partnering for homeless employment: national views and local practices october 5, 2011 - webinar

Partnering for Homeless Employment: National Views and Local Practices

October 5, 2011 - Webinar

Agenda: National Views

• Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Dept. of Labor

• Mark Johnston, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development

• Anthony Love, Deputy Director, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness

Partnering for Homeless Employment: National Views and Local PracticesOctober 5, 2011

The Public Workforce System

U.S. Department of Labor

DOL provides $4 billion annually in Workforce Investment Act funding to states and local areas to provide training and employment services

Workforce Investment Boards are public-private partnerships that oversee the workforce system in each state, develop strategic direction, and set investment priorities

Over 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers provide services to job seekers and employers

One-Stop Career Centers work with community colleges, community organizations, and other providers

Local One-Stop Career Centers

Training Providers

Local WorkforceInvestment Boards

State Workforce Investment Boards


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

DOL’s Ongoing Commitment to Serving the HomelessUnited States Interagency Council on Homelessness• Chaired by DOL Secretary Hilda Solis• Objective: Increase meaningful and sustainable employment for people experiencing or most at risk of

homelessness

Services Through the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) • Homeless individuals around the country receive workforce development services that are funded by the

WIA• In PY 2009, the Entered Employment Rate for Homeless Exiters of WIA programs was 44.4%

Guidance to the Workforce System (TEGL 15-05)• Provides information and resources to states and local areas to encourage the outreach and recruitment of

homeless and runaway youth into employment and training programs funded under the WIA Youth program

The Bridge, Dallas, Texas (2008)• Multi-purpose facility dedicated to serving the homeless, with the primary focus on the chronically

homeless• Partnership of 19 organizations provide housing, and emergency and transitional services• Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas provides dedicated staff to assist the homeless find jobs• Goal: provide workforce services to 1,050 homeless people per year, including job seeker services and

emergency housing for people seeking employment


One-Stop Career Centers:Opportunities for Collaboration

Job Seekers Receive:• Initial needs assessment• Searches for jobs and training • Access to job banks or job listings• Referral to an employer with current job openings • Comprehensive assessment• Employment counseling• Short-term job prep skills • Skills training, upgrading and retraining• Adult education and literacy

Partner programs service all types of job seekers, including Adult, Dislocated Workers, Youth, Veterans, Seniors, Migrant and Seasonal Farm workers, and the Homeless

Partner programs are strongly encouraged to develop partnerships with their local WIBs to explain their unique priorities and needs and explore opportunities for collaboration


ETA- HUD Collaborations

• Established a pilot program to link public housing residents with their local Workforce Investment Board and its One-Stop Career Center system

• Producing a guide to the workforce system for HUD programs to better navigate the system for their clients

• Produced a crosswalk of HUD housing locations and One-Stop offices for HUD properties

• Promoted HUD Father’s Day Initiative through email push


HUD-DOL Partnerships

• Chronic Homelessness DemoExisting effort proved that chronic homeless

persons can be housed and employed.

• Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)Connecting veterans to housing, employment, and

VA services


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Continuum of Care (CoC)

• The CoC:Network of homeless providers, local government,

and organizationsCollectively competes among other CoC’sAwarded based on capacity and achievement

measures• One way we measure achievement is employment


CoC:Connecting Homeless to Employment

• Applications score:Percentage employed at exitAbility to stabilize participants with supportive

services, including employment training/job search


CoCs and Employment By the Numbers

• Disabled persons in Permanent Supportive Housing who are employed at exit: 16% among all homeless persons

• Persons in transitional housing, employed at exit: 31% among homeless individuals 45% among homeless families

• Over $20 million spent on employment assistance

• Need to better link HUD housing to DOL employment


Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent & End Homelessness

• Themes of Opening Doors1. Increase leadership, collaboration, and civic engagement

2. Increase access to stable and affordable housing

3. Increase economic security

4. Improve health and stability

5. Retool the homeless crisis response system


U.S. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS


• Economic Success for Families

• Collaborate with economic recovery and jobs programs

• Review federal program policies, procedures, and regulations

• Develop and disseminate best practices



• Economic Success for Families

• Workforce Investment Act & Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs

• Improve coordination and integration of employment programs.


