Tackling the Needs of LowWealth People and Communities: Current and Emerging Strategies

1
Tackling the Needs of Low-Wealth People and
Communities Current and Emerging Strategies

• Evelyn Ganzglass
• Center for Law and Social Policy
• eganzglass_at_clasp.org

2
What Works in Promoting Economic Advancement

• Connect labor market supply to existing and
  future demand
• Target better jobs and employers through
  analysis, standards and employer services
• Build pathways to good jobs and further education
• Address barriers to employment
• Mount sector partnerships (25 states, WIRED)
• Work on the supply and demand sides to increase
  competitiveness job quality
• Clusters, community economic development, some
  sector strategies
• Increase access to income and work supports to
  fill gaps

3
Supply-Side Challenges

• Low skill levels basic/ESL , technical
  work-readiness
• No marketable credentials (one year of
  collegethe tipping point for family-supporting
  wages)
• Poor info. connections to labor market
• Limited or unstable work experience
• Heath and other barriers to employment
• Inadequate resources to weather bad times, meet
  unforeseen needs, go to school full-time

4
Build Career Pathways

• Prepare students for skilled employment in
  targeted industry sectors (new entrants (youth
  adults), incumbent workers, dislocated workers)
• Policy alignment to facilitate transitions
• Curricula and teaching innovations to support
  student success
• AR,CA,KY,MA,OR have statewide career pathways
  efforts WI,OH,MN starting

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Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
Systems Career Pathways
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Career Pathways Policy Alignment

• Assessment articulation (entry and exit across
  levels)
• Dual enrollment (adult dev ed, wkfd, hs, cc)
• Remedial bridges (Il, KY,OR,WA state initiatives)
• Short, intensive-often contextualized remedial
  courses that prepare students for entry into
  specific postsecondary occupational training
  programs or entry-level employment.
• Certificates and modules
• Credit/non-credit transferability

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Career Pathways Curricula and Teaching
Innovations

• Contextualized learning
• Concurrent remediation
• Intensive instruction
• Modularized curriculum
• Flexible scheduling delivery modes (evening,
  weekend, distance, hybrid)

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Career Pathways Curricula and Teaching
Innovations

• Learning communities
• Wrap-around supports
• Tangible rewards for learning (performance-based
  scholarships, work-based rewards)
• Internships and work experience
  (school-to-career, apprenticeships)
• Mentors, tutors, academic and career advisement

9
Increase Postsecondary Access and
SuccessKentuckys Ready to Work Initiative

• Work-study up to 2,500/yr while in school
• RtW Coordinators at each community college to
  serve low-income parents check TANF
• Intensive case management access to assessment,
  tutoring, mentoring, financial aid, job dev.
  placement, post-placement
• Campus-based RtW Centers for networking and peer
  support
• Initial college readiness class in cohorts
• Access to TANF support services (child care,
  transportation)

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Accelerate Remediation

• A States Integrated Basic Education Skills
  Training (I-BEST) program
• 1st year momentum for earning 15 college credits
• Concurrent, not sequential/co-teachers
• Academic content customized to the students
  occupational objectives
• Comm. College of Denvers FastStart
• Intensive instruction (1 semester rather than 2
  8-wk summer College Connection)
• Learning community for dev ed students
• Case management, career academic advising,
  tutoring

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Results

• Ready-to-Work
• Higher GPAs program completion rates than
  average community college student
• Highest increase in earnings and steady work of
  any TANF activity
• The longer the participation, the larger the wage
  increase
• I-BEST
• Students complete 30 or more credits at a higher
  rate than ABE/GED students (32 11)

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Create Transitional Jobs (GA, MI, PA,VT,WA, WI,
cities)

• Hard-to-employ
• Time-limited subsidized employment (6 mos)
• Paid work (UI, SS, EITC eligible, worker
  protections (20-25 hrs/wk)
• Barrier alleviation substance abuse treatment,
  basic skills education, parenting skills classes,
  financial education (10-15 hrs/wk)
• Job coaching, mentors to teach work readiness
  "soft skills
• Work supports child care, transportation
  assistance, Medicaid, Food Stamps

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Increase Access to Work Supports

• Participation rates vary (EITC 80-85, FS 46-54)
• Outreach education campaigns
• Benefit screening on-line, at CBOs, schools
• On-line application (Access Florida)
• Integrated service models financial literacy, tax
  prep, legal assistance, job training (Single
  Stops, Worker Advancement and Support Centers)
• Employer-based approaches EAP referral models,
  employer-funded intermediary provides benefits
  classes