Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act Program

Teacher and student posing for photo

Building Work Readiness Skills

In partnership with the City of Denver and the Denver Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO) Office, DPS’s Office of Family and Community Engagement manages Denver’s in-school youth Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program across many high schools in the district, ensuring that youth in Denver are on track to graduate and have opportunities to build their workforce skills to effectively transition to college and/or career.

The WIOA program removes barriers to a youth’s academic and career success by providing individual case management centered around an individualized goal plan. Through targeted case management support, youth are expected to increase math and literacy skills by two grade levels, complete an educational certification and secure unsubsidized, sustainable, career-based employment. WIOA programming supports the whole child but is most often specifically used to aid in finding employment and funding youth development.

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What We Offer

This critical workforce program helps develop and support youth who are between the ages of 16 and 24, currently in school, and who reside in the City & County of Denver. Youth have access to the following 10 elements:

  • Tutoring

  • Alternative secondary school support

  • Summer employment

  • Work experience

  • Skills training

  • Leadership development

  • Supportive services

  • Adult mentoring

  • Comprehensive counseling

  • Follow-up services.

This program helps create opportunities for youth, community partners and our city by investing in our youth’s workforce skills and abilities especially around finding a job with a livable wage and building a sustainable future. Our Program Specialists understand the struggles that some of our youth face every day, and our team develops and maintains meaningful relationships to better support their needs and goals as defined by them and supported by our staff.

Denver’s in-school youth program is designed to help build engagement and confidence, help youth graduate on time, identify future education or career pathways and opportunities and leverage the available resources that can eliminate barriers to employment and self-sufficiency.

How many schools have the WIOA Program?

WIOA is a program available to all youth that meet eligibility requirements in the local area (in this case Denver County), however, the DPS FACE model offers services targeted out of strategic schools to cover the regions of Denver. At this time these schools include:

Each school has a Program Specialist providing services out of that location, inclusive of a multi-generation approach in coordination with our FACE Centers. We currently operate with 5 Program Specialists that coordinated services for WIOA as well as the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).