Agenda:Local Practices

• Mark Putnam, Director of Consulting and Technical Assistance, Building Changes

• Marléna Sessions, CEO, Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County

• Matt King, Senior Program Director, YWCA Seattle| King | Snohomish


About Building Changes

• Work in partnership with public and nonprofit sectors, and private philanthropy to end homelessness in Washington State

• For more than 20 years, paired housing with services for our most vulnerable populations

• How we work: • Grantmaking and evaluation• Consulting and technical assistance• Advocacy and communications


“Absent an adequate supply of affordable housing – and the jobs and income supports needed to sustain households once relocated – remedial efforts are doomed to an endless round of musical chairs.”

Kim Hopper in Reckoning with Homelessness, 2003


Washington State Approaches: Vocationalizing Housing Programs

• Redefines the homeless provider role in supporting participation in workforce system

• Embeds the expectations, practice, and service delivery of employment in all facets of program operations

• Establish a culture of ability and high expectations


Washington State Approaches: Employment and Education Navigator

• Specialized workforce system role to serve those with housing instability

• Navigator role is co-located in housing and workforce services and programs

• Wraps around housing, services, and employment services to maximize resources


Local Workforce System Vision

The public workforce system and the homeless housing/services system need to align better toward outcomes for homeless individuals.

• “No wrong door”—easier access to services

• Staff in both systems understand each other and make appropriate referrals

• Need clear bridges and pathways to training and employment


WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY

• Longest-running WDC program (started in 1988)

• Funded by HUD through CoC since 1995; about $1 million/year

• Serves 350 homeless individuals each year

• Four separate agencies (including YWCA) provide job training and employment services—multiple models

• All have intensive case management, housing assistance, and a variety of employment/training/education services

• 56% are employed at exit and have upgraded their housing

Homeless Intervention Project


Homeless Employment Navigators

• Partnership between WDC and Building Changes

• Funding from Workforce Investment Act and Washington Families Fund (a statewide public-private fund)

• Serving 40 families/year for three years

• YWCA directly employs navigator staff

• Employment navigators go to transitional housing sites

• Help residents bridge to WorkSource (one-stop) system

• Train WorkSource staff on serving homeless jobseekers

A New Model


Nationwide Engagement of Workforce Boards

• Butler Family Fund supporting the WDC of Seattle-King County to convene our peers around homeless employment

• Early November: First meeting in Seattle of workforce board directors and their partners in the homeless housing/services sector

• Five cities: Houston, Miami, Portland, Phoenix, Seattle

• Group will identify one or two points of connection that each city can put into practice

• Ongoing advisory group gathering and sharing best practices


YWCA projects that integrate housing and employment services

• YWCA Opportunity Place/WorkSource Downtown Seattle

• Homeless Intervention Project (HIP)• Young Parent Project• Employment and Housing Stability• Navigator Programs

YWCA Opportunity Place


What Works…• Specialized services for homeless job seekers.• A continuum of services to match the continuum of needs.• An integrated approach to service delivery.• A strength based approach that acknowledges that all

homeless job seekers can benefit from employment services and the enhanced sense of self-worth that follows.


Why it Matters…

• Lisa: Formerly homeless HIP client now earning over $19/hour as a nursing assistant at a local hospital and living in permanent housing.


• Doreen: Single mother living in transitional housing. Participated in Navigator program and now earns over $13/hour with benefits as a Payroll Asst. Saving to move into permanent housing.

Questions and Answers


partnering for homeless employment: national views and local practices october 5, 2011 - webinar

Documents

homeless employment

homeless people

local practicesoctober

recruitment of homeless

workforce services

sustainable employment

local areas

wia homeless individuals