Career Education

The Region IX Career Education Model provides the opportunity to implement the Career-Focused Learning System on a regional level. Building on its nationally-recognized School-to-Work Program, the REC IX Career Education Model adds components from the recently implemented Workforce Investment Act, Special Education Work Experience, and Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Education. Additional links are available to Adult Basic Education/GED and Job Corps programs in the region. The model addresses the needs of all students in grades K-16 with a post-secondary link to three local post-secondary educational institutions.

The New Mexico Workforce Connection Center
The New Mexico Workforce Connection Center (NMWCC) provides job placement and training to individuals, including all youth, in Lincoln County. The NMWCC opened in October, 1998, as the first "One-Stop" Center in New Mexico. The Center provides access to the services of many agencies and programs in the same facility through interagency cooperation, communication, coordination, and support. One-Stop Centers are required under WIA to coodinate youth activities, link youth to job markets and employers, and to provide information and service access to eligible youth.

Support programs available at the NMWCC for REC IX area youth include the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, the South Central Mountain Adult Basic Education Program, and the New Mexico Job Corps.

Programs:

In-School Youth
Originally started as the JTPA Work Experience program in 1987 to serve special education students, the program was changed to address all special needs students on July 1, 2000, with the implementation of WIA. Traditionally, this program had served about 40-50 students during the school year in the REC IX member districts through job placement with nonprofit employers. The program provides students, ages 16 through 21, with valuable work experience during their high school years so they are prepared to enter the workforce upon graduation from school. Strong linkages are made with local employers, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, and local post secondary educational institutions.

Out-of-School Youth
The Out-of-School Youth Program was instituted at REC IX in January, 1999, in the form of the Apprenticeship Program. One of two model sites in New Mexico, the Apprentice Program became the Out-of-School Youth Program on July 1, 2000.

The program assists qualified young people entering an occupation to learn employment skills. The program is designed for youth between the ages of 18 and 22 who have exited public schools without a diploma, or have graduated with a diploma or GED. Such students must have basic skill deficiencies and be underemployed or unemployed. Participants may work in a chosen career field after intake and assessment in the program. Local employers provide a combination of hands-on experience and classroom training. The program may also provide funding for formal classroom training, special tools, clothing, or equipment.

Carl Perkins
Signed into law on October 31, 1998, Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Act (Perkins III) sets out a new vision of vocational and technical
education for the 21st century. The central goals of this new Act are improving student achievement and preparing students for postsecondary education, further learning or careers.

Perkins promotes reform, innovation, and continuous improvement in vocational and technical education with state and local efforts to reform secondary schools and improve postsecondary education. The implementation of the law promises to make vocational and technical education programs an integral part of these efforts.

The REC IX Consortium is comprised of the school districts of Alamo Navajo, Carrizozo, Cloudcroft, Corona, Hondo Valley, Mescalero, and Ruidoso.

The Focus Areas for REC IX Carl Perkins Consortia are: Agriculture, Technology, and Retail/Entrepreneurship/Marketing.

Tularosa and Alamogordo have separate Carl Perkins Grants which flow directly into their local school districts.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
Effective July 1, 2000, the Workforce Investment Act replaced the Jobs Training Partnership Act (JTPA) which had been a work experience component of REC IX since 1987. An eligible student is age 14 through 21 from a low income family with needs in one or more of the following categories: deficient in basic literacy skills; school dropout; homeless, runaway, or foster child; pregnant or parenting; is an offender, or is an individual with a disability or cultural barrier to employment. Each student is enrolled for year-round support in the work experience component.