helping residents gain skills and jobs: what career ......• grace m. adriano, senior resident...
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Helping Residents Gain Skills and Jobs: What Career Pathways Can Offer
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Today’s Speakers
• Tremayne Youmans, Neighborhood & Community Investment Specialist, Office of Public Housing Investments, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
• Julie Strawn, Principal Associate, Social & Economic Policy, Abt Associates
• Nick Codd, Senior Consultant, Seattle Jobs Initiative
• Grace M. Adriano, Senior Resident Services Manager, King County Housing Authority
• Shelan Aldridge, Associate Director, Education and Community Services, Neighborhood House
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Agenda
• Introduction
• What are career pathways strategies and why use them?
• Finding the right career pathways partners
• Employment partnerships for residents in King County, Washington (Seattle region)
• Community partner perspective
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
What are Career Pathways Strategies and Why Use Them?
Julie Strawn, Principal Associate
Abt Associates [email protected]
What are Career Pathways Strategies?
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Career pathways strategies offer. . .
. . . connected education and training steps between jobs in an industry sector,
. . . combined with support services,
. . . to enable individuals to enter and exit training within a pathway at various levels and,
. . . advance over time to higher skills, recognized credentials, and better jobs with higher pay.
Each step on a career pathway prepares individuals to progress to the next level of employment and/or education.
Postsecondary credentials increasingly matter for access to family-sustaining jobs
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Only one fourth of public housing residents have any education beyond high school
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36.5 37.8
25.7
13.1
31
45
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Less than high school High school diploma More than high school education(postsecondary)
Public Housing Residents U.S. Population
Career Pathways Strategies Bundle Together Evidence-Based Practices
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• Partnerships of employers, community/technical colleges, workforce boards, community organizations, and others
• “Stackable” credentials within an industry that allow workers to build skills over time and advance to higher paying jobs
• Clear, structured pathways with multiple levels to enter and exit training and jobs depending on initial skills and experience
• Support services and financial assistance to address barriers that might derail completion of training
• Work-based learning, such as internships
• “Bridge” courses that integrate basic skills instruction with occupational training
Example: Wisconsin Career Pathways
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Example: Pima Community College I-BEST Career Pathways Bridge
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Example: Pathways to Healthcare Pima Community College
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Challenges to Expanding Career Pathways Services to Residents
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• Fear of losing public housing subsidies
• Challenges of working/parenting while going to school
• Barriers to program entry and eligibility, such as low basic skills and/or limited English proficiency
• Self-doubt; lack of role models or support
• Lack of familiarity with colleges and with training options
• Personal and family challenges, including transportation, child care, health issues
• BUT career pathways research shows others with similar challenges can be successful. Right partners are key.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Finding the Right Career Pathway Partners
Nick Codd, Senior Consultant
Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI) [email protected]
Career Pathway Partners: What to Look for
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Providers who are employer-driven, whose services lead to jobs and employer recognized credentials
Capacity to engage and support people at differing levels of readiness as they enter and move through employment and training services and transition to jobs
Program Models & Approaches to Consider
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• Navigator models: career & employment navigators; housing and employment navigators
• Short term training programs: employer recognized credential supported by a navigator
• Social Enterprise models
• Transitional/subsidized work programs
• Individual Placement and Support model
Partnership with Federal Workforce Programs
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• WIOA/WIOA Youth – American Job Centers – Workforce Investment Boards
• SNAP Employment and Training https://snaptoskills.fns.usda.gov
What a ROSS Program Offers to Workforce Partners
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• People who are housed; not experiencing heavy rent burden or impending loss of housing
• Ability to manage impact of increased income on housing subsidy/assistance.
