Job Coaching and Incentives

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO)

Agency Name: Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), 501(c)3

Contact Information:

50 Broadway, 18 Fl New York, NY 10004 Phone: 212-422-4430 Fax: 212-248-4432 info@ceoworks.org www.ceoworks.org

Type of Program/Practice: The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) is dedicated to providing immediate, effective and comprehensive employment services to men and women with recent criminal convictions. Our highly structured and tightly supervised programs help participants regain the skills and confidence needed for a successful transition to a stable, productive life.

Description

Background/Program History: Created as an innovative demonstration project by the Vera Institute of Justice in the late 1970s, CEO has been an independent nonprofit corporation since 1996.

Program/Practice Description: The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) program model includes immediate time–limited transitional work and developing full time employment. Through transitional work, clients are able to work and receive pay at the end of each workday. The transitional jobs also give clients an opportunity to practice the behaviors they learned in the classroom (ability to be on time, communicate, take direction, and be productive) and to demonstrate their job readiness when they secure full time employment.

CEO has developed a series of innovative practices and programs for hard–to–employ individuals and their employers. CEO's initial screening practice and orientation is an in–depth orientation for new enrollees, during which program objectives, expectations, and benefits are discussed with participants. CEO provides an intensive four–day job readiness workshops, facilitated by experienced Life Skills Instructors to teach participants valuable skills including resume writing techniques, job–searching skills, personal presentation, basics of communication, how to discuss conviction and criminal history on an interview, and appropriate workplace behavior.

Upon completion of these workshops, participants are ready to graduate and begin working on CEO's transitional work sites: short–term, minimum wage employment for participants. CEO's job development component works with clients to assess their vocational potential and help them strategically play an integral part in the job search process by contacting employers and scheduling interviews. Job Coaches and Job Developers conduct in–depth vocational aptitude tests for current job openings and match participant skills to employer generated opportunities.

Although employment is CEO's major concern, CEO has been able to also provide a comprehensive list of re–entry services.

Single Stop: Single Stop helps individuals navigate the public benefits system and access other important services that can break down barriers to employment. Single Stop can provide assistance with putting food on the table, obtaining medical insurance, planning a financially stable future for families, and accessing legal services.

Parents: CEO offers workshops and group support for parents in the CEO program. All programs are intended to help parents provide the financial and emotional support their children need. The programs help parents navigate the child support system, re–engage with their children, mediate visitation and custody issues, and offer information on how to deal with court-ordered child support payments. CEO helps to improve parenting skills by educating parents in topics including proper discipline and the developmental stages of a child. If eligible, participants can enroll in CEO's Young Parenting Demonstration Program or the Low–Income Dads Program. In addition to support specifically for each program, all participants in these programs are eligible to receive life skills education, short–term paid transitional employment, full–time job placement, and post–placement services.

New York City's CEO Academy: The CEO Academy is a trade preparation program that prepares participants with criminal convictions for entrance into trade school, supports them throughout training, and helps find them jobs in the trades after they finish training. Participants in the academy receive their hands–on training at Hostos Community College or at LaGuardia Community College and receive a certificate from these institutions in plumbing, electricity, or carpentry.

CEO also offers pre–placement training opportunities for all participants in New York City. CEO's training opportunities are short, effective training programs that teach usable entry–level skills to CEO job–seekers. Participants in CEO's training programs all receive Certifications of Completion. Training Programs have included OSHA 10-hour Training, Customer Service Training, Warehouse/Forklift Training, Construction 101 Training, a Sanitation Training Program, and a Computer Training Program. As a solution towards educational barriers that can often hinder employment, CEO has a GED Program for participants who are in need of Pre–GED and GED Testing Training.

Operations: CEO is a national organization serving New York, Oklahoma, and California. Headquartered in New York City, the organization is run by Central Operations, New York City Operations, and National Operations. All of the offices work through a single Human Resources and Fiscal Department from New York City-based Central Operations. Each office outside of New York City is lead by an area coordinator or director and is comprised of case managers.

CEO partners with multiple community based organizations to provide transitional jobs for CEO's participants. By hiring CEO for cleaning and maintenance, seasonal tasks, or one–time jobs, customers benefit from our crew–based model that provides cost–effective, readily available, and responsibly managed labor. CEO has remained competitive in this business arena over the years for several reasons. First, CEO work crews are highly flexible and responsive. Ranging in size from 5–10 participants, crews can easily move from site–to–site throughout the work week or even throughout a single work day. Second, our crews have strong professional leadership. Every CEO crew is supervised by our own professional site supervisor who has a background in the work needed for a facilities and/or grounds operation. Our site supervisors are able to lead a crew of participants in order to meet all daily production goals. Further, site supervisors receive specific training including first aid, drug abuse awareness, and defensive driving. Third, CEO assumes responsibility for directly paying and managing the crew, easing any administrative burden.

