Employability and Soft Skills Manual
One of the key components of the Pennsylvania Academic, Career and Technical Training (PACTT) Alliance is grounded in the goal of providing guidance and uniformity to the work-ready training activities offered to delinquent youth in residential facilities, community-based programs and services offered by our probation department partners. The Employability & Softs Skills Manual (ESSM) provides the framework for meeting this goal. A minimum set of skills that should be completed by every student in preparation for successful employment are identified through 27 key competencies, organized under five general domains. The identified competencies represent an important foundation for a youth’s employability skills training. The competencies are primarily drawn from the Youth Workforce Development System Competencies developed by the former Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (currently Partner4Work), The Philadelphia WIB, and the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN). They are also aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Career Education and Work.
There is no set curriculum for teaching these competencies. However, PACTT does provide guidance directly to our PACTT affiliates in the form of tasks and supportive resources to ensure uniformity in what is expected with each competency.