• Ability to inform and communicate with residents; promote E&T opportunities
• Link with needed resources/services (childcare; schools; healthcare)
• Share in case management/resident services
What to Look for in a Partner
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• Referral and service coordination
• Assistance with core issues; transportation, childcare/dependent care; other work supports
• Funding model that allows for good access to needed services
• A few strong & committed partners that meet the needs of your priority population
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Career Pathways Partners
Grace M. Adriano, Senior Resident Services Manager
King County Housing Authority [email protected]
KCHA Background
• MTW Housing Authority
• Serves one of the largest counties
• 33 cities in service area
21 KCHA Property Map
2017 Resident Population
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4,856
11,076
Public Housing & Project Based Vouchers
Tenant Based Vouchers
2017 Resident Population
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2017 Resident Population
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All Households
Median Income $12,464
% Extremely low income 81%
$0 Income households 4% (625)
% with wage income 34%
% with benefit income 64%
KCHA Workforce Development Programs
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Tier 2: Employment Readiness Services
Tier 1: Pre-employment Services
Tier 3: Employment/Career Pathway Services
KCHA Partners and Regional Resources
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KCHA Resources
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Captive Audience Community Centers
Funding
Effective Partnerships
• Cultural competency
• Listen to community voice
• Leverage resources
• Collaborators
• Continuous improvement
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Seeking Partners
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Mutual interests/goals
Joint grant applications
Request for proposals
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Community Partner Perspective
Shelan Aldridge, Associate Director, Education and Community Services
Neighborhood House [email protected]
Background: Birch Creek Career Center
• Neighborhood House (NH) and King County Housing Authority (KHCA), and our roles as partners
• Opening of the Birch Creek Career Center in 2011
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Goals of the Center
• Move public housing residents towards self-sufficiency through a number of activities:
– English as a Second Language (ESL) classes
– Job search assistance
– Computer skills
– Soft skills workshops
– Enrollment into vocational education
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Resources we started with (2011)
• Building: Co-located with three organizations within the building
–English as a second language (ESL) provider
–Head start & preschool provider
–Public Health provider for Women, Infants & Children
• Career Center Coordinator .8 FTE
• Program Manager .05 FTE
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Where we are now with leveraged programming (2018)
• Citizenship Instructor .4 FTE
• Refugee & Immigrant Employment Case Managers 1.5 FTE
• Basic Food Employment & Training Program Case Manager 1 FTE
• Healthcare Careers Case Manager .2 FTE
• Pre-Employment barrier-removal Case Manager 1 FTE
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How did we get there?
• Structuring staff intentionally to build resources & partnerships
• Career Center Coordinator (aka partnership builder)
–Conduct assessments with residents
–Engage residents & build relationships/presence
–Build external partnerships to bring programs & resources to the center
• Coordination of site schedule & case managers
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How we built successful partnerships
• Target organizations where residents or low-income public housing voucher holders receive services.
• Tailor marketing material to match audience
• Seek out complementary organizations to work with
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How we built successful partnerships
• Set up regular communication plan with partners
• Get on list servs with individual organizations
• Find out what regular community partnership meetings are happening
• Evaluate return on investment quarterly
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Transforming Partnerships into Career Pathways
• Case Study #1: Certified Nursing Assistant Class
–Partnership with the Community College
–Labor market, employers, and other programs showed a high demand
–Plan: College instructor to come to public housing community site
–30-40 public housing residents expressed interest and attended initial orientation & completed enrollment
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Case Study #1 - Results
Approximately 5 people enrolled in class, with 4 total completions
• Barriers to success
• What we learned
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Transforming Partnerships into Career Pathways
• Case Study #2 Early Childhood Education Class
– Partnership with a Community Based Organization called child care resources.
– Childcare Resources offered a 10-12 week class that included embedded certificates in CPR, first aid, blood borne pathogens, and the Department of Early Learning.
– NH provided case management and support services.
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Case Study #2 - Results
The class was a success, with a high participation and completion rate. We’re now in our 5th cohort of childcare classes.
• What we did differently
• What we learned along the way
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Ensure Sustainable Success
• Don’t be afraid to fail and to try new things
• Frequently solicit stakeholder & resident input
• Engage with employers & understand local employer needs and conduct labor market research
• Seek out other innovative and replicable programs
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Ensure Sustainable Success
• Open dialogue with your funder and stakeholders when you are facing challenges
• Extend expertise to other agencies and partners
• Continue to build new partnerships and foster existing ones
• Stay focused on client successes when challenges arise
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Questions and Discussion
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development