This program is designed to provide an opportunity and the corresponding support for Pennsylvania's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to pursue a degree or credit or noncredit-bearing certificate at a Community College in Pennsylvania. Working in partnership with Pennsylvania's Commission for Community Colleges, KEYS was developed in response to growing research that demonstrates that TANF participants, who earn a certificate or degree, are better able to get jobs with family-sustaining wages, benefits, and opportunities for advancement.

Services offered include academic services, financial services (e.g., tax assistance, financial literacy), referrals to supportive services, coaching/counseling/mentoring, financial/material supports (eg. scholarships, emergency funds, computers).

A limited number of individuals enrolled in the SNAP program (20 percent of KEYS slots) and all TANF participants planning or currently attending one of Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges are eligible to participate in the KEYS program. Participants are provided with a KEYS student facilitator who assists with course scheduling and career guidance. Special allowances for supportive services are also available to support students' participation in KEYS. DPW's Special Allowances for Supportive Services can pay student registration fees for education and training programs and provide students with transportation and childcare assistance, books, and clothing.

KEYS participants have 30 months to complete their studies, though a range of shorter-term options, including one-year certificate programs, is also available. DPW has instituted a system for documenting and verifying KEYS students' work participation hours. Each student is provided with a schedule that includes classes, independent and supervised study hours, and all other countable activities. KEYS facilitators document and verify KEYS students' activities. This system of verification has increased the number of reported work participation hours.

The KEYS program reports that participants have shared that facilitators are the most crucial aspect of the program. Facilitators help in identifying careers with available jobs and assist in designing a course schedule that prepares students for these positions. Facilitators assist with financial aid applications, transportation and childcare arrangements, and maintain an open line of communication with DPW public assistance staff to ensure KEYS students are meeting requirements and receiving needed support services.

The comprehensive CLIMB Wyoming Program Model includes the five phases that help move low-income single mothers out of poverty and into self-sufficient jobs: Phase 1 is dedicated to sector-based research to identify career opportunities in growing fields, and then to purposefully engage these businesses and industry groups within these growing fields. Following the businesses’ input, CLIMB works with a community college or private training entity to develop a curriculum that trains for the occupation’s required knowledge, skills and abilities. This research and planning phase ensure that staff will be able to place participants in long-term job opportunities. 

Phase 2 of the project is focused on participant recruitment.  Activities of this phase are also conducted year round but become more intense approximately two months prior to the comprehensive training start date, and after the requirements of the training and employment are known. CLIMB’s unique participant recruitment approach is vital to connecting well-matched, qualified and ready-to-work individuals to high-quality jobs. During this phase, program staff members assist and coach candidates to overcome obstacles such as low self-esteem, childcare, transportation and housing so that they can participate in the program.  

Phase 3 moves to the comprehensive training component of the model. This phase lasts approximately two to four months depending on the job training curriculum. The comprehensive training phase develops the participants’ strengths and builds upon them through extensive training in high-demand, high-growth occupations that lead to self-sufficient wages. During this phase, CLIMB participants are guided through job training and also receive services that allow them to begin to address personal barriers to success. The comprehensive training phase includes industry specific training, work readiness training, life skills training, parenting skills training, mental health services (including both group and individual counseling) and advocacy services. 

Phase 4: This phase includes two to three months of subsidized work experience followed by long-term placement. During this phase, staff members place participants into positions where they will be able to take what they learned during the comprehensive training phase and transition it to on-the-job training allowing them to build upon the skills they learned during training. Employers are reimbursed during the two to three month work experience, and staff members work closely with each employer to ensure that the participants are meeting appropriate expectations and to offer additional support or training as needed.

Phase 5: This phase is dedicated to providing ongoing support to the individual women and their families. Ongoing support has proven to be as important to the participants’ long-term success as the participant recruitment process. To continue to support the participants, CLIMB staff members meet with graduates after they finish the program to support success in the workplace and family stability. Staff members and graduates meet as a group to discuss life challenges and possible solutions as well as continually review community resources.

Established in 1999, it is active in 4 states: Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio.  The programs include community mentoring, anger-management, communication and relationship skills, parenting and fatherhood programs; Crown Financial Ministries, faith-specific studies, a Family Day, letter-writing, and computer skills.

To date, the program has seen a reduction of disciplinary infractions and reduced recidivism. Importantly, it has also seen an increase in family restorations, testimonies of work supervisors, family members, and corrections officials of the difference that the program is making. Horizon Communities in Prison has remained with a low recidivism rate ranging from 11-17% depending upon the state they are in.