First Nations Career Promotion and Awareness Program

FIRST NATIONS CAREER PROMOTION AND AWARENESS PROGRAM

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), BC Region, has approved funding for the youth programs for the 2006/2007 fiscal year.

DIAND has confirmed an allocation of $423,999.00 for the 2006/2007 Career Promotion and Awareness Program (CPAP). These funds are now available for distribution.

The First Nations Schools Association (FNSA) and the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) have agreed to take responsibility for the funding and administration of the program.

1.Program Description

This program will fund the establishment or continuation of CPAP projects for on-reserve First Nations schools. CPAP eligible participants are First Nations students, enrolled in and attending a First Nations school.

2.Program Objectives

The CPAP projects are intended to do the following:

Increase the number of CPAP projects in First Nations schools;

Provide opportunities for students in grades 8 through 12 with workplace/community experience. Projects will be designed locally to reflect individual community circumstances and requirements;

Increase the rate of high school graduation and subsequent employment among First Nations youth;

Facilitate the transition from school to employment;

Support the development and enhancement of essential employability skills, such as communication, problem solving and working with others;

Expose youth to a variety of career options;

Provide career planning support and access to career development information;

Support life skills and work skills development;

Promote the benefits of education as being key to labour market participation;

Foster partnerships between schools and public and private sector employers for cooperative education work experience.

3.Eligibility Requirements

Who Can Apply?

On-reserve First Nations schools with secondary programs are eligible to apply.

Which Students Can Participate?

Students eligible to participate in the program include full-time students in grades 8 through 12, reported under the DIAND nominal roll and attending on-reserve schools, including students within the age range eligible for secondary education in BC.

4.Additional Program Requirements

In order to be eligible, a CPAP project must:

Be based in a school on-reserve and administered under First Nations authority;

Include work placement activities (hands-on experience in out-of-school work settings) during the school year, linked to academic study and classroom study;

Include counseling for and supervision of participating students; i.e. preparation, monitoring, and coaching of the students and career counseling activities;

Take into consideration respective provincial Career Promotion & Awareness Education programs and policies for accreditation purposes where applicable;

Include a plan for evaluation of the students and the program; and

Have support and commitment of resources from the community (band council, school committee, parents committee, employers, unions...) i.e. letters of support and a Band Council Resolution or a letter from Chief and/or Councilor(s).

It is recognized that the length and type of work/community placement activities will vary with the level of education of the students and the employment characteristics of the region where the schools are situated.

5.Eligible Proposals

Proposals must:

Be in accordance with all of these program guidelines;
Outline the activities that support any or all of the above objectives;
Provide an estimate of costs to be incurred, including any share to be borne by partners;
Outline the results to be achieved; and
Be as gender-balanced as possible.

6.How to Apply

Interested First Nations schools must apply by submitting a proposal outlining the overall concept of their programs. Each proposal must include the following information:

Name and address of First Nations school seeking funding, with a contact name;

Program description;

Statement of program goals and objectives;

Outline of the proposed program/project activities;

Location, duration and total number of activities/events;

Anticipated start and end date of the program;

Identification of community support and resources that could contribute to the program, including the school, First Nations organization(s), and employers;

Anticipated number, gender and grade levels of participants;

Anticipated number of participants with disabilities;

Projected objectives/outcomes/results to be achieved;

Identification of potential work placement employers, positions and duties;

How the program will fit into school’s present curriculum/changes the school will make to support the CPAP project;
Criteria for selecting participants to be in the program;

Proposed program work plan;
Proposed participant workshops, training and certifications;
Projected costs for the design and implementation of a CPAP project;
Plans for monitoring and assessment of participants during work placements; and
Evaluation components for the program/project activities.

Proposal Template is attached

7.Additional Information

Where a school has already established a CPAP project, applicants must attach to their proposal a copy of any evaluation report completed for the previous school year. Continuing CPAP projects will be considered against the same criteria as new projects, in an effort to ensure fairness.

The design of a CPAP project may require the school to modify some of its curricula and its school policy to include Career Promotion & Awareness education. It may also require some in-service training in cooperative education for teachers and career counselors.

The implementation of a CPAP project involves a series of activities: identification of potential employers; selection of students for the program; parental consent for student participation in the program; pre-placement orientation activities; matching of students with employers; development of student individual learning plans; signing of cooperative education agreements; work placement and feedback activities; and an evaluation of the students and the program.

Therefore, eligible expenses for designing and implementing a CPAP project are:

Salaries and employee benefits for teachers and education para-professionals not already covered by existing programs, including INAC elementary/secondary education and band support/tribal council funding;

Professional staff training on Career Promotion & Awareness education issues;

Additional costs related to administrative issues such as insurance coverage for students during work placement (when not covered by employers);

Specific safety equipment or uniforms required by participant for the work place (please provide an explanation of why this is necessary);

Room and board for students who must live away from home during their work placement;

Contractual fees (such as transportation, consultants).

