Our ServicesEmployment and Independence

Employment Skills

Workforce Development Your company can provide a rare and treasured second chance at life

  • Address:

    1099 Jay Street, Building J, Rochester, NY 14611

  • Phone:

    (585) 339-9800 x418

Earning income from employment is an important goal for so many of the individuals that come to us seeking to provide for their families and improve their quality of life. Our team provides career development, financial assistance, and job placement for adults and youth with limited employment options, those without a high school diploma, and those facing mental health and substance abuse challenges.

It’s not enough to simply place people in open job positions. Success in today’s workforce takes the right preparation, from comprehensive assessments to formulating goals and a plan to achieve those goals. Our job developers work to match those clients with open positions at one of the many companies that have long-standing relationships with Family and Community Services, and recognize the benefit of hiring from our placement service.

For the Workforce Development department, employment is more than just achievement of that goal. It’s about understanding where clients have come from and what they see for their future, and helping them leverage their own strengths to bridge that past and the future. This is very personal for us all, and we are very proud to take part and walk with our clients each day on that journey.

**Our Workforce Development team is not a staffing agency, which means that our services are free to you. Our funding comes in the form of government and private foundation grants to assist people in finding meaningful employment.

Services Provided by Workforce Development

Eligibility Criteria and Intake Process

Please refer to individual program pages for specific information about eligibility, application and intake. Thank you!

Resources

YouthBuild Providing Job Training and Employment Opportunities for Youth

YouthBuild, a national movement operated locally in Rochester by Catholic Charities Family and Community Services, provides job training and educational opportunities for youth while assisting in the construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own communities.

YouthBuild

Contact Information:

About the Program

Participants in the YouthBuild program will have access to:

  • Education to acquire literacy and numeracy gains
  • Construction that provides on-site skills training
  • Opportunity to obtain OSHA 10 training and TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) Preparation
  • Counseling and Case Management to assist students in setting and achieving their goals
  • Leadership Development through program decision making, responsible leadership roles, and the study of how to improve the community
  • Transition Services for Graduate Success, including college and career counseling leading to placement in education or employment

Family and Community Services has won national and local awards for the diversity of our caseload, community activism, and volunteer programs. We have been working with youth, refugees and other clients to gain skills and find employment for over 25 years, with a wide variety of employers – construction, manufacturing, hospitality, restaurants, super markets, beauty salons and spas, and hospitals.

Learn more about how you can help.

Services Provided by YouthBuild

  • Paid training
  • Stipends for meals, transportation, volunteerism, and post-secondary education
  • Alternative education options
  • Job placement
  • A supportive environment

Eligibility Criteria

All participants in YouthBuild programs funded by the US Department of Labor must meet the following eligibility requirements, as required by the YouthBuild Transfer Act: between the ages of 17 and 24, inclusive, at the time of enrollment; and have dropped out of high school*.

In addition to these two criteria, a YouthBuild participant must meet at least one of the following eligibility requirements*:

  • a current or former foster youth and/or
  • a youth offender and/or an adult offender and/or
  • a youth who is an individual with a disability and/or
  • a migrant farm worker youth and/or
  • a child of an incarcerated parent and/or
  • a low-income youth.

*25% Exemption: If the applicant has a high school diploma/GED, or is not a member of one of the targeted populations above, he or she may be enrolled under the 25% exemption which states that up to (but not more than) 25% of the participants in the YouthBuild program may be youth who do have a diploma or GED, or are not members of a disadvantaged population based on the criteria above, but are: 1) basic skills deficient or 2) have been referred by a local secondary school for participation.

Program Costs

Free to participants, weekly meal and travel stipend.

Intake Process

You must attend an information session and complete an application. You will then complete a drug test and two weeks of orientation and “mental toughness” training.

Interested?

If you are an employer interested in partnering with us and our youth, please call the program office: (585) 233-7422

Our Support

YouthBuild is supported by:

Refugee Employ­ment Services

Contact Information:

  • Address:

    87 N Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14604

  • Phone:

    (585) 546-7220 x7320

  • Email:

    lmack@cfcrochester.org

  • Fax:

    (585) 546-4856

  • Walk-in Hours:

    Wednesdays only, from 10:00 am – 12 noon and 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, at our 87 N. Clinton Avenue location.

About the Program

Refugees come to America seeking a better life for themselves and their families. For many of them, the prospect of work and the ability to earn a living is an opportunity that has long been denied them. Our refugee clients are eager to take advantage of this new chance to provide for their family's support through their own labor.

Refugees have an excellent reputation among local employers as reliable, capable and ambitious workers. Our Refugee Employment Program provides services that foster independence and self-sufficiency by facilitating refugees' entry into the workforce.

Through our Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program, we are extending our services to include pre-vocational services, intensive supported employment, and ongoing supported employment to fit the needs of a wider set of Rochester's population. It has now been specifically designed to benefit those in the HCBS program; please visit our page to learn more.

What the Program Offers

Employment Skills Training

Supported by grants from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an office within the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHS), and the NY State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), CCFCS is able to offer programs that enable refugees to secure professional or skilled employment that will provide the means for their long-term self-sufficiency and prosperity in their new community.

Our Refugee Career Pathways program helps refugees who have been in the USA for less than 5 years to obtain certification in healthcare, hospitality, advanced manufacturing and other careers and trades. Up to $2,500 of tuition assistance may be available for training and education for eligible refugees.

If you are interested in learning a new trade, getting a new credential, starting college or earning your high school equivalency, please contact us either by email or call (585) 546-7220 x7320.

Job Development

CCFCS works with area employers in a variety of business fields to open job opportunities for our refugee clients.

Employment services include preparing refugees for job placement, orientation to U.S. work culture and placement in suitable jobs as soon as possible after their arrival.

Family and Community Services operates refugee employment services as part of our Workforce Development team. CCFCS is a current operator of the NY State’s Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG) and RSSP from the Bureau of Refugee & Immigrant Assistance (BRIA) and also operates a Match Grant program through our Voluntary Agency (VOLAG) partners. Through these programs, we maintain a base of over 150 employers in the greater Rochester area and have placed over 250 refugees in jobs annually since 2009.

Over that time, refugees placed in employment by CCFCS had a 75% job retention rate after 90 days. Placement services include job search and completion of job applications, job counseling, accompaniment to interview and orientations and follow-up to ensure retention. Understanding that appropriate job preparation measures are crucial to placement and retention, Refugee Employment Services provides a variety of services to prepare its refugee clients for work including employment assessment, job preparation classes, individual job counseling, resume preparation and interview skills preparation.

Want to learn more?

Contact the program team:
Email: lmack@cfcrochester.org
Phone: (585) 546-7220 x7320

Who are we?

A quick overview of Family and Community Services

1000+
Employees & Volunteers
80+
Programs
32
Locations
1
Mission
Walking with all who need us