NS -Grant - Work First Block Grant Local Plan

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24 Oranse County Skills Development/JobLink Center On January 11, 1999, the Orange County Skills Development /JobLink Center located at 503 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina began providing a comprehensive array of employment and training services in a holistic manner. The Center was rechartered in April 2004 as a level III JobLink Center. Chartering demonstrated the Center's history of collaboration among human service agencies and the alignment with the ideals associated with the vision of a one -stop career center. Orange County Department of Social Services is the lead agency for the Center. The Skills Development/JobLink Center: • Offers comprehensive employment and training services to job seekers and employers. • Enables citizens to make informed choices about careers and employers can make informed decisions about workplace needs. The agencies located in the Center are Orange County Department of Social Services, Employment Security Commission (ESC), Joint Orange Chatham Community Action Agency (JOCCA), NC Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (DVR), Durham Technical Community College (DTCC), the Orange County Literacy Council (OCLC), Good Work, Educational Opportunity Center, Horizons' CASAWORKS, and the Orange County Disability Awareness Council. A customer entering the Center encounters a unified system of services. A common intake process is used. The common application connects the customer to the entire system of workforce development opportunities. All customers are able to obtain a basic assessment of skills, interests, and aptitudes if they choose. All people, including special populations such as welfare recipients, persons with disabilities, dropouts, dislocated workers, and others, have access to services. This model is predicated heavily on customer choice with services ranging from self - service to staff assisted service. Improved Access for Hispanic Families Orange County Department of Social Services is committed to improving the accessibility of core services to persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Ongoing efforts have been made to increase the cultural competency of staff through workshops, providing county sponsored Spanish language classes, and developing an LEP procedure handbook. Staff have been working to make available linguistically appropriate printed documents for clients whenever possible. The Orange County Department of Social Services has contracts with a number of interpreters and translators and has developed a Spanish voice mail system. Regarding staff, the department has worked to recruit bilingual staff and to enhance current staff members' skills by participating in a Spanish immersion program.