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JOTF E-Newsletter The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) is pleased to bring you the latest edition of its electronic newsletter. The JOTF E-Newsletter includes news, announcements, and information about upcoming events in the Baltimore area that we hope will be of interest to you. If your organization would like to publicize an event, job announcement, or other information, please send e-mail to info@jotf.org. In this issue: • JOTF to Host Breakfast
and Forum on Findings of New Report on Baltimore’s Workforce System
(6/15)
• Chesapeake Habitat Establishes
For-Profit Arm
• Project Bridge Seeks Managing
Director
• GAO Report Looks at One-Stop
Performance Standards JOTF NEWS JOTF TO HOST BREAKFAST AND FORUM ON FINDINGS OF NEW REPORT ON BALTIMORE’S WORKFORCE SYSTEM (6/15) The Job Opportunities Task Force, Open Society Institute – Baltimore, and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation invite you to a special breakfast and workforce development forum honoring Joanne Nathans, founder and president of the Job Opportunities Task Force. Tuesday, June 15, 2004 This free, public forum will feature a discussion of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board’s new report, Baltimore’s Workforce System at Work. How well is Baltimore’s workforce development system working? Baltimore’s Workforce System at Work assesses how local workforce efforts compare to those of peer cities, and describes the types return on investment associated with employment and training for low-skill job seekers. Presenters include: Chris Thompson, Ph.D, primary author of the report and Senior Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies; Irving McPhail, Ph.D., Chancellor of the Community College of Baltimore County; Bernie Antkowiak, Assistant Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; and Patrice Cromwell, Co-Chair of the BWIB Workforce System Effectiveness Committee and Associate Director of OSI-Baltimore. Space limited. To register please call Jessica Traskey at (410) 234-8040 or send e-mail to jessica@jotf.org by Friday, June 11. LOW-WAGE WORKER SNAPSHOT: MARYLAND IS PROSPEROUS, BUT TOO MANY WORKING FAMILIES ARE NOT Despite its relative affluence, Maryland has a large population of low-income families who work in jobs with inadequate wages, benefits and prospects for advancement. • More than 100,000 working families in Maryland
are struggling to get by. For further details, see JOTF’s report, Connecting Low-Income Families to Good Jobs: A Policy Road Map for Maryland. MAY FORUM SPOTLIGHTS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONCERNS OF WORKFORCE PRACTITIONERS Over 80 employment and training professionals attended “Building a Workforce Development Community,” a JOTF practitioners’ forum designed to focus attention on the career development needs of individuals who work on the front lines of the workforce field. Attendees represented public workforce agencies, nonprofit service organizations, academic institutions, philanthropic foundations, and for-profit businesses. Panelists provided an overview of the local workforce system and the funding streams that support it; described certification tracks and other professional development opportunities available to workforce practitioners; and emphasized the importance of accountability and best practices in the profession. Leon Thomas, president and CEO of YCDI Hospitality, Inc., delivered a rousing keynote in which he exhorted attendees to be creative in the ways they serve low-skill workers and job seekers. A more detailed summary of the forum will be available on the JOTF website in the near future. Based on the high turnout and positive responses we received, JOTF is planning a follow-up symposium in the fall to target some of the specific issues raised at the May 11 event. If you have ideas or suggestions for IRVING MCPHAIL, ANDREW MOSER JOIN JOTF BOARD At its annual meeting on June 2, the JOTF board of directors welcomed two new members, Irving McPhail and Andrew Moser. Dr. McPhail is chancellor of the Community College of Baltimore County, one of the premier providers of customized employment training in Maryland. He has held a variety of leadership positions at higher learning institutions throughout his career, including chief operating officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools system and president of LeMoyne-Owen College and St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. Mr. Moser is president and chief executive officer of the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation, a public workforce agency serving job seekers and employers in Anne Arundel County. He has managed employment and training programs and helped to shape workforce policies at the state level. Both Dr. McPhail and Mr. Moser bring to the JOTF board a broader regional perspective and a wealth of workforce development experience. JOTF TESTIFIES BEFORE STATE PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION On May 27, JOTF testified at an invitation-only hearing before the Committee charged with updating Maryland's Higher Education Plan. In our testimony we noted that 62 percent of the state’s working families with incomes under the federal poverty level had one or more parent with only a high school diploma or GED. This means families living in poverty tend to have wage earners who lack a post-secondary education. For lower-skilled workers in low-wage jobs, continuing their education is one of the surest ways to prepare themselves for advancement in the job market. At the same time, improving the skills of low-wage workers will assist Maryland employers who often have trouble finding well-trained employees. We urged the Planning Committee to: • Provide more need-based aid for part-time students by increasing funding for the Part-Time Grant program. Part-time students are not eligible for the Education Excellence Awards (EEA), and must rely on the Part-Time Grant program for need-based aid. As a result of a $13 million increase in EEA’s budget in FY2005, the EEA budget will increase to 35% above its FY2002 level. The Part-Time Grant program, on the other hand, is still 25% below its FY2002 level, even after a $700,000 increase in FY2005. As a result of the continued under-funding of the Part-Time Grant program, there are nearly 25,000 eligible students who do not receive assistance. • Update the commuting student allowance and