Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Office of Community Services (OCS), administratively attached to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR), is requesting proposals from qualified applicants to provide employment core services (ECS) to low-income persons and legal permanent residents; These programs aim to improve employment possibilities for low-income persons by enhancing their employment skills. The ES-LPR program should also include acculturation modules to help immigrants address language and cultural barriers in order to successfully secure employment. The target population for these services are unemployed or underemployed low-income persons, including immigrants, regardless of their length of presence in the United States, provided that their family household income is at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii. Providers must maintain proper documentation to demonstrate that program participants meet this income eligibility requirement. The target population is composed of two basic groups: Non-immigrant lowincome persons (LIP) and immigrant “Legal Permanent Resident” (LPR) lowincome persons. For this State program, the term “Legal Permanent Residents” includes persons who are categorized as “Legal Permanent Residents” by the U.S. Government under federal immigration laws. However, unlike the U.S. Government, OCS also includes within this category persons who are citizens of the Freely Associated States under Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the United States. Those countries are the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands.
