Policy

Certificate Programs are offered in certain locations as a training option for clients. The purpose of these programs is to provide an alternative to traditional classroom training, as well as an incentive for employers to hire our clients, as they have received training specific to that industry that will be of benefit to the business. Certificate programs are meant to include the direct involvement of a business, as a site for OJT/OJE, a hiring option, and possibly as a trainer. Community Colleges and other educational institutions can also be utilized for the educational piece of the training program. An MOU will be written for any business/institution completing the training, and renewed on an annual basis.

Certificate Programs, when successfully completed, will always result in a minimum of a VR certificate of completion. In some cases, an additional certification/licensure may be achieved.

Checklists

BAM Responsibilities

Identify a training need in their covered area, either through their own research, requests from field staff, or communication with a business.
Do research into the viability of this type of certificate program, including if it would fall into any of the CPAP approved career pathways.
Develop relations with the business or businesses in the area that will be partnering with us for the certificate program.
Determine if an educational institution will be involved in the certificate program.
Determine estimated costs for the certificate program per student, and obtain approval from Program Director of Business Services.
Write the MOU for the certificate program. Program Director of Business Services can be involved in this process, if needed.
Contact business/educational institution and set up dates for Certificate Program.
Notify office(s) of the upcoming certificate programs so the referral process can begin.

Field Office Liaison Responsibilities

Once the Liaison has been notified of the dates for the next certificate program, they will notify staff members, through email and through WIN, of the upcoming training.
The liaison will be responsible for receiving referrals from all appropriate parties (field staff from all applicable offices, CPAP team, external partners such as DOL).
Liaison will remind staff of training, and ensure enough referrals are received to run the training. If not enough referrals are received, liaison will contact BAM as soon as possible and notify them of the issue, so the certificate program can be cancelled with the business/institution with sufficient advance notice.
Once certificate program begins, liaison will be responsible for receiving progress reports from the training facility and forwarding these on to the appropriate staff/partners. These reports are traditionally emails including progess of each student, to be provided in agreed upon increments of time, depending on the overall length of the certificate program. The frequency of these reports is discussed and agreed upon by the liaison and the business/training facility.

CPAP Staff Responsibilities

Staff will determine potential candidates for the certificate program.
They will receive referrals from VR program of priority 1-3 candidates.
CPAP staff will complete appropriate assessment/evaluation of referred candidates. VR Specialist will complete the appropriate assessments/evaluations of those clients who are currently being served by VR, with an active plan.
CPAP staff will notify liaison of all referrals for the program.
Upon completion of the certificate program, if any clients successfully completed the program but were not placed in employment, CPAP staff can continue working with them on gaining employment in this field.

VR Specialists Responsibilities

During the employment discussion, staff will identify if there are any potential referrals for an eligible certificate program.
Staff will complete eligibility and priority determinations on all potential referrals.
Staff will refer any potential candidates to the CPAP program, who can complete the appropriate assessments. If the client has a plan and is being actively served in the VR program, the Specialist will complete the appropriate assessments prior to referral to CPAP.

Process

See checklists for staff responsibilities. Please note that some staff's timelines cross over, so please review each staff's duties so that you can properly ascertain when each task should be completed.