The Workforce Connection provides opportunities for  young people to access programs to complete their education, receive training and build a foundation for future employment success.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Programs
The Workforce Connections offers access to federally-funded programs that provide education and job training opportunities for young people between the ages of 16 – 21* in Boone and Winnebago Counties.  Programs for in-school youth are provided by the Boone County Special Education Cooperative, Rock Valley College, the Rockford Public Schools and the YMCA of Rock River Valley.  Programs for out-of-school youth are provided by the Regional Learning Center, Rockford MELD, Rock Valley College, the Booker Washington Center, Comprehensive Community Solutions and the YMCA.  

The goal of all programs for in-school youth is to help the youth be successful in school, enabling them to graduate and continue their education/training and/or gain unsubsidized employment. In addition to tutoring youth in school subjects and counseling/mentoring the youth, all in-school programs provide career awareness and work readiness activities.

Programs for youth who have dropped out of school emphasize the importance of youth returning to school or obtaining a GED as a basic step on their road to success. Programs provide basic skills, GED instruction, tutoring, counseling, mentoring, career exploration, work experience, and job placement assistance. The programs also provide follow-up mentoring for at least one year after the youth exit the program.

* Programs for the In-School Youth serve youth 16-21. Programs for Out-of-School Youth serve youth 17-21.

Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for Youth Services, you or someone in your household* must:

1. Be receiving or have been approved to receive food stamps within the past six months, or be receiving SSI, or be receiving TANF or Township Assistance, or be homeless, or, if none of these conditions exist, then

2. The family’s (household’s) combined gross income for the past 26 weeks must fall at or below the following maximum limits: **

Family of one $5,105
Family of two $6,845
Family of three $9,105
Family of four $11,240
Family of five $13,265
Family of six $15,515
For each additional family member over six, add $2,250.

*A “HOUSEHOLD” is defined as persons residing together and related through blood, marriage, or adoption. Friends do not count as family/household members for these purposes.

**Amounts are subject to change.

Job Corps
Job Corps is the largest residential education and training progoram in the US for disadvantaged youth between the ages of 16 and 24.  Its mission is to help disadvantaged young people become responsible, employable and productive citizens by providing them with opportunities to develop the vocational, educational and social skills to suceed.

For more information, call Bonnie Mabie, the local Job Corps representative, at 815-395-0535 or email mabie.bonnie@jobcorps.org .

Click here for more information about Job Corps.

Hire the Future
Hire the Future, a program sponsored by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, is designed to facilitate the transition of high school students to adulthood and the workplace. The program provides students with exposure to the workplace environment, including an understanding of work requirements and necessary education and skills.

Hire the Future works to develop positions with area businesses.  In the past, the program has helped to place students in retail, restaurant, fast food, health care, distribution, banking, child care  and business positions.

The Hire the Future Coordinator for this area is Daniel Pivoras.  Phone 815-395-6622.  Email daniel.pivoras@illinois.gov