Owens Community College partners with Wood County Job and Families Services for apprenticeship program
The Peer Specialist Apprenticeship is a human services apprenticeship program that gives students the opportunity for paid work within their area of interest while still pursuing a degree.
Owens Community College and Wood County Job and Families Services have partnered to offer a unique apprenticeship program for students looking to pursue a degree and a career in a human services field. The program, the first of its kind in the state, is available to Owens Community College students who ultimately want to work in jobs such as Child and Adult Protective Services, Child Support, Fiscal Operations, Income Maintenance, or Workforce Development.
According to an article on Owens Community College’s website, Peter Prichard, who serves as the senior workforce consultant at Wood County Job and Families Services, explained the necessity of such a program and how it will impact the area’s human services workforce. He is quoted as saying, “The world is changing quite a bit, and we’re finding out that how people learn is quite different than it was. Simply with how information is coming to our people outside of school on the internet, there’s always an opportunity for learning. We have to direct that learning. An apprenticeship helps people focus on a specific area while they’re getting some of that formalized education. It’s definitely a non-traditional approach, but it requires some traditional instruction to go along with it.”
The Peer Specialist Apprenticeship has been designed to provide Owens Community College students with 2,000 hours of paid hands-on experience in the human services field by working with Wood County Job and Families Services. After completing their associate degree at Owens Community College and their Peer Specialist Apprenticeship program, participants will be able to transition into a Child Protective Services Fellowship with the agency, if they choose.
Michael Fuller is the assistant director of Wood County Jobs and Families Services. He noted that since the Covid pandemic, it has been difficult to fill human services positions, and he hopes that the availability of this apprenticeship opportunity will make it easier to find employees. He is quoted as saying, “This position would get the knowledge within our agency, but there are entities outside of just our agency that they could apply for jobs to with an associate degree in mental health, hospitals, even other social service agencies. It’s a way for students to come in, you feel them out, they feel you out and see if this is where they want to go. It’s a benefit on both sides.”
For more information about Owens Community College, visit the school’s website.