Funding: CEO uses a funding model that combines philanthropic, government, and earned income equally. Because of this model, CEO is able to leverage each of the funding streams to better support its programmatic efforts. As an example, training supported by a foundation may allow us to expand the type of work our Transitional Jobs crews can do. This work experience could help our permanent job placements supported by government resources. As the organization has expanded throughout New York State and to Oklahoma and California, CEO has been able to replicate the funding model. As with any non–profit, we look to our Board for support in each of these areas. The Board has a Give & Get requirement and they assist with the other funding areas as needed.

Staffing: CEO staff members are dedicated to our mission and to the successful re–entry of each participant. Staff includes certified case managers, instructors, and counselors. CEO has job coaches, who work with clients and specialize in helping each participant seek and perform their jobs successfully. Job coaches provide intensive monitoring, training, assessment, and support to participants and facilitate healthy working relationships between participants and employers. Also, CEO uses job developers in charge of building a job search plan with participants based on the individual's skills, aptitudes, and abilities. A full–time site supervisor directs each participant during the transitional employment phase, and assists in the development of skills and trade–ready applications.

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: CEO has established key strategic partnerships with the New York State Division of Parole and other vital social services, including relationships with local community colleges, health care facilities, technical training institutes, the New York Department of Social Services, the New York criminal justice departments, and other community and social stakeholders. Re–entry requires clients to have tools and resources to reduce recidivism. CEO works with community partners that address addictions (relapse prevention, coping skills, and community resource referrals), mental health treatment, and, through a partnership with Career Gear and Dress for Success, obtaining new and used business attire and accessories.

Successes: CEO places clients in full time jobs within two to three months of release. Over the life of the program, more than 14,000 participants have been placed with full time jobs and CEO has developed relationships with more than 500 different area businesses and organizations. CEO has nurtured important coalitions and partnerships that have established it as a key organization for the re–entry community. CEO's methodology has been replicated in many parts of the country. Through its Responsible Fatherhood Program, since 2001 CEO clients have contributed more than $1,000,000 in child support payments on behalf of their children.

Challenges: Challenges include negative perceptions of people with criminal histories, limited technical and business acculturation skills, lack of strong work histories, and minimal formal education, all of which affects client employability. Community perceptions and stigma continue to plague former inmates, but CEO works with stakeholders to improve perceptions and reduce the impact the stigma has on client re–entry. Throughout New York, there are multiple barriers to employment. About 70% of formerly incarcerated people do not have a high school diploma and most have few work skills, limited work experience, and no references. Furthermore, surveys find employers are much more reluctant to hire people with records than they are any other disadvantaged group. In order to break these barriers, CEO acts as an intermediary between job seekers with criminal convictions and employers. CEO helps clients develop an employment plan that matches their skills with current job openings. Employers are then willing to lower their apprehension and hire CEO workers because they have a work reference through CEO's transitional work program and the staff gets to know the job seekers and properly match them to the employers' needs. In fact, in 2010 during the worst economic downturn that this country has had, CEO secured 1,098 full–time job placements for people with criminal convictions in New York City.

Other Lessons Learned: CEO was born in the 1970s as a Vera Institute of Justice demonstration project; the agency was created to test this idea: What would happen if, instead of meeting barriers to employment, people coming home from incarceration were offered immediate, paid transitional jobs and help rejoining the permanent workforce? CEO's Theory of Change posits that if the employment needs of people with criminal convictions are addressed at their most vulnerable point –when they are first released from incarceration or soon after conviction —–they will be less likely to re–offend and more likely to build a positive foundation for themselves and their families.

This assumption has been borne out in independent research on CEO's program conducted by the respected social policy research organization MDRC, and funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services. MDRC's three–year randomized, controlled study of CEO showed that for individuals recently released from incarceration, participation in CEO resulted in lower rates on all measures of recidivism, including arrests, convictions, and returns to jail and prison. Convictions of a crime fell by over 22 percent, and re–incarceration for a new crime fell by over 26 percent—–outcomes MDRC not only deemed statistically significant but "rare" for rigorous studies of this kind.

MDRC's evaluation also showed that CEO dramatically increased employment during the year after an individual's release from prison, and found that for those who came to the agency within three months of their release, participation in CEO had positive impacts on full–time employment for up to three years. A final cost–benefit analysis, conducted jointly by MDRC and the Vera Institute of Justice, is scheduled for release in the near future, and will show a 3:1 benefit/cost ratio for participation in CEO.

