LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation is investing $6.5 million in a workforce development partnership with the Nevada Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs to expand early learning centers and afterschool programs statewide.
The initiative, called “Up Next Nevada.” It aims to engage more than 200 young adults aged 15 to 24 in employment activities focused on licensed childcare, afterschool enrichment, and youth recreation programs through 2025-2026.
Brian Kaelin, now a clubhouse director, started with the Boys and Girls Clubs six years ago as a teenager.
“I was volunteering for the program, spending some time bettering my community, and when I was old enough and eligible to be employed here, I immediately applied for a position,” Kaelin said.
Training program targets staff retention
Kaelin is one of more than 140 people benefiting from the clubs’ partnership with the state’s workforce development agency.
“What it does is it helps us retain our staff so that we keep them longer, we train them better, and then we have better outcomes with our kids,” Andy Bischel, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada, said. “It also helps us attract new staff to the youth development space.”
The clubs will train young adults to support licensed childcare, afterschool, and youth recreation programs.
“So it’s really a statewide impact for young people to get involved in their communities and provide these safe, supportive environments for our kids to really, again, gain character and leadership in those elements that are so important for employers,” Bischel said.
Addressing Nevada’s childcare shortage
The collaboration seeks to address Nevada’s ongoing childcare crisis by increasing the number of trained and well-compensated caregivers available to support working families.
A 2023 report by the Governor’s Workforce Development Board found 74% of children aged 0-5 lack access to licensed childcare, and if available, it is expensive.
“This program not only supports us and our futures and the future of critical areas in this state, it helps us support the youth while we’re at it,” Kaelin said.
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