Program Description

Program/Practice Description: CBT provides TANF participants a chance to meet their work participation requirements through formal community service placements. CBT is targeted toward individuals who have little work experience and allows participants to develop skills needed to obtain meaningful employment. Placements include unpaid work experience in nonprofit, for–profit, and government agencies, along with community service activities in schools, churches, and other nonprofit community organizations. Participants access CBT through three avenues:

• OED–WD
• TANF contractors through OED–WD
• Independent CBT identified by the TANF participant

Placements vary among participants but, on average, have lasted 1 to 3 months. The maximum time a CBT placement may last is 6 months, unless otherwise agreed to by all parties. Employers who participate in CBT are required to provide a job description and outline the skills that participants will learn or practice during their placement. In addition to basic cash assistance, participants receive child care, transportation, and related supportive services. CBT placements are also subject to requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to Colorado policy guidance CBT participants are compensated at minimum wage. The TANF grant food assistance grants are used in determining the number of hours a participant may work in a month. OED–WD issues FLSA payments to participants who work hours above the basic cash and food assistance grants.

Background/Program History: This program evolved from another program called Work Pool. Through Work Pool TANF participants were placed in work experience placements at Denver Human Services to help them develop work experience and job skills in a structured, stable, and flexible work environment.

Innovations and Results: CBT allows individuals with little to no work experience and multiple barriers to employment to gain valuable job experience and develop marketable job skills to help them secure employment. This is done in a structured environment where participants have access to supportive services. Participants work closely with an OED–WD Business Development Associate to address barriers to employment, find a placement aligns with the participant’s employment goals, and follow up with the participant and employer. OED–WD also contracts with 19 community based organizations to provide workforce development services, including CBT, to TANF participants. On average 22.4% of Denver’s TANF caseload participates in CBT on a monthly basis; 48.8% of TANF participants achieving the federal work participation rate are engaged in CBT, often in combination with GED/basic skills, vocational education, job search or other work activities. CBT participants often have the opportunity to transition to subsidized and unsubsidized employment at their CBT site.