Also, CEO's program model depends on extensive data tracking across a variety of measures, using an in–house web–based adaptation of a customer relationship management (CRM) database. CEO has customized user profiles for direct program job titles and every program employee is required to document their work in the system in real time. CEO's adaptation of the CRM database has contributed significantly to the ability to share information and track outcomes at our offices in real time.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Center for Employment Opportunities. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

Passport to Success

Strategies for Obtaining Employment

Creating Change That Works Brochure

Lesson Plan Example

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Family Mentoring Program, Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County

Agency Name: Tarrant County Workforce Development Board, d.b.a. Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County under the auspices of The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC)

Contact Information:

Kathryn Arnold, Executive Director Peggy Badlato, Family Mentoring Program P.O. Box 470869, Fort Worth, TX 76147 Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County, Inc. Phone: (817) 731-1173 info@familypathfinders.org familypathfinders.org/

Type of Program/Practice: The Family Pathfinders Mentoring Program assists families transitioning off Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by providing a network of volunteers from faith-based, civic, or community organizations who assist the family in overcoming obstacles that could derail their progress toward self-sufficiency.

Description

Program/Practice Description: The Family Pathfinders Mentoring Program supplements services provided by Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. As TANF recipients work within the workforce system to find employment and achieve self–sufficiency, the Family Pathfinders program matches recipients and their families to a network of community support. The network is a volunteer mentoring team consisting of three to five people from faith–based, civic, or other organizations. Support provided to TANF families can include tutoring for children, car maintenance, helping the family navigate State or private systems (such as banking and medical), locating community resources, finding housing, monthly budgeting, and other support as needed. Mentor teams help families gain self–sufficiency by showing them how to achieve independence rather than by providing monetary support. Families that are ready for Family Pathfinders are those that already have addressed major barriers such as drug or alcohol problems and show a commitment and desire to becoming self–sufficient. Since Mentoring is a post–employment program, participants must be employed when referred to Family Pathfinders.

Background/Program History: Family Pathfinders began in Austin in June 1996 as part of the Texas response to welfare reform legislation. By 1997, the program was operating in Tarrant County. In 2004, Tarrant County Family Pathfinders established 501(c)3 status and became Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County, Inc.

Innovations and Results: Finding a job is only the beginning of self–sufficiency and many TANF families need additional support to remain employed and self–sufficient. In the Family Pathfinders program, each selected family works with a team devoted to helping them solve problems, plan, and navigate the world as a self–sufficient family. Ninety percent of selected families complete the 1–year program. Of those, 85 percent stop receiving TANF benefits and have not returned to TANF after one year.

Operations: TWC/Workforce Solutions Choices case managers refer TANF recipients to Family Pathfinders upon employment. Family Pathfinders recruits volunteer mentors through churches, civic organizations, or corporations. TANF recipients are screened for program readiness and matched with a team of volunteer mentors. Matching is completed based on volunteer mentor team preference for family type and geographic location. All volunteer teams receive six hours of training, volunteer handbooks, and community resource guides. Family Pathfinders provides ongoing support to the mentors throughout the year.

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: When considering implementing a mentorship program like that of Family Pathfinders, organizations or cities should consider their funding streams and who the program will be able to serve. They also should consider the channels by which TANF clients will be referred and connections to community organizations from which volunteer mentors will be recruited. Building connections with community organizations and recruiting from these organizations is a time consuming but necessary investment.

Keys to Success:

• Family Pathfinders has attained 501(c)3 status.
• The program has a participant referral source through Workforce Solutions.
• Family Pathfinders has established relationships with community and faith–based organizations.
• The program supports a three-way relationships among mentors, mentees, and staff.

Challenges: The program is funded through TANF Choices Plus as a post–employment service. Due to restrictions on TANF funds, Family Pathfinders cannot continue to serve a client who terminates with TANF because of time limits (they may still serve clients terminating TANF due to employment). Currently, these issues are addressed at the screening stage, with the program looking for participants as they become employed.

Since the Mentoring Program is a post–employment opportunity for TANF recipients, participants must be referred within the window between attaining employment and closing the TANF case. For this reason, the Mentoring Coordinator must work closely with TANF case managers to get referrals at the appropriate time. In addition, any organization that undertakes a mentoring program should consider seeking funding for families that do not fall within the guidelines of a TANF post–employment benefit.

Recruiting volunteer mentors is the most time consuming task in the Mentoring Program, so there must be a clear plan for volunteer recruitment. It requires considerable communication and often takes several months from initial contact to mentor readiness. This span of time must be built into the program so that mentors are trained and available when participants are ready to be matched. The team approach provides the greatest likelihood of a successful mentorship, but recruitment, training, and communication can require a greater investment than individual mentoring.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Family Mentoring Program, Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

Reports

Monthly Program Summary, Client Summary, and Monthly Narrative; shows the data Family Pathfinders tracks and reports monthly to the workforce center and Board staff/TWC

Family Application to Participate in Family Pathfinders

Application for TANF families

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Family Mentoring Program, Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County

Agency Name: Tarrant County Workforce Development Board, d.b.a. Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County under the auspices of The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC)

Contact Information:

Kathryn Arnold, Executive Director Randall High, Family Mentoring Program P.O. Box 470869, Fort Worth, TX 76147 Pathfinders of Tarrant County, Inc. Phone: (817) 731-1173 info@pathfinderstc.org pathfindersTC.org/

Type of Program/Practice: The Pathfinders Mentoring Program assists families transitioning off Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by providing a network of volunteers from faith-based, civic, or community organizations who assist the family in overcoming obstacles that could derail their progress toward self-sufficiency.

Description

Program/Practice Description: The Family Pathfinders Mentoring Program supplements services provided by Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. As TANF recipients work within the workforce system to find employment and achieve self–sufficiency, the Family Pathfinders program matches recipients and their families to a network of community support. The network is a volunteer mentoring team consisting of three to five people from faith–based, civic, or other organizations. Support provided to TANF families can include tutoring for children, car maintenance, helping the family navigate State or private systems (such as banking and medical), locating community resources, finding housing, monthly budgeting, and other support as needed. Mentor teams help families gain self–sufficiency by showing them how to achieve independence rather than by providing monetary support. Families that are ready for Family Pathfinders are those that already have addressed major barriers such as drug or alcohol problems and show a commitment and desire to becoming self–sufficient. Since Mentoring is a post–employment program, participants must be employed when referred to Family Pathfinders.

Background/Program History: Family Pathfinders began in Austin in June 1996 as part of the Texas response to welfare reform legislation. By 1997, the program was operating in Tarrant County. In 2004, Tarrant County Family Pathfinders established 501(c)3 status and became Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County, Inc.

Innovations and Results: Finding a job is only the beginning of self–sufficiency and many TANF families need additional support to remain employed and self–sufficient. In the Family Pathfinders program, each selected family works with a team devoted to helping them solve problems, plan, and navigate the world as a self–sufficient family. Ninety percent of selected families complete the 1–year program. Of those, 85 percent stop receiving TANF benefits and have not returned to TANF after one year.

Operations: TWC/Workforce Solutions Choices case managers refer TANF recipients to Family Pathfinders upon employment. Family Pathfinders recruits volunteer mentors through churches, civic organizations, or corporations. TANF recipients are screened for program readiness and matched with a team of volunteer mentors. Matching is completed based on volunteer mentor team preference for family type and geographic location. All volunteer teams receive six hours of training, volunteer handbooks, and community resource guides. Family Pathfinders provides ongoing support to the mentors throughout the year.

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: When considering implementing a mentorship program like that of Family Pathfinders, organizations or cities should consider their funding streams and who the program will be able to serve. They also should consider the channels by which TANF clients will be referred and connections to community organizations from which volunteer mentors will be recruited. Building connections with community organizations and recruiting from these organizations is a time consuming but necessary investment.

Keys to Success:

• Family Pathfinders has attained 501(c)3 status.
• The program has a participant referral source through Workforce Solutions.
• Family Pathfinders has established relationships with community and faith–based organizations.
• The program supports a three-way relationships among mentors, mentees, and staff.

Challenges: The program is funded through TANF Choices Plus as a post–employment service. Due to restrictions on TANF funds, Family Pathfinders cannot continue to serve a client who terminates with TANF because of time limits (they may still serve clients terminating TANF due to employment). Currently, these issues are addressed at the screening stage, with the program looking for participants as they become employed.

Since the Mentoring Program is a post–employment opportunity for TANF recipients, participants must be referred within the window between attaining employment and closing the TANF case. For this reason, the Mentoring Coordinator must work closely with TANF case managers to get referrals at the appropriate time. In addition, any organization that undertakes a mentoring program should consider seeking funding for families that do not fall within the guidelines of a TANF post–employment benefit.

