MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A new law creating the Youth Apprenticeship Program is now in effect in West Virginia and one of its sponsors is hopeful it will help address persistent workforce issues.
Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said the program will engage high school juniors and seniors with ways to enter the workforce.
“There are a couple problems I think this attacks,” McCormick said recently on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “First, our workforce participation rate, which is the worst in the country, and the drug problem.”
Introducing teens to the workforce at a younger age could be a motivator for many when they see the result of their work in the form of money. The program would get young people interested in the trades in the system earlier, addressing the shortage in some skilled trades.
“They are,” McCormick said. “What we’re trying to do is get them interested in working to learn a trade because we’re so very short on tradesmen too.”
The West Virginia Department of Education will establish the program and set the guidelines. The county boards of education will promote the program and recruit students. Companies would be required to apply to participate in the program and go through a vetting process. The vetting process includes providing a comprehensive plan that can show specific work tasks that will help the student develop competency.
“The companies that are interested have to sign up for the program,” McCormick said. “The principal and parents OK it, and they are supervised.”
Students who graduate from the program and high school will exit with a high school diploma and postsecondary certification of an occupational skill. The student would have the opportunity to work or return to school for enhanced training.
“Increase our workforce participation rate and we will hopefully be able to keep our kids at home instead of moving,” McCormick said. “So, I think this bill has the potential to cure several ills.”
McCormick is finishing his first term in office and said he’ll continue to look for viable solutions to problems that prevent the state from growing economically.
“When I got elected, I said, ‘Look, we have to do something to move the needle,'” McCormick said. “So, we have to stop complaining and let’s try to do something about it—this falls into that category of doing something about it.”
The students would be prohibited from working in dangerous skilled fields but could learn the aspects of manufacturing, engineering technology, administration and office technology, and health care.