03/20/2012

Career Development and the Legislative Process

Career Development and the Legislative Process *

Most citizens will seek and hold a job at some point in their lives. Many of these will actively pursue lifelong career aspirations and goals. The federal, state, and local legislative processes provide direction, policies, funding, programs, and services to support the employability and employment of citizens. As a result NCDA will:

• Provide leadership and advocacy by becoming directly involved in the legislative process providing information, guidance, recommendations, and support for legislators, legislation, funding, programs, and services related to employability, employment, and career planning and development at the federal, state, and local levels.

• Hire a lobbyist to stay abreast of all legislative actions and legislation related to employability, employment, and career planning and development at the federal and state levels and to assist the NCDA Board by:

• serving as a liaison between the Board and legislators

• educating legislators on the NCDA platform and relevant career development practices, processes, issues, and trends

• drafting legislative proposals, policies, recommendations, and amendments

• promoting and positioning NCDA as the “go to” organization for career development related information, guidance, and support

• keeping the Board and members informed of pending legislation, progress, and implications

• soliciting political support and votes for favorable legislation

• leveraging federal and state funds to promote the NCDA platform

• Annually review and revise the legislative agenda to address all facets of employability, employment, and lifelong career planning and development. The legislative agenda will be written in short, concise statements for ease of understanding and for use by all career development professionals, practitioners, constituents, stakeholders, and legislators. The current legislative agenda includes the following three key items as voted on by the general membership at the 2008 annual conference.

  • Worker Employability (Sustainability and Resiliency):To prepare the nation’s citizenry for the dynamic nature of the ever-changing and turbulent world of work and to bolster the government's efforts to train a competitive workforce that is well-equipped to compete in a global economy and meet the demands of employers, the National Career Development Association urges Congress to extend the roles and responsibilities of the nation’s education and workforce development systems (community colleges, One Stop Career Centers) beyond a singular focus on employMENT (i.e., measuring the numbers of persons trained and employed) to an increased emphasis on individual worker sustainability and resiliency (i.e., measuring increases in long-term, personal employability success).

  • Individual Career Plans: To curb the nation’s alarming school dropout problem and significantly increase the career readiness of America’s youth particularly in relation to high-growth, high-demand industries (e.g., the STEM disciplines), the National Career Development Association urges Congress to develop policies and fund relevant, evidence-based career development and education programs that help students internalize the connection between school and work to prepare them for a lifetime of successful work and education. We further call for the implementation of a system by which every young person has an Individual Career Development Plan in place prior to enrollment in high school, which will be completed and updated annually with the assistance of a certified/licensed career development practitioner (including school counselors, career development facilitators, licensed professional counselors, etc.).

  • Practitioner Preparation: To ensure that individuals receiving career counseling and development support are provided with the highest quality services, it is essential that certified/licensed career development practitioners are adequately prepared to work with their clients/students (including special populations and individuals facing multiple barriers to employment), providing them with the most relevant, timely, and meaningful support. As such, the National Career Development Association urges Congress to fund the pre-service and in-service training of career development practitioners to make certain that they have the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively support the career development and lifelong learning of their students/clients, including the use of computerized career information systems for development of individual career plans for clients of all ages.

  * from the NCDA 2010 Platform