Pre-College Students Growth and Development Towards Employment
Snohomish County community service’s partners, including Edmonds College, began utilizing the Employment Readiness ScaleTM (ERS) self-assessment tool so we could share client data and support individuals’ growth and development among the partners. Today, Edmonds College’s WorkFirst Department is now the primary user of the ERS in the county.
Students starting in the Employment and Education Readiness (E&ER) class are referred to Edmonds College’s WorkFirst Department via:
- The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) referral system.
- Referrals from other community organizations.
- Marketing efforts.
- Word of mouth.
Based on my experience, our students come from lives of drug addiction and domestic violent abuse. They have criminal records and suffer from generational poverty and trauma. They are seeking guidance to transform their lives and those of their children. Our objective is transitioning trauma induced behaviors into sustainable behaviors leading to success.
Our curriculum is designed to calm the brain and nervous system from impacts of trauma and survival mode to increase compacity to learn. We cover soft skill topics and resiliency building on HOW TO manage life more productively from the inside out. Additionally, the curriculum includes an extensive career research project to ensure the students are moving towards sustainable employment and career goals by providing three key human factors of development:
- A choice of what employment/education is the best fit for students based on their personalities and interest assessments.
- A Future Story where students can visualize the benefits of achieving their career objective.
- Positive Mentoring by our staff, faculty and students who guide them from start to finish.
We provide community resources and financial aid navigation to help create financial stability so the students can focus on their studies and family responsibilities.
In past years, our programs have increased rates of graduation to more than double the state college average. Many of our students have gone on to become leading members of our communities and spearheading the creation of social justice for the hard to serve populations groups.
The WorkFirst/BFET department at Edmonds College provides 4 interventions (courses) to continue our student persistence rate towards graduation. For WorkFirst/BFET recipients the following is the standard course interaction:
Pre-College:
- The Employment and Education Readiness Class (E&ER) provides career and soft skill management tools. Students participate from 3 to 24 weeks preparing for vocational education classes or employment to start and focusing on managing life transitions.
- The Solid Foundation class provides how to manage oneself from the inside out creating resiliency and sustainable tools for success. This one-week class is part of the E&ER class. It is open to the public as a community service and as a recruiting tool.
- The College Success class provides specific how to tools for college class navigation, college resources, completing team projects, and research guidance. This section is three weeks long and takes place prior to students entering the first quarter of college classes.
- Students cycle back into the E&ER class between quarters and after graduation to transition to employment or higher education.
