Community Services Agency: Building Futures DC Apprenticeship Outreach & Recruitment Project  

Staff on the project
Silvia Casaro, Project Coordinator (Full-time on the project) 202-974-8223
Alya Mbamba, Assistant Program Coordinator 202-974-8222
Kathleen McKirchy, Executive Director 202-974-8221

Funded through a grant from DC DOES to help recruit DC residents for successful entry into the apprenticeship programs with retention and completion, and to help the trades meet their Stadium PLA requirements for DC hiring.

• Deliverables include:
  
• Getting 100-130 DC residents into apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship programs.
  
• Obtaining commitments from at least 15 community groups/churches to act as
  referral resources for clients in the development of a permanent pipeline
  for DC residents to enter the trades.
  
• Conduct 3 job fairs for DC residents with the trades and the Labor-2-Youth-Fair.
  
• Provide case management, assessment and support services to clients pre-and
  post-placement.

Clients will come from several sources

• Referrals from community groups running pre-apprenticeship training programs and those running Job Readiness programs.
  
• Referrals from the DC Public School system and UDC.
  
• Referrals from the DC One Stop Center system.
  
• Self-referrals of individuals who hear about the project.

How Apprenticeship Programs Can Help

• Meet with us in the next few weeks (we will come to you) to make sure we have the latest information about your program and any specifics about your program that may differ from other trades.
  
• Let us know if you have DC residents contacting you who could benefit by our case management and support services to help them succeed.
  
• Consider identifying members who can serve as “mentors” to newly-accepted apprentices- this is especially helpful where you can pair up women and minority apprentices or journeypersons with new apprentices.
  
• Let us know what works and what doesn’t and how we can adjust the recruitment or screening process to generate more success.
  
• Provide us with old tests or sample questions or an indication of the subject matter of questions on entry exams so potential applicants can prepare.