Brett Sexton knew she wanted to graduate college and begin a career in the "helping profession." She also knew that without some help, she would have to struggle to juggle a part-time job and a full-time education.

Thanks to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Program, Brett got the support she needed to remain a full-time student and earn her bachelor's degree. But graduation was not the end of her WIA experience; it was only the beginning.

Today, Brett sits on the other side of the desk as a WIA career adviser at the Perry County JobSight operated by the L.K.L.P. Community Action Council. Brett works in the Youth Achieve Program, a new component of the WIA Youth Program that helps 18- to 21-year-old drug offenders get back on the right track toward an education or employment.

"We want to be good mentors for them," Brett says. "They're going to get to meet people in the community, and we'll help them find employment. We really want to offer them a second chance."

Brett says she knows what it is like to need support and help. In 2003, Brett-then 21-had already earned an associate's degree in arts at the Whitesburg Campus of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. To take her education to the next level, she would have to enroll in Eastern Kentucky University's social services program offered through Hazard Community and Technical College, and face the high costs of a daily commute from rural Letcher County to campus.

Through WIA, Brett received supportive services that covered the gas and food expenses related to her last four semesters of college.

In addition to assisting teens and young adults with education-related expenses, the WIA Youth Program also places participants in public and private sector jobs with local employers that match their interests and allow them to earn a paycheck as they learn valuable career skills. The program also provides a broad array of year-round services including: tutoring, study skills, alternative schooling, leadership development, mentoring, guidance and counseling.

The L.K.L.P. Community Action Council delivers WIA programs in Knott County under contract with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP). The L.K.L.P. Community Action Council office in Hindman is also an access point for the JobSight network, a collaborative partnership of workforce and training agencies administered by EKCEP.

Bobbie Slone, Brett's WIA career adviser, says Brett's success did not take her by surprise.

"She was an excellent student, and she always did all of the projects and activities that our program had to offer," Bobbie says. "You can just tell that some of our participants will go places, and she is one of those who I knew would succeed."

Brett earned a bachelor's degree in social services in December 2005, and was hired to work at L.K.L.P. less than two months later. Brett says finally working in the "helping profession" is the realization of a dream. Being able to help people through the agency that once helped her makes the situation even better, she says.

"I love it," Brett says of both her career and her place of employment. "I'm glad WIA helped me get the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives."