Job Preparation and Employment

Employment: Job Readiness/Training

Camille's Boutique
Houston, Tx (Harris)

Type of Agency/Organization Coordinating/Operating the Program:
Non-Profit Organization

Funding Sources:
Corporations, Private donors

Clientele/Population Served:
Homeless Men and Women (eventually children)

Mission/Goal of the Program:
Our Mission is to provide homeless men, women and children with a stepping-stone of faith and to equip them with a spirit of confidence that will continue to strengthen them as they face new challenges. We provide job coaching skills, and educational, training and development tools for individual that are in between employment and provide housing for those that are either homeless or in transitional period with either emergency shelter or affordable housing.

Programs/Services Offered:
Train at least 3-5 women a month with retail management, customer service marketing and inventory management skills. Provide job readiness skills that will include, GED (if needed), interview techniques, basic computer skills, ESL, Anger Management, and Life Skill etiquette Workshops. Assist in Job placement through qualified agencies and local corporations. Manager Trainee Certification will be given upon completion. Donate Clothing for interviews.

Results and/or Performance Measures:
We have been in existence for over two years. Have trained over 15 women with a 60% rate of employment. Have housed over 45 men and women with transitional housing. Expanded our training program and moved into a bigger facility to conduct more educational classes such a GED, ESL and ABE

For more information:
http://www.renewedinnovations.org

Operation About Face
National

Type of Agency/Organization Coordinating/Operating the Program:
National Guard

Funding Sources:
State TANF, WIA, and discretionary

Clientele/Population Served:
At-risk youth

Mission/Goal of the Program:
Operation About Face is an education program developed by the National Guard to provide prevention supports and services to at-risk youth. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assists the National Guard with this initiative by identifying Neighborhood Network Centers appropiate for housing the program in the event a National Guard armory is not available, thus acting as a local partner. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assists the Guard with program promotion by communicating program details to TANF directors and supporting program implementation. Program goals include preparing youth to remain in school and enter the workforce; provide structure during after school hours and summer months which are the times when at-risk youth are most vulnerable to participating in or being victimized by crime; provide the at-risk youth population with skills that will ultimately reduce welfare rolls; and increase recruiting opportunities for future potential sites. By recruiting states and suggesting they utilize unspent funding to sponsor About Face within their local areas, the National Guard/HUD/HHS partnership is now providing services to a variety of at-risk youth at sites in Florida, Mississippi, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Programs/Services Offered:
The program is a combination of classroom activities and work experiences offered during the Fall, Spring and Summer. Classes are held at selected subsidized housing Neighborhood Network facilities or National Guard armories. During the Fall and Spring after-school components, participants are involved in 32 hours of classroom time and eight hours of work experience. In addition, youth participate in two Saturday work experience sessions during National Guard drill weekends bringing the total of work experience per student to 20 hours during the Fall and Spring components. The Summer component consists of six-hour work days five days a week. The 1st week involves classroom activities followed by two weeks of work experience. Work experience jobs may fall into three categories: Administration, Supply and Training. There are job tasks and competency attainments for both classroom and work experience activities. All tasks are documented per student throughout the participant’s program experience. An activity-based curriculum is used to provide participants with life skills training on topics such as meal planning, housing arrangements, paycheck budgeting and understanding insurance. Other lessons include job readiness, computer literacy, academic enhancement and critical thinking. In addition, a smoking prevention curriculum is part of the classroom instruction.

Results and/or Performance Measures:
With Florida as its largest program with 27 summer sites and five year-round sites, Operation About Face has enrolled a total of 2145 Floridian students during the last program/fiscal year (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2002). Of those, 1966 students (92%) have successfully completed the program and achieved the intended program goals.