include the cost of childcare. While residential colleges submit their actual room and board costs to determine a student’s living expenses, the living expense allowance for commuter students has not been updated for ten years. • Improve developmental (remedial) education, with particular attention to the state-run Baltimore City Community College. An astonishing 96 percent of the students at BCCC required developmental (remedial) education in one or more subjects. For students attempting to juggle jobs, school and families, repeating classes can become overwhelming. On a practical level, repeating classes can quickly exhaust financial aid for students already struggling to pay for childcare and transportation. JOTF SPEAKS OUT ON VALUE OF FOREIGN-BORN WORKFORCE JOTF executive director Deborah Povich offered the following letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun on the value of foreign-born workers: In the furor over Comptroller William Donald Schaefer’s comments about a McDonald’s worker’s lack of English proficiency, little attention has been paid to the worker and her economic standing. We don’t know her name or her story, but we know something about her prospects. The largest job growth in the United States is in the service sector. But employers often have a hard time finding workers with the customer-service skills needed to fill those jobs. Many jobs are entry-level jobs that pay low wages, offer meager benefits and have limited prospects for advancement. In other words, staying in these jobs keeps workers poor. If that McDonald’s worker (and the 86,000 other Marylanders who were born in foreign countries) had access to English literacy classes, she could improve her proficiency, provide better customer service and increase her job opportunities and earnings. Immigrants with limited English proficiency earn 24 percent less than immigrant workers who are fluent in English. Maryland’s current investment in adult education is on par with Mississippi’s. State programs serve fewer than four percent of the population in need of these services; waiting lists are in the thousands. Comptroller Schaefer should encourage Governor Ehrlich to increase funding for adult education. Such an investment will help improve service for Schaefer and all other fast-food customers. And, who knows? With some help, the unnamed McDonald’s employee might become the manager and earn enough to support her family. LARRY SCHUGAM JOINS JOTF STAFF JOTF is pleased to announce the addition Larry Schugam to its staff as a part-time program assistant. A master’s degree candidate with the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Larry will be putting his extensive technological expertise to work by helping to manage the JOTF website and electronic newsletter. Welcome, Larry! MARYLAND JUSTICE COALITION HONORS JOTF AT AWARDS BANQUET At its first annual legislative awards luncheon on May 6 the Maryland Justice Coalition (MJC) recognized JOTF for our advocacy efforts on behalf of inmates and ex-prisoners during the 2004 General Assembly session. Other honorees included fellow advocacy organizations and state legislators who championed legislation that will reduce employment barriers for individuals returning to society from incarceration. MJC is a statewide, grassroots advocacy organization that promotes positive reforms to the state’s adult criminal justice system. JOTF staff chairs its public policy working group and serves on the MJC steering committee. For more information, contact MJC executive director Tara Andrews at (410) 366-0600 or tandrews@povertysolutions.org. OTHER NEWS CHESAPEAKE HABITAT ESTABLISHES FOR-PROFIT ARM The Maryland Daily Record reports that Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity has developed a for-profit venture to engage staff of local companies in team-building activities centered on Habitat’s core mission of renovating houses for low-income families. TeamBuilds provides organizational development services to businesses that wish to boost their employees’ sense of teamwork. Mike Mitchell, executive director of Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity and a member of the JOTF board of directors, says that the new enterprise came about as a market-based approach to expanding income sources for the Baltimore-based nonprofit. “No nonprofit can depend on funding from foundations and the government in full forever,” Mitchell says in the Daily Record article. For more information about TeamBuilds and Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity, contact Mike Mitchell at (410) 433-9144 or mike@chesapeakehfh.org. Read “Charity starting at home.” (MS Word document) NY INITIATIVE HELPS INMATES WITH SHORT SENTENCES For prisoners who are incarcerated for short periods of time – from a few days to 18 months –the need for community supports when they are released is even greater than among long-term inmates. Jobless rates are high for this population, and scant resources exist to help them stop the revolving door of recidivism. In New York, a collaborative program managed by the Center for Employment Opportunities seeks to address this problem by providing comprehensive services that help former short-term inmates connect to employment training and job placement. The Rikers Island Reentry Initiative offers job ex-prisoners job counseling and readiness training, transitional employment, and placement services. The initiative is currently undergoing an evaluation by Public/Private Ventures to assess its effectiveness in assisting this unique population. Read more. The Rikers Island Reentry Initiative is in many ways similar to the Baltimore Transitional Jobs Project, which is administered by a consortium of organizations that includes Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Catholic Charities, and the Second Chance Project. For more information on this project, click here. OPPORTUNITIES PROJECT BRIDGE SEEKS MANAGING DIRECTOR Project
Bridge, a comprehensive program designed to help newly-released ex-offenders
transition into the community and workforce, is seeking a Managing Director
who will be responsible for supervising Employment Teams as they guide
participants through transitional work experiences and provide continued
support through the entire process. Duties include, but are not limited
to, providing program administration, staff management, leadership, and
fiscal oversight to a For more information contact Muriel Madden at 410-