Spring started out with guessing whether the groundhog would see his shadow or not. We encouraged the children to vote on whether or not we were going to have six more weeks of winter and created a graph to display our data! Those who said we were going to have an...
The Private Industry Council of Westmoreland / Fayette Inc. (PIC) is celebrating 40 years of offering youth programs in Westmoreland/Fayette counties. To celebrate this milestone, PIC is welcoming all youth to their Youth Open House events to learn more about all PIC...
For the past two years, Head Start / Early Head Start have been participating in a Local March for Babies fundraising walk. Each year our donations to the March of Dimes have grown. This year, as in the past two years, we will meet at Hutchinson Park on Saturday,...
Early Head Start Childcare Partnership (EHS-CCP) is a center-based program for infants and toddlers. EHS CCP partners with eligible daycares to create EHS CCP infant /toddlers’ rooms within the daycare. But how is this different from the current head start and Pre k...
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Head Start / Early Head Start FAQs The Private Industry Council discusses frequently asked questions for Head Start and Early Head Start students. Private Industry Council operates the Head Start / Early Head Start program for Beaver and Fayette Counties in the...
The PA CareerLink® is a one-stop job center designed to meet all of your employment needs. As the Title 1 provider at both the PA CareerLink® Westmoreland County located at the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, the PA CareerLink® Alle-Kiski located in the Westmoreland County Community College in New Kensington and the PA CareerLink® Fayette County located inside the Private Industry Council office at Lemont Furnace, the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Inc. (PIC) strives to ensure all needs are met fro everyone who comes into a PA CareerLink® office. An example of this is the story of Joni.
Joni came into the Fayette County PA CareerLink® office as a Trade Act participant. Joni first meet with the PA CareerLink® Program Supervisor, Chris Sonita, and told them about her desires to become a Licensed Practical Nurse or a LPN. Joni attended a Benefits, Rights Interview with GTT Communications in Lemont Furnace and began preparing for the LPN entrance exam by attending Adult Basic Education classes and was gaining the needed skills for the exam. While she was preparing for the TEAS, or the Test of Essential Academic Skills, Joni discovered that her preferred training provider was not beginning classes until March of 2020. In addition a series of family medical crisises drew her attention away from focusing on preparing for the TEAS.
As Joni’s situation situation began to settle down, she was back on track to take her TEAS on January 7th. Joni however was worried that all of the progress she had made prior in the preparation of the exam would no longer be enough. While her chosen testing provider does offering tutoring for the exam, there is a $250 fee and unfortunately Joni did not have the ability to take advantage of the opportunity at that time.
During her next appointment with Chris, she asked if the CareerLink® office offered any free TEAS tutoring. Since Devin McCusker, the Career Pathways instructor, has been so open to helping a wide variety of participants, Chris decided to visit his classroom to discuss the situation with him. Devin readily agreed to call Joni and make arrangements for her to use his Career Pathways program to help Joni on the skills needed to pass the TEAS exam such as math, science and test-taking.
Prior to the Career Pathways program being moved to the Lemont Furnace office, Joni would have been referred back to the Adult Basic Education provider in the area for additional tutoring. By keeping all services in-house it has become more convenient for customers like Joni to have access to a variety of resources that are offered through both the PA CareerLink® and PIC. In addition, by having customers stay in-house for services, it is easier for our employees to stay in touch with the customer and ensure all needs are being met. Chris’ drive to help the customer as well as Devin’s willingness to help by offering the services he has access to in order to help someone reach their goals is a great example of the one-stop reemployment services model at its best.
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