For more information:
Kim Folsom
National Coordinator
703-607-1439
kim.folsom@ngb.army.mil

Reaching at Potential
Richwood, La (Ouachita)

Type of Agency/Organization Coordinating/Operating the Program:
Non-profit nongovernmental

Funding Sources:
Private, public grants

Clientele/Population Served:
200 low income

Mission/Goal of the Program:
To improve citizens quality

Programs/Services Offered:
Services offered include jobskills in computer operations, nurses aide and cosmetology

Results and/or Performance Measures:
Students graduating from programs; Weekly exams

America/Works
Many

Type of Agency/Organization Coordinating/Operating the Program:
Employer + local partners in govt. and nonprofit community

Clientele/Population Served:
W2W, low-income seniors, youth-at-risk, people with disabilities

Mission/Goal of the Program:
Foster workforce development solutions in communities throught the bank's franchise to help people move from poverty to self-sufficiency.

Programs/Services Offered:
Customized training programs to prepare indviduals for career-path jobs at Bank of America.

Results and/or Performance Measures:
Average retention rate of 81%

Preparatory Employment Program
Seattle, Washington

In Seattle, the Preparatory Employment Program places hard to employ welfare recipients in closely supervised jobs paying $8 per hour. The program combines on the job and classroom training. Worksite supervisors receive training and ongoing support to help them set clear goals for participants, including expected time frames for developing specific employment competencies. Wages are funded with a combination of TANF funds, employer contributions, and funds from the Seattle Jobs Initiative.

National Student Partnerships (NSP)
Washington, District of Columbia

The National Student Partnerships (NSP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit student-run organization that connects unemployed individuals with critical services and meaningful jobs that they can keep by uniting local student groups, community based organizations, local government and businesses. They help transition unemployed workers to work, filling a vital gap and connecting individuals with existing social services. The NSP volunteers establish personal connections through one-on-one consultation with individuals from the community. They provide cost-free and long-term assistance, assessing client needs and facilitating every aspect of the job search -- from initial service referrals to short-term and long-term career planning. In addition, clients are mentored and monitored throughout the entire relationship.

Since October 1998, NSP has succeeded in developing eight fully functioning Regional Offices at colleges and universities across the country, including Yale University, Duke University, University of Michigan, University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Wesleyan University. In addition, there will be a total of 16 new university partners by this fall.

For More Information:

NSP National Office
Suite #6
1083 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20007

Telephone: (202) 333-6415
Fax: (202) 333-6470
Web site: http://www.nspnet.org

The Learning Elevator Program, Hammond Adult Education Center
Hammond, Indiana

The Learning Elevator Program, funded through the Indiana Division of Adult Education and the School City of Hammond, provides life and employability skills, job search skills and educational services. Services are provided to participants who read below the 7th grade level upon entry into the program and have an additional barrier to employment (e.g., learning disabilities, health problems, drug, alcohol or physical abuse). Participants must engage in life and employability activities at least 25 hours per week, including one 10-hour volunteer service module plus five 10-hours of unpaid work activity in the Community Work Experience Program (CWEP).

Among the educational services provided are adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), general equivalency diploma (GED), and work transition/training assistance. Also, participants are provided with free breakfast and lunch, and support services are made available to parents with children having difficulty in school. Additionally, there is a clothing bank for the children. Historically, the program serves approximately 69 recipients per year.

The Community Conservation Corps
Pennsylvania

The Community Conservation Corps combines unpaid work experience in nonprofit organizations with case management and a seminar on work and life skills for individuals on public assistance.

The Brooklyn College Child Care Provider Program
New York, New York

The Brooklyn College Child Care Provider Program in New York is a literacy-based vocational training program that prepares parents on public assistance for employment in the child care field. The five month program provides basic and job skills training and work experience in child care in alternating weeks.

Strive Chicago Employment Service, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois

The Strive Chicago Employment Service has several programs that help participants obtain and maintain jobs. There were 365 placements made in 1997. At that time, the program had a total budget of $800,000 -- 70% from private foundations, corporations and individuals and 30% from public funds. The average cost per placement was $2,000 per participant.

This program is located in two parts of Chicago -- South Side (Grand Boulevard) and West Side (West Humboldt Park). There are several special projects, including:

  • Career Path Projects: The goal of the Career Path Project is to develop specific three-to-five year paths of employment, education and training that allows STRIVE graduates to advance steadily to permanent, full-time employment that pays a living wage, and provides benefits and the opportunity for advancement.


