The Workforce Development Office at Seattle Vocational Institute is devoted to offering tuition assistance and support services. The programs pay for tuition and books in hope of presenting participants the opportunity to upgrade their professional and technical skills leading to enhanced career opportunities and self-sufficiency.
 
SVI collaborates with business, labor, government and community groups and are directly affiliated with Seattle Central Community College. Seattle Vocational Institute is part of the Seattle Community College District VI and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.
 
Our goal is to help students select a promising career, acquire the necessary employment skills and most importantly, to help graduates secure a good job. Our vocational programs are designed to meet the demands of local employers and the challenges of the ever-changing employment market.

Worker Retraining Programs are offered in partnership with the Washington State Board of Community & Technical Colleges and the Washington State Employment Security Department. It is designed to provide job training for persons who are having difficulty in finding work due to diminishing occupations in the local workforce and/or need to upgrade their marketable skills to be competitive in the local economy. SVI offers a unique mix of professional/technical programs, which all lead to demand occupations in the Seattle-King County Workforce Development Area.
 
Worker Retraining staff members are available to help you select a vocational program that fits your needs. Worker Retraining Financial Aid provides tuition, fees, books and quarterly bus passes to eligible applicants.
 
You are eligible for financial assistance for Worker Retraining programs if you:

• are a Dislocated Worker most recently employed in an occupation that is locally "not in demand" and are currently receiving Washington State Unemployment Compensation (UI)
• have exhausted a Washington State UI claim within the past 2 years
• were previously Self-Employed within the past 2 years and possess an expired business license
• were previously dependant on a partner's income within the past 2 years and are now having to support yourself and/or your family (Displaced Homemaker)
• are currently working in an "out of demand" occupation or are at risk of being laid off due to lacking the required marketable job skills (Vulnerable Worker)
• are a Boeing Dislocated Worker with an issued WARN Notice

• Administrative Office Professional
• Cosmetology
• Computer-Based Accounting
• Dental Assistant
• Health Unit Coordinator
• Network Technician
• Medical Assistant
• Phlebotomy
• Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training

The Washington State Employment Security Department partners with the community college network by granting Unemployment Insurance recipients permission to participate in an approved training program while collecting regular UI benefits.
 
Individuals who do not fit the Commissioner Approved Training criteria can still participate in a re-training program, but must continue to meet the job search requirements set forth by Employment Security Department and must be will to quit school if offered a job that may conflict with their training schedule.

Orientations for Commissioner Approved Training/Training Benefits are offered every Friday at 1:00 p.m. on the SVI campus in Room 212 and are administered by a representative from the Washington State Employment Security Department.
 
We welcome your interest in our Worker Retraining program--please call us at (206) 587-4965 or visit us in person at the Workforce Development Office located on the first floor of the SVI campus.

WorkFirst Training Programs prepare students for the workplace with technical/professional skills training covering job readiness, workplace expectations, employability skills, workplace communication, problem solving, and entry-level occupational skills. The program is intensive, hands-on and caters to low-income custodial parents with limited work experience and/or inadequate job skills, leading them to entry-level employment in high-demand occupations that pay a "self-sufficiency wage" in the local economy.
 
The WorkFirst Programs are designed to help parents who are dependant on public assistance or qualify as low-income families. The Programs help by providing tuition and books for career programs leading to wage earning potential and thereby leading to self-sufficiency (if not eligible for Federal Financial Aid (Pell Grant.). WorkFirst serves two groups of families in Washington State:

• Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and referred to an approved short-term training program by DSHS/ESD through a Complementary Evaluation process.
• Low-income working parents with at least one custodial child under the age of 18.

The WorkFirst program provides tuition assistance to TANF recipients and low-income working parents who are either not eligible for other forms of financial aid, or are in the process of pursuing federal aid. WorkFirst Financial Aid pays tuition, fees and books for eligible WorkFirst clients. You are eligible for WorkFirst Financial Aid if:

• you are a Washington State resident
• you have at least one child 18 years or younger
• you are currently working a minimum of 20 hours per week
• you will not be receiving other financial aid assistance for the quarter
• and you fall within the following household income guidelines:
  

  Size of Family Unit		Annual Income Cut-Off Amounts		Monthly Income Cut-Off Amounts
  2		$21,858		$1,821
  3		$27,423		$2,285
  4		$32,988		$2,749
  5		$38,553		$3,213
  6		$44,118		$3,676
  7		$49,683		$4,140
  8		$55,248		$4,604
  9		$60,813		$5,068
  10		$66,378		$5,531

High-Wage/High-Demand (HWHD)
 
Seattle Vocational Institute also offers the following programs which are in high-demand locally and pay a high wage ($16.00 per hour and above) AND do not exceed 4 quarters/12 months in length:

• Computer Based Accounting
• Dental Assistant
• Health Unit Coordinator
• Medical Assistant
• Network Technician

Customized Job Skills Training (CJST)
 
Short-term technical/professional skills training to assist TANF and low-income parents to develop the skills needed to become employable in jobs for which they would otherwise not be qualified. Employers set hiring standards and may set criteria for participating in short-term training, such as completing high school or earning a GED. CJST training is designed in partnership with an employer or group of employers who have identified job openings.
 
  Seattle Vocational Institute offers the following mix of WorkFirst Customized Job Skills Training programs:

• Administrative Office Professional
• Nursing Assistant Certification
• Phlebotomy
• Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training

For additional information please call 206-587-4950 or 206-587-4963.