Ronda - 6:26

>> It sounds like you've had this relationship for quite a while, probably before WIOA was tasked.

How do you see it changing or expanding as WIOA becomes implemented?
>> I think, well, from the transition side of it the information and saw the stuff that we see going on in supported education really needs to start prior to them getting to college.

They see it, we see it, and I think schools see it, and I think WIOA is going to probably help us make that happen.

I think it's, if nothing else it's kind of that push that says, yep, we've all been seeing it so now we need to find a way to collaborate more and get information to high school students earlier.

I really just feel like students are planning to go to college, whether it's because they think they should, their parents think they should, or whatever the reason is, but they don't really know why or what they want to do.

Del Tech agrees 100% that the whole pathway, the way to work towards pathways is the right way to do it starting out.

I mean some of the students are going in.

They're going straight on to Del Tech and they don't have; they have never even had a job.

So they don't know for sure that the career field that they've decided to go into is really what they want to do.

They have no experience to back that up.

And I think that's a real problem, and especially when you see how many students don't actually make it through college.

That's a real problem.

Starting with a certification or in one of their certificate programs and getting some experience and the moving on to maybe a two-year degree and then maybe to a four-year degree, and really VR needs to work more closely with schools, high schools and students and families to get them to look at building a career pathway, understanding what it takes.

If this is the job they want to do, what are the steps it's going to take to get there and why is it important to start at step one? And that might be just having a part-time job during the school year or a job in the summertime.

So we're pushing that a lot.

But then also Del Tech recognizes that information needs to be shared a lot earlier, and so they are; we've had conversations with all of the campuses about how do we get information about their certification programs and their associates degree programs into high schools so that students are really looking at what they want to do earlier than they typically have been and understanding what kind of a job is it that they really should anticipate if they go into programs like that? Some of the folks who we work with through supported education, the ones who are primarily responsible for coordinating that on the Del Tech side, are also overseeing some of the certification courses like the CNA and healthcare and that sort of thing.

And I think that's where we're going to be moving to this year is really connecting Del Tech to students at a much earlier age.

There are a lot of different conversations happening but all kind of with the same purpose and all, all kind of at the same time.

So we're really working hard to make sure that when somebody goes to Del Tech they're getting an education that's going to help them get a job in the field that they want to be in.

Helping them to decide what that is and making sure that's actually what they want to do starts so much earlier than when they get to college and starts earlier.

Then Cynthia and her group are really having those conversations.

And so we need to; Cynthia and I have a lot of conversations about it.

Of course I work with a lot of our venders but then I also work with her business relations specialists, and when someone is referred and they're like they're really not prepared to do this, well, then why? We need to step back and we need to then go back to the resources that we have to say, okay, so if we're finding that our folks aren't prepared, what's the reason for that and how do we make that different? And this goes back to the WIOA question.

I think that's exactly how we're going to move this earlier.

We're going to.

It's going to really help us all work together to say students need to have more experiences and preparation prior to them leaving high school so that when they do decide to go to college or they do decide to go to the community college or a certificate program through Del Tech that they're picking one based on real experience and information, that they've done this kind of work or they've done something similar to it and this is in fact what they want to do.

And so I do; those conversations are being had all over the place, and it's really a huge systems change to do this.

But I'm excited because I think we have all the entities involved here in Delaware that need to be there.

We've got folks from the education side.

We've got folks from VR and transition, and then we've got the part of our agency that's typically working with students either after they get out of college or maybe right out of high school or are adults.

You know, we're all talking and trying to figure out how do we align this so that students or individuals who are coming through DVR are really prepared well from the very beginning and working their way up so that everyone's got something to build on as opposed to starting from scratch.
>> I'm constantly saying we need to do a much better job up front because I'm the end person, and I'm the one that gets everybody at the end, and by the time I get them it's like, okay, let's go.

I'm excited.

We're ready to go.

Here's the job.

And then you're like, oh, no, we're not there yet.
>> Right, right, right.
>> It's almost like, okay, now we have to start again; but not for everybody, but when you see that happening you say, Where did we miss the mark?
>> Yeah, exactly right.

That's exactly right.

And I think; I think here in Delaware we really are in a place where we can make some of those changes because we have all the right people talking and at every part of the process who have a stake in it, who recognize where the challenges are and where the barriers are for each of their own pieces and how they all fit together.

The challenges and barriers get bigger and bigger if we don't address it right at the beginning.