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Owens, Wood County Agency Begin Unparalleled Apprenticeship Program

A new partnership between Owens Community College and Wood County Job and Families Services (JFS) is offering students an opportunity to gain work experience and professional experiences before they start their human services careers.

The Peer Specialist Apprenticeship is a 2,000-hour paid program that allows students to pursue their degrees while gaining hands-on experience in the field. This apprenticeship program for human services is the first of its kind in Ohio.

The apprenticeship can be a springboard to careers in the human services industry, including Child and Adult Protective Services, Workforce Development, Child Support, Income Maintenance and Fiscal Operations.

“The Peer Specialist Apprenticeship is the perfect experiential learning environment for any student looking to enter the human services sector. Wood County Jobs and Family Services has developed a great opportunity where Owens students can gain valuable work experience and professional connections that will follow them their entire career,” said Michael Sander, Owens dean for the School of Liberal Arts.

The program has already received strong support from state-level government officials, according to Peter Prichard, senior workforce consultant with Wood County JFS.

“The world is changing quite a bit, and we’re finding out that how people learn is quite different than it was,” Prichard said. “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.”

During the course of the apprenticeship, students will fulfill their curriculum and obtain their associate degrees while being eligible to transition into a Child Protective Services Fellowship program.

According to Michael Fuller, Wood County JFS assistant director, there has been an industry-wide struggle to find social workers after the Covid pandemic. Allowing students to gain valuable experience while opening up other sectors under the human services broad umbrella will hopefully help fill those gaps, he said.

“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,” Fuller said.

“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.”

Fuller said they’ve recently received their first application for the apprenticeship program.

The Peer Specialist Apprenticeship is currently available to eligible Owens Community College students. Owens Community College is the Ohio University System collaborative partner for related instruction for this Apprenticeship Program.

To apply for the program, please visit this link.