Note:

Students are not to receive any salary or other form of remuneration.

The purpose of CPAP projects is to provide students with skills and learning experience and possible credit(s) towards high school graduation.

CPAP projects are only available to First Nations students enrolled in and attending a First Nations school.

Eligible costs do not include infrastructure or equipment purchases (e.g. computers).

Travel to meet with potential employers and transportation of students and teachers are no longer eligible expenses.

Successful applicants will receive approval for funding for the following items:

1)Up to full-time teacher salary and employee benefits (depending on number of students in program); and

2)15% of the total project budget or administrative costs.

The total amount for items 1 & 2 correspond to approximately 50% of the total program budget. With this amount, the school will be able to design the program and undertake pre-placement activities.

8.Review and Approval Process

The subcommittee of the FNSA Directors will be responsible for reviewing the CPAP proposals. The subcommittee will review and recommend approval of proposals and the budget to be allocated for each successful applicant. In order to ensure that the process is free from conflict of interest, any member of the committee whose institution submits a proposal will be ineligible to participate in discussions about or vote on that proposal.

The subcommittee will review all proposals submitted and will select the programs/projects to be funded in 2006/2007. The subcommittee will also determine the amount of funding to be allocated to each successful applicant, ensuring that sufficient funding is allocated to foster success. Allapplicants will be informed of the committee’s decision. Successful applicants will receive initial funding for 50% of the total proposed budget for the program upon signing the CPAP project contribution agreement.

9.Funding Arrangements

The FNSA/FNESC will distribute the funding with the same reporting requirements as outlined by DIAND. Those requirements will be outlined in a contribution agreement, and include: the return of a signed contribution agreement (for the release of 50% of the funding); the submission of an interim report (for the release of 20% of the funding); and the submission of a final report (for the release of the final 30% of the funding).

Proposal Deadline: Friday, June 16th, 2006 by 4:30 p.m. Submit to:

First Nations Education Steering Committee

#113 – 100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2

Fax: (604) 925 – 6097 or email to

10.Reporting Requirements

Interim Report:

By Friday, December 8, 2006, successful applicants will submit an Interim Report to the committee that must include all of the following.

Name and location of the school;

Attestation that the goals and objectives in the approved proposal have not changed;

Detailed description of the project (curricula, work/community placement activities; location and duration of work placements, links with provincial Career Promotion & Awareness Education Programs and policies for accreditation purposes, modifications to school academic programs);

Implementation plan including: timeframe for implementation; counseling and support activities for students and employers; and provision of any necessary specific equipment or uniforms and transportation;

List of employers who are providing work placements;

Employability skills acquired to date;

Plan for monitoring, assessment and evaluation of participants during work placements;

Revised budget for the design and implementation of the CPAP project, including contributions from the community and the participating employers;

Number, gender and education levels of participants;

Number of participants with disabilities;

Number of Coop Education work placements;

Plan for evaluation of the participants and the project.

Interim Report Deadline: Friday, December 8th, 2006 by 4:30 p.m. Submit to:

First Nations Education Steering Committee

#113 – 100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2

Fax: (604) 925 – 6097 or email to

Final Report:

Successful applicants must provide, no later than Friday, March 23, 2007, a Final Report evaluating the implementation of the program/project. Each final report must include the following.

Name and location of the school;

Goals and objectives of the program;

Detailed description of the project: (curricula, work/community placement activities; location and duration of work placements, links with provincial Career Promotion & Awareness Programs and policies for accreditation purposes, modifications to school academic programs);

Implementation Plan including: timeframe for implementation; counseling and support activities for students and employers; and provision of any necessary specific equipment or uniforms and transportation;

A list of the names of participants and their work experience employers;

A list of the employability or transferable skills that the students learned;

A description of the monitoring and assessment of participants during work placements;

Total number of students in the program;

Total number of female student and male students;

Total number of participants with disabilities;

Total number of students in elementary school and secondary school;

Total number of co-operative education placements;

Final budget, listing revenue and expenditures, including contribution/other sources of funding from the community and the participating employers;

Comments/stories from at least two participants (either youth or employers) outlining the benefits of participating in the CPAP, their level of satisfaction with the activities provided, and whether the participant’s awareness and/or appreciation of the benefits of school were enhanced. What were the participant’s plans for the following academic year? Will they be seeking employment or returning to school?

A list of workshops, training and certification achieved by participants (e.g. Life Skills Workshop, Super Host Training, First Aid Level 1 Certificate);

Evaluations of the program from at least half of the participants (students and employers); and feedback and recommendations about the program.

Final Report Deadline: Friday, March 23, 2007 by 4:30 p.m. Submit to:

First Nations Education Steering Committee

#113 – 100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2

Fax: (604) 925 – 6097 or email to

2006/2007 FNESC/FNSA Youth Employment Strategy (YES) Programs