Innovative Programs

DC Central Kitchen's Culinary Job Training Program

Mission/Goal of Program

DC Central Kitchen provides 14 weeks of Culinary Arts training to participants that leads to certifications, then helps them find employment in the culinary field so they can be self-sufficient. Founded in 1989, DC Central Kitchen’s mission is to use food as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities. For almost 30 years, DC Central Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training program has helped more than 1,700 men and women launch culinary careers. The program had 86% job placement rate from among 104 graduates from Culinary Job Training program in 2018.

Programs/Services Offered

There are two training options offered: 

  • Culinary Job Training at DC Central Kitchen:  Their renowned training program provides culinary arts education, career readiness training, and real-world internships for adults who have experienced barriers to employment.  They provide 14 weeks of training leading to these certifications:
    • ServSafe Managers License
    • National Restaurant Association/ Restaurant Ready Certification
    • Allertrain Certification
  • Culinary Job Training at DC Central Kitchen Cafe:  provides hands-on culinary training and career readiness training to young adults ages 18-24 who are not in school and not working.
Start Date
Sunday, January 1, 1989
Type of Agency/Organization
Community-Based Organization
City
Washington
State
District of Columbia
Geographic Reach
Onesite
Clientele/Population Served
Participants with multiple barriers to employment, including returning citizens, people in recovery, formerly homeless, and others.
Topics/Subtopics
Employment
Education and Training
URL
https://dccentralkitchen.org/

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A Home for Every Child

Innovative Programs

Solutions for Change

Mission/Goal of Program

Solutions for Change solves family homelessness, one family and one community at a time, delivering a permanent solution to family homelessness and deep poverty through social enterprise. Founded in 1999 by social entrepreneurs Chris and Tammy Megison, Solutions for Change works to transforms lives and communities by permanently solving family homelessness.

Programs/Services Offered

Solutions for Change delivers permanent solutions to family homelessness through an innovative academy-like experience where parents of families in the deepest of poverty are equipped with the skills, knowledge and resources needed to reclaim a contributory stake in society through jobs and by ending dependency. The model blends affordable housing, education, health services, servant leadership and workforce training to create a "work therapy" community.

Participants tripled their income in the first year through employment. 74% achieve the 500-day milestone of full-time employment and achieve their own rental housing. For those participants, TANF and Food Stamp benefits decrease by 62% at 500-day mark and 87% by end of engagement contract (1000 days). 850 families and 2200 children have moved permanently out of homelessness and obtained housing and employment, resulting in $51 million dollars in public support savings and $120 million in employment revenue generated into local economy. 

Start Date
Friday, January 1, 1999
Type of Agency/Organization
Community-Based Organization
City
Vista
State
California
Geographic Reach
Onesite
Clientele/Population Served
Homeless Families with Children
Topics/Subtopics
Employment
Education and Training
Supportive Services
Health/Behavioral Health Referrals and Supports
Housing Assistance
Special Populations
Homeless Families
URL
http://solutionsforchange.org/

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A Home for Every Child

Building a High-Performing State Workforce Board

Record Description
Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), states have the opportunity to reset their state workforce boards so they oversee the entire publicly-funded workforce system. This report from the National Governors Association provides a framework for high-performing boards. That framework includes three critical roles: set and communicate the vision for the workforce system, model and manage strategic partnerships that achieve that vision, and use data to hold the system accountable to that vision. The report also includes examples of how states have implemented each role.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2016-12-13T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.nga.org/center/publications/building-a-high-performing-state-workfo…
Publication Date
2016-12-14

Creating Economic Opportunity for Homeless Jobseekers: The Role of Employers and Community-Based Organizations

Record Description
This brief from the Heartland Alliance highlights promising practices that employers and community-based organizations can use to connect homeless jobseekers to employment. The authors break down those practices into three broad areas: paving the way for employment success from the start, assessing the quality and fit of job opportunities for homeless jobseekers, and maintaining engagement. Specific practices include reducing potential barriers to employment success up front, hiring or partnering with a job developer, and providing jobseekers with ongoing work readiness and advancement support. Each section also includes examples of community-based organizations across the country who have successfully partnered with employers to provide opportunities for homeless jobseekers.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-04-17T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
http://nationalinitiatives.issuelab.org/resource/creating_economic_opportunity_…
Publication Date
2017-04-18
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

OFA Webinar: Improving Economic Stability for TANF Families by Engaging Non-Custodial Parents in Employment Services

Record Description

Recognizing the valuable role of non-custodial parents (NCPs) in the lives of their children, there are a variety of programs that engage NCPs in employment services designed to increase the financial stability of both the NCP and the custodial family. Research has demonstrated that employment programs for low-income NCPs have far-reaching effects of improving family outcomes. When TANF families receive reliable child support payments, they are more likely to experience improved economic stability and enhanced family well-being due to a more consistent and predictable flow of income each month. In order for NCPs to provide such support, they need steady income through long-term livable wage employment. However, similarly to TANF participants, many NCPs struggle with a variety of employment barriers that are prohibitive to obtaining and maintaining stable employment.

