Washington's Workforce Development Strategy

Youth Goal: Ensure all youth receive the education, training, and support they need for success in postsecondary education and/or work.

Objective 3 - All students graduate from high school.

No later than 2018: Every local community in the state will have an effective school/community partnership that provides a comprehensive dropout prevention, intervention and re-engagement system for ALL youth, including those who have dropped out or who are at risk of dropping out.

Steps To Get Us There

1. Expand the Building Bridges Grant Program to build more school/community partnerships that support youth at risk of dropping out and re-engage youth who have dropped out of school. Leads: OSPI, Workforce Board, with other partners. Requires the support of the Governor and Legislature and General Fund – state appropriations.
2. Collaborate with education and social service partners to develop state-level performance measures and targets for reducing the dropout rate, increasing the on-time graduation rate and increasing successful re-entry and achievement for students who have dropped out. Leads: OSPI with other partners.
3. Establish a process for identification, development and replication of best practices statewide. Leads: OSPI, Workforce Board, with other partners.
4. Explore changes in educational policy and school funding that will provide incentives to serve at-risk youth. Leads: OSPI, Workforce Board, with other partners. Requires the support of Governor and Legislature.
5. Identify and make recommendations to reduce the fiscal, legal and regulatory barriers that prevent coordination of program resources across agencies and community-based organizations to support the development of sustainable dropout prevention, intervention and retrieval partnerships. Leads: OSPI, Workforce Board, WDCs, SBCTC, with other partners. Requires the support of Governor and Legislature.
6. Create stronger program links between Job Corps and Skills Centers to ensure more Job Corps students receive a high school diploma. Leads: OSPI, with other partners.
7. Identify support services for at-risk youth and their parents, and implement action steps. Leads: OSPI, ESD, WDCs, with other partners. Requires the support of Governor and Legislature and General Fund – state appropriations.

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