§ 544. Vermont Internship Program
(a)(1) The Department of Labor, in consultation with the Agency of Education, shall develop, and the Department shall implement, a statewide Vermont Internship Program for students who are in high school or in college and for those who are recent graduates of 24 months or less.
(2) The Department of Labor shall coordinate and provide funding to public and private entities for internship programs that match Vermont employers with students from public and private secondary schools, regional technical centers, the Community High School of Vermont, colleges, and recent graduates of 24 months or less.
(3) Funding awarded through the Vermont Internship Program may be used to build and administer an internship program and to provide participants with a stipend during the internship, based on need. Funds may be made only to programs or projects that:
(A) do not replace or supplant existing positions;
(B) expose students to the workplace or create real workplace expectations and consequences;
(C) provide a process that measures progress toward mastery of skills, attitude, behavior, and sense of responsibility required for success in that workplace;
(D) are designed to motivate and educate participants through work-based learning opportunities with Vermont employers;
(E) include mechanisms that promote employer involvement with secondary and postsecondary students and curriculum and the delivery of education at the participating schools; or
(F) offer participants a continuum of learning, experience, and relationships with employers that will make it financially possible and attractive for graduates to continue to work and live in Vermont.
(4) As used in this section, "internship" means a learning experience working with an employer where the intern may, but does not necessarily, receive academic credit, financial remuneration, a stipend, or any combination of these.
(b) The Department of Labor, in collaboration with the Agencies of Agriculture, Food and Markets and of Education, State-funded postsecondary educational institutions, the State Workforce Development Board, and other State agencies and departments that have workforce education and training and training monies, shall:
(1) identify new and existing funding sources that may be allocated to the Vermont Internship Program;
(2) collect data and establish program goals and performance measures that demonstrate program results for internship programs funded through the Vermont Internship Program;
(3) develop or enhance a website that will connect students and graduates with internship opportunities with Vermont employers;
(4) engage appropriate agencies and departments of the State in the Internship Program to expand internship opportunities with State government and with entities awarded State contracts; and
(5) work with other public and private entities to develop and enhance internship programs, opportunities, and activities throughout the State. (Added 2011, No. 52, § 11, eff. May 27, 2011; amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 253, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2013, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 41; 2015, No. 11, § 11; 2015, No. 51, § C.3; 2015, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § K.1; 2017, No. 189 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)