"Building Stronger
Communities by Building Better Careers"
Community Preservation
and Development Corporation, Washington, DC
Summary
.At Edgewood Terrace in northeast Washington,
DC, the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) is helping
unemployed and underemployed adults build career plans, develop job skills,
and find employment. In one component of the CPDC career and skills enhancement
program, staff use O*NET OnLine, among other resources, to help participants
identify potential career goals. Participants leave the class with a long-term
career plan fashioned as a résumé-builder. Some go on to
specialized training programs in information technology. Others seek employment
or further education in other fields. But all have an action plan, with
next steps toward a better future. The career enhancement program is a
vital part of a much broader and long-term effort "to revitalize an inner
city neighborhood plagued with economic and physical deterioration and
crime."
How
is O*NET being used?
Community Preservation and Development
Corporation (CPDC) is a non-profit organization committed to creating affordable
housing for low- and moderate-income residents. It builds partnerships
with residents to address important economic, education, health, and social
needs through a range of community services. Among its properties is Edgewood
Terrace, a 16-acre housing complex with 835 units. The CPDC program there
involves private and public sector partners, including corporations like
Microsoft and Verizon and several universities and foundations. Together
they provide support for a wide range of services. Among these is a set
of career and skill enhancement programs designed for residents.
Today the Edgewood Terrace career and skill
enhancement programs reach beyond residents of the housing complex to serve
people living in the surrounding neighborhood. Doors to a new Career and
College Resource Center for teens, complete with a CyberCafe, will open
soon. Evening activities offer working adults access to facilities and
assistance in improving job and career skills. Daytime programs provide
unemployed youth and adults with assessment and career development, GED
and External Diploma preparation, basic computer skills, and advanced training
for jobs in information technology. Participants have access to personal
email accounts, the Web, and EdgeNet, an intranet designed to turn Edgewood
Terrace into an electronic village. Other programs focus on helping seniors,
students, adults with disabilities, and young adults leaving foster care.
.The career and skill enhancement programs
begin with a 4-hour basic career assessment and vocational evaluation process.
It helps applicants assess their academic skills, interests, values, temperaments,
and learning styles. This is followed by a group interview to ascertain
the applicant's commitment to the program. During the assessment, evaluators
sometimes identify hitherto undiagnosed disabilities in an applicant. Depending
on their nature, staff may turn to O*NET OnLine for information on job
accommodations or assistive technology to adjust for a disability in a
work situation.
.Applicants selected for the program participate
in a 16-week career development class. During the course, participants
explore their own interests and abilities in relation to long-range career
opportunities. The class is based on the NOICC (National Occupational Information
Coordinating Committee) career development model. It includes three stages
in the career development process: self-assessment and self-awareness,
educational and occupational exploration, and decision-making and career
planning.
.During the second stage of the process,
participants use O*NET OnLine to do research on occupational characteristics
and requirements and to compare their skills with those required in a particular
field. As they learn more about the career possibilities on their lists,
they begin to eliminate some and to focus their investigation on two or
three top choices. Information from O*NET, as well as job-specific information
from local employers, helps them in their analysis and decision-making.
.By the end of the
course, participants have developed a long-range career plan in the form
of a résumé-builder.
It specifies individual and incremental steps they must take to reach the
goal, with various options for short- and long-range action and specific
contacts. Before graduation, participants present their plan to the class
for an often rigorous peer review. During follow-up with participants after
they leave the program, evaluators can find out whether they have taken
any of the steps and how far along they have come in their career development.
Who
is your target population?
.Initially, residents of Edgewood Terrace
were the target population. Now CPDC programs for adults serve residents
in the surrounding neighborhoods as well. Specific programs are targeted
at students; young adults (ages 18-24); employed, underemployed, and unemployed
adults; persons with disabilities; persons leaving foster care; and seniors.
What
kind of results is O*NET helping you to achieve?
.The emphasis in the CPDC career development
class is on developing a long-range action plan. O*NET is one of many resources
that help participants learn about career possibilities and the skills
and abilities they require. This is an essential step in the planning process.
By the end of the program, some participants are prepared to find new jobs
or to seek advancement in their current employment. Others have serious
interim steps (such as further education or training) to take in pursuing
their long-range goal. Each step they undertake is a measure of success
in turning their lives toward positive, long-range employment and educational
goals. Participation in the program gives many individuals greater control
over their lives and connections they can use to move ahead.
What
are the related program initiatives?
.The career and skill enhancement program
is one component of a much larger community-building effort. The initial
career development class is supported with other offerings, such as basic
computer applications, information technology training, GED preparation,
and referrals to rehabilitation services or outside training and education.
A key factor is access to technology for professional and community use.
Follow-up with successful participants is enhanced by providing them with
access to email. Many of the services available to Edgewood Terrace residents
provide essential support (access to child care, medical and health services,
computer technology). These are supplied by a large set of partners, including
private corporations, foundations, government agencies, universities, and
resident associations.
Is
your product, program or service available for others to use?
.The Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) envisions the CPDC program at Edgewood Terrace as a model for similar
services in other areas. CPDC has initiated a career enhancement program
in Alexandria, VA, and others are planned at seven locations in the Metro
DC area. To view materials from the CPDC Career Development Class on the
Internet, register as a visitor at: http://www.blackboard.com/courses/CPDC/
What
other strategies make your product, program or service successful?
.A key ingredient is making sure participants
leave with a long-range but attainable goal, with a concrete plan and specific
steps toward achieving it. The plan must include specific resources, for
example, who to call for information or assistance. It must have realistic
timelines for interim steps that help a client move ahead. Participants
also have access to email and the EdgeNet for six months after leaving
a program to help them keep in touch with classmates and instructors. Staff
follow-up focuses on steps taken and next steps needed. This is not just
a get-a-job approach; it's establishing a long-term goal and an action
plan.
.Another prime factor is that the program
is couched in a much larger community development effort with many partners.
Residents are actively engaged in both policy- and decision-making. For
example, software on the EdgeNet LAN is selected by a Resident Technology
Advisory Board, not the CPDC staff.
.Edgewood Terrace was HUD's first eVillage.
Eventually every apartment will have a computer terminal with a thin client
server and a T-1 line. The LAN permits electronic trouble-shooting and
problem-solving without requiring technicians on-site except when a hardware
problem arises. The LAN also provides community bulletin boards and a network
for sharing information among residents. Students can link up with classmates
and tutors to form study groups. In a collaboration with Catholic University's
biotechnology program, residents will be able to have conversations with
a nurse and to have their blood pressure and blood sugar levels monitored
via the Internet.
Do
you have other pertinent information?
.Career enhancement program staff are now
exploring ways to use O*NET information in "discrepancy analysis." This
would allow participants to compare their skills, interests, and abilities
with similar criteria in occupations they are considering. Where discrepancies
arise, participants can decide whether they can adjust to requirements
of the occupation or should look at other possibilities more suited to
their preferences and needs.
Contact
information.
.Lecester Johnson, Manager
.Career and Skill Enhancement Programs
.Community Preservation and Development
Corporation
.601 Edgewood St., NE, Suite 25
.Washington, DC 20017
.Telephone: 202-832-0500, x3135
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