 

An interactive webinar, Improving Economic Stability for TANF Families by Engaging Non-Custodial Parents in Employment Services, was held on September 13, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST. During the webinar, programs that serve NCPs shared how they support NCPs in addressing employment barriers and connecting them to meaningful long-term employment.

Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-09-13T09:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
Improving Economic Stability Webinar YouTube Video
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)
Upload Files
Attachment Size
Engaging Non-Custodial Parents in Employment Services Webinar PowerPoint 2.18 MB

American Job Center Customer Flow Scenarios

Record Description
The Innovation & Opportunity Network created these five illustrated customer scenarios to demonstrate how different types of customers would access services in a high-quality American Job Center. These scenarios are designed to help train staff on how to help five common types of customers find employment: individuals with disabilities, farmworkers, justice-involved individuals, and single mothers. Each scenario is fully illustrated and contains definitions and links to additional resources.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-07-18T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
https://ion.workforcegps.org/resources/2017/07/19/10/02/AJC_Customer_Flow_Scena…
Publication Date
2017-07-19
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

A Toolkit for Building Successful Community College-Employer Relationships

Record Description
Community colleges have the potential to provide low-cost, high-quality training to students if they partner with local business and industry leaders. This toolkit from the Brookings Institution provides practical strategies for community colleges to use to build and maintain partnerships with local business leaders. The toolkit has three sections: creating a navigator for industry partners, key characteristics of productive partnerships, and practical steps for building relationships. Each section has recommendations that are based on research and conversations with business and industry leaders, community college leaders, and intermediaries.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-07-30T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.brookings.edu/research/a-toolkit-for-building-successful-community-…
Publication Date
2017-07-31
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Beyond Reporting: Using Data as a Performance Management Tool

Record Description
This MDRC brief is part of a series that documents the implementation of the Change Capital Fund, an economic mobility initiative in New York City. The Change Capital Fund was a consortium of donors who invested in local community development corporations that were pursuing antipoverty strategies that integrated housing, education, and employment services. In this brief, the authors focus on how the Change Capital fund used program data as a tool for continuous learning and improvement, including the specific assistance that grantees received to build their capacity to use data for performance management.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-07-13T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
SFS Category
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.mdrc.org/publication/beyond-reporting
Publication Date
2017-07-14
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Meeting Welfare’s Work Participation Requirements and Transitioning into the Labor Market a Study of the Outcomes of TANF Recipients

Record Description
When TANF became law in 1996, welfare recipients were required to engage in work participation activities, and states were required to have 50 percent of their TANF cases meet these participation requirements. The intention of requiring individuals to engage in these activities was to assist individuals in gaining employment and becoming economically self-sufficient. However, the rates at which TANF recipients meet the participation requirements and transition into employment consistent with economic self-sufficiency are disappointingly low. This chapter provides an overview that begins with a more detailed characterization of these issues to provide a context that highlights the importance of the questions this research seeks to answer. The data used in this research essentially constitutes a census of first-time TANF recipients in Utah, and some of the aspects of this data set are subsequently described. Finally, the TANF population is compared to the general population in Utah for the purpose of illustrating the significant differences between these populations.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2017-08-09T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cea9/2fa1207b82552533be048d70dae8021ef6a8.pdf?…

It Pays to Work: Work Incentives and the Safety Net

Record Description
This report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides evidence to dispute the idea that low-income assistance programs discourage work. Critics of assistance programs argue that people receiving assistance get more money from not working and receiving government benefits than they would from working. The authors found that working is almost always more financially beneficial than not working. Workers in poverty have a greater incentive to work more hours or at higher wages than other workers, since their marginal tax rate is lower. Even workers just above the poverty line still gain substantially from working additional hours. Work pays because social safety net programs have changed over the past two decades to reduce benefits for people who are not working, while increasing tax credits for people who are working.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2016-03-02T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/it-pays-to-work-work-incentives-and-th…
Publication Date
2016-03-03
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)