DENVER, Colorado — As part of the city's new Denver Asylum Seekers Program (DASP), migrants will receive work force training and skills development. The city offered a $2.25 million contract to Centro de Los Trabajadores to fund the city's WorkReady Denver program.
The contract comes about a month after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's announcement about the DASP, which will provide migrants with access to resources related to housing, workforce development, their asylum case, and case management. Roughly 800 people have been enrolled in DASP so far. The program requires at least one family member to participate in WorkReady Denver through Centro de Los Trabajadores.
"We are creating, with the city, the Work Ready program, but that program is based on the worker-center model that we are running already," said Mayra Juárez-Denis, executive director of Centro de Los Trabajadores.
Juárez-Denis and her team have been working with newly arriving migrants for more than a year. The contract, however, marks an official start as a city partner.
According to city council minutes, the agreement will "build a pipeline of talent into jobs that are experiencing significant labor shortages by providing individuals who are on a path to work authorization access to education, training and employment opportunities." The 14-month contract will continue through July 2025.
"It’s not just about filling the gap of workers in specific industries, but also for these workers to develop their skills, use the skills they already bring because there is a lot of talent coming and also understanding their rights as workers," Juárez-Denis said.
The funds will allow them to work one-on-one with their clients. They also will match people's job experiences with fields and industries here in Denver. The organization will also work to assess education level.
"They are going to bring talent that is needed. So, there are specific industries like construction and healthcare that are in deep need of workers," Juárez-Denis said. "I think the opportunity right now to train them and be ready to fill some of those jobs, I think is going to be beneficial, not just for the immigrants arriving but for the business community and the community in general."
Juárez-Denis says the funds will help them continue the one-on-one work they do with immigrants and the help they've already been distributing to newly arriving migrants. Juárez-Denis describes the program as a worker-centered program.
An important piece will also be providing guidance and steps to prevent wage theft and exploitation. It will also empower workers to report when they are victims of this type of exploitation.
"I think what’s going to be very important for them as well is to really understand their rights as immigrant workers. So, wage theft prevention, local and state laws that protect them as workers and also to teach employers of this talent that is arriving and providing those tools for them," Juárez-Denis said.
More from Angeline McCall:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Next with Kyle Clark