Recruiting volunteer mentors is the most time consuming task in the Mentoring Program, so there must be a clear plan for volunteer recruitment. It requires considerable communication and often takes several months from initial contact to mentor readiness. This span of time must be built into the program so that mentors are trained and available when participants are ready to be matched. The team approach provides the greatest likelihood of a successful mentorship, but recruitment, training, and communication can require a greater investment than individual mentoring.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Family Mentoring Program, Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

Reports

Monthly Program Summary, Client Summary, and Monthly Narrative; shows the data Family Pathfinders tracks and reports monthly to the workforce center and Board staff/TWC

Family Application to Participate in Family Pathfinders

Application for TANF families

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Riverside GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence) Program

Agency Name: County of Riverside Department of Public Social Services (DPSS)

Contact Information:

Patti Polly Deputy Director, Self–Sufficiency Riverside County DPSS 4060 County Circle Drive Riverside, CA 92503 Phone: (951) 358–3011 Fax: (951) 358–3156 PPOLLY@riversidedpss.org http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us

David L. Terrell Manager, CalWORKS Administration Riverside County DPSS 4060 County Circle Drive Riverside, CA 92503 Phone: (951) 358–5950 Fax: (951) 358–6615 DTERRELL@riversidedpss.org http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us

Type of Program/Practice: A county implementation of a large–scale California welfare–to–work initiative that has demonstrated successful results in the area of work retention.

Description

Program/Practice Description: The Riverside GAIN program serves TANF program applicants. The GAIN program markets the benefits of work participation to customers, discusses the seriousness of the customers' responsibility to their families, and closely monitors the progress of customers through the various components. GAIN presents a full range of activities, such as job search preparation and assistance, life skills training, basic education, assessment, occupational skills training, post–secondary education, and on–the–job training. GAIN also provides child care assistance and ancillary items to participants during program activities.

Innovations and Results: The Riverside GAIN program demonstrates success in work retention studies, indicating that an increased number of customers take advantage of retention services and show increased employment and earnings in the two years following the program. Customers are presented with resources and empowered by the GAIN program's work–first philosophy. Then customers enter into a written action plan or contract in which they work with employment services counselors to undergo an appraisal, set personal goals, receive supportive services, participate in a job search, and complete an assessment. After obtaining work, customers are encouraged to maintain employment and seek career advancement through promotional and educational opportunities. Formal job retention services are provided when cash aid is terminated. Following the date of termination, customers who are employed are eligible for one year of supportive services such as transportation and two years of child care assistance.

Structured Decision Making (SDM) is a collaborative effort between GAIN, the County of Riverside Department of Mental Health and the Children's Research Center, which is a division of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. SDM for the GAIN customer population is being pioneered in Riverside County. No organization nationwide is known to use SDM to serve Welfare to Work customers. SDM assists Employment Service Counselors in case management, identifying customer strengths and needs, and establishing customer action plans rooted in sound decision making.

Staffing and Training:Riverside County DPSS staffing and training are specifically designed to contribute to the success of the GAIN program. The offices leverage co–located staff who focus on issues such as mental heath, substance abuse, and domestic violence. The department implements comprehensive training that is driven by assessment activities, during which Riverside conducts an environmental scan and surveys all levels of employees to identify training needs. As a result of successful management of both office operations and employees, Riverside County DPSS is able to better retain GAIN staff, positively affecting the quality and continuity of social service delivery.

Important Partnerships: Riverside GAIN's success with work retention also stems from effective partnering with employers, including the Riverside County Temporary Assistance Pool program, which permits GAIN customers to test into employment with the county. Also, the Community Action Partnership works with GAIN to mirror and support the job readiness and work attachment process, and the Economic Development Agency assists with employment development. GAIN also partners with community colleges and adult schools to provide further education and training once customers have obtained meaningful work.

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: As agencies organize to support customers in work activities, they should consider the degree to which they consistently support a message. In Riverside, customers continuously receive a message from staff and partners that emphasizes the benefits of work. Outside the message and mission, Riverside suggests that agencies remain flexible to the needs of their customers, as becoming too structured detracts from an agency's ability to serve and respect individuals. The agency also emphasizes a need to stay away from punitive communication, citing that customers respond best to flexible and positive support.

Keys to Success: The Riverside GAIN employment services team highlights several factors as keys to its success:

• Riverside has a clear mission and vision, which helps ensure that all staff work toward the same goals.
• Riverside develops its staff and selects like-minded individuals who truly believe in the potential for customer success.
• Riverside sets its goals and takes steps to ensure a shared mindset (buy-in) throughout the agency, resulting in improved customer service and performance reinforced by training.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Riverside GAIN Program. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

DPSS 168 GAIN Program Handbook

Provides an overview of the Riverside GAIN Program.

GAIN Customer Service Survey

Demonstrates one way in which Riverside reaches for constant improvement in service delivery.

Employee Educational Support Program

Illustrates how Riverside County supports educational advancement, thus improving employee retention.