  • Grand Boulevard Job Initiative: A collaboration in the city's second poorest community to provide integrated social services, parenting classes, literacy instruction, skill training, paid internships and job placement.


  • West Humboldt Park Job Bank: In collaboration with the Development Council, linking community residents involved with block clubs, community policing, and neighborhood improvement projects to employment services.


  • Metro Community Correctional Center: Employment services for first-time young adult offenders who have completed "boot camp" programs.


  • Cineplex Odeon Youth Training: Preparation of 100 youth and young adults for employment at new theater complex on Chicago's west side, in partnership with the City of Chicago and Cineplex Odeon.

SHAPE Internship Center
Minnesota

The SHAPE Internship Center in Minnesota offers ongoing structured internships in health-related fields, customized internships for almost any appropriate job and classroom training for people preparing to begin their internships.

Goodwill Industries International Goodwill Employment and Training Welfare-to-Work Programs
Bethesda, Maryland

Goodwill Industries is a nonprofit provider of employment, training and job placement services for people with physical and learning disabilities and other disabling conditions (such as welfare dependency, illiteracy, criminal history and homelessness). The Goodwill employment and training programs are funded by federal, state and local grants, as well as by revenues from Goodwill retail stores that sell donated clothing and household goods. Nine Goodwill education and training projects are funded by U.S. Department of Labor's Project for People with Disabilities Program, authorized under the Job Training Partnerships Act (JTPA).

The Goodwill Industry Network includes 180 autonomous organizations in the United States that operate training and placement centers in 46 states. Goodwill currently operates 70 welfare-to-work centers, half through contracts with state governments. These centers provide employment, training and supportive services for welfare recipients and others, including people with physical, learning and other broadly defined disabilities. Client referrals are taken from welfare agencies, as well as from other organizations and agencies (for example, vocational rehabilitation programs). More than 200,000 people received Goodwill employment and training services in 1996. Of these, over half were low-income people, and at least a tenth were welfare recipients.

Most Goodwill organizations provide a core set of services, including vocational evaluation and assessment, occupational skills training, job search development and job placement, and transitional employment support (for instance, on-the-job training). Many Goodwill programs also offer life skills training, assistance with transportation and child care and post-employment assistance for both employers and employees. A client with learning disabilities, for instance, would be given a series of vocational assessment tests to determine the types of accommodations necessary for obtaining and staying at the job. Although a good deal of local variation exists, skills training typically prepares clients for such fields as computer programming, electronics, financial services, janitorial work, retail sales and food service.

Evaluation:

The National Results Council is beginning an evaluation of the Goodwill programs to assess the quality of services provided and program effects on rates of job retention and wages earned.

Contact:

Goodwill Industries International
301-530-6500

Dorcas Place
Providence, RI

Dorcas Place is a private, non-profit adult education center which was established in 1981 to help educationally disadvantaged adults develop basic literacy skills. Located in Providence, RI, Dorcas Place provides classroom and one-on-one tutoring instruction in basic literacy, GED preparation, and pre-vocational skills, as well as life skills and support services. The agency's programs and services are available to all adult Rhode Islanders. However, priority is given to serving low-income single parents with minor-aged children. Among the services provided by Dorcas Place are:

  • Literacy Classes
  • Reading Resources and Computer Lab Programs
  • Home-based Tutoring Program
  • Employment and Training
  • Mentoring Program
  • Job Placement and Follow-up Services
  • Life Skills Education
  • Social Services
  • Publications

Department of Social Services
Anne Arundel County, MD

The Anne Arundel County, MD, Department of Social Services is a local office of the Maryland Department of Human Resources. Three years ago, the office changed the culture of welfare --under the AFDC program -- without any State legislation, without any Federal waivers, without additional staff and without an additional allocation of funds. The office operates primarily through a Job Center, open for walk-in service from Monday through Friday and offering customized employment services to any County resident, not just TANF recipients.

The following links provide further information on a number of programs in the Anne Arundel County model program.

To request additional information, go to the following link: Information Request Form (PDF - 4K)


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