The Mayor’s Workforce Development Board (MWDB) is directly responsible and accountable to the State of Michigan, Labor and Economic Opportunity-Workforce Development (LEO-WD) for the planning and oversight of talent development programs in the City of Detroit. Designated by the MWDB, Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC) serves as the fiscal and administrative entity that provides workforce services to job seekers and employers. DESC’s primary funding streams include Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) that funds Michigan’s PATH (Partnership. Accountability. Training. Hope.) employment program, Food Assistance Employment and Training (FAE&T), Wagner-Peyser Employment Services (ES), and other public and private funding. The Corporation enters into contracts with qualified entities to provide workforce development programs and services to job seekers and employers.
In anticipation of potential American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the City of Detroit and Detroit at Work developed a new program, Skills for Life, that incorporates multiple evidence-based components of the People Plan. Skills for Life is a paid, full-time, 4-to-14-month program that has two goals: upskill Detroit residents and place them along a pathway to the middle class and increase the capacity of City departments, including General Services, to reduce blight and deliver other services to residents.
DESC is seeking proposals from qualified individuals and/or organizations to provide as needed, Career Services and Readiness Training for DESC and the MWDB, known collectively as Detroit at Work.
