Education & Training Programs

MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center is pleased to provide access to eligible job seekers to a variety of programs that will help you with your job search. Read on below to learn more about programs that will help you find funding for education and training opportunities. If you have any question or need assistance, please call the Greenfield Career Center make an appointment.

The federally funded Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs offer individualized career services to eligible job seekers who are Dislocated Workers or Low-Income Adults.  A Career Counselor assist job seekers to assess skills, create a career plan, search for jobs, explore education and training options and can assist in paying for training when available and appropriate.  Training could include occupational or skills training including on the job training.

WIOA Dislocated Workers

The following is a list of eligible candidates for the WIOA Dislocated Worker Program:

• Individuals who have been terminated or laid off, or received notice of termination from employment and are eligible for or have exhausted Unemployment Insurance benefits
• Individuals who were self-employed but are now unemployed
• Displaced Homemakers who worked in the home and were dependent on the income of a family member but have lost that income
• Spouse of a military member on active duty

WIOA Adult

The Adult program prioritizes services for individuals who are low income, receiving public assistance and who do not have the skills necessary to achieve self-sufficiency.

The WIOA Adult program serves job seekers with a wide variety of barriers to employment including:

• People with low incomes
• English language learners
• People who have difficulty with math or reading
• People with disabilities
• Single parents
• People involved in the court system
• People who are homeless

Program applicants are required to provide verification of eligibility for program services.

MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center assists workers who lose their jobs or have their work hours reduced as a result of increased imports, or whose jobs were exported offshore. The Trade program provides benefits which include a variety of reemployment services designed to help trade-affected workers prepare for and obtain suitable employment including career counseling, job search assistance, skills assessment, and training.

If you are potentially eligible, Career Center staff will assist you in applying for these TAA Program benefits, which are administered by the Department of Career Services (DCS) and Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA).

You can see which companies in Massachusetts are already TAA eligible here.

Or you can search a list of every state’s TAA eligible companies here. This list includes company locations as well as companies that are currently being investigated as potentially TAA eligible.

Please ask the Reception Staff at our Career Center to speak with a Career Services Counselor if your position was downsized or eliminated as a result of foreign trade, even if the business is not on the list. It may be possible to petition for Trade Assistance certification.

If you do not have a high school diploma, completing a High School Equivalency Exam may help you improve your job prospects. Our partner, The Literacy Project, provides free GED and HiSET prep classes to anyone 16 and older who is not enrolled in public school.

Classes at The Literacy Project run from September-June, and new students start each month. Classes are small and comfortable, with plenty of individual help from teachers and tutors. Each student works at their own pace until they reach their goals. Classes meet online or in person, and computer scholarships are available.

How to enroll with The Literacy Project:

If you are registered at MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, please contact Janet Gary at 413-341-4337, or by email janet@literacyproject.org
If you are not registered at the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, visit The Literacy Project online or call the classroom closest to you:

• Greenfield – 413-774-3935
• Amherst – 413-259-1663
• Northampton – 413-584-6755
• Orange – 978-544-8971
• Ware – 413-967-9902

Click here to visit The Literacy Project website.