09.pdf
• Literacy Assistance Center -A guide to project based learning techniques for instructors and program operators: http://www.lacnyc.org/resources/IT.htm#pbl
  
• Literacy Assistance Center- resources for professional development for practitioners in adult and adolescent literacy programs stresses participatory education methodologies and evidence-based practices: http://www.lacnyc.org/resources/adult/

Vocational Training Resources

• Free Practice Psychometric Testing and Aptitude Tests for some industry test preparation

Resources on Green Training Curriculum and Certifications

• Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Best Practices for Renewable Energy Training. The 26-page document covers recommended principles for training; reviews industry-approved job/task analyses; discusses types of educational programs; walks through the essential steps of designing a training course; offers a checklist for assessing learning outcomes; looks at certification and accreditation; and lists resources to assist in training.
• Building Performance Institute affiliation and training programs that represent some industry standards for certifications as being instituted in New York State and several other states
• Saturn Online. Online curriculum for energy professionals. 
• Midwest Weatherization Best Practices Field Guide - prepared by the US Department of Energy, 2007.
  
• Certifications relating to building operations for sustainable high-performance buildings. National in scope but with some regional links to New York.
• Green Jobs Guide Book- Describes jobs, titles, qualifications, career options. Regional focus on California but excellent scope. 
• The American Association of Community Colleges- green page on sustainable education with resources for teachers
• Consortium for Education for Renewable Energies Technology with links for teachers and program designers
  
• U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development – links for educators
• Education resources in sustainability and the environment - Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability
• Resources for teachers in Higher education in sustainability and environmental studies by Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium

• Green Building Curriculum from Oregon Tradeswomen

Oregon Tradeswomen has a free green building curriculum available to the public. The curriculum is intended to be delivered via power point, but the PDF version of the presentation can also be used as a handout/notes.

The first section entitled “Green Building” serves as a basic overview to anyone wanting to better understand green building and its connection to creating equitable and living jobs.  This stand alone introduction also touches on the other four units available including concepts in: Deconstruction, Weatherization, Green and Solar Roofing and Stormwater Management.

The curriculum is not intended as technical instruction so much as it is a way to convey concepts that a potential green employer would value in an employee.

Oregon Tradeswomen’s curriculum is made by possible through coordination and funding from ICMA. Created by Lydia Doleman of Flying Hammer Productions and Dawn Jones from Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.

• A basic overview of Green Building
• The benefits of Deconstruction
• Green jobs in Weatherization
• An introduction to Green and Solar Roofing
• Introduction to green jobs in Stormwater Management
  

Resources for Measuring Success

• Evaluation of the NJISJ construction careers pre-apprenticeship training program. June 2007.  

A sample report that illustrates excellent outcomes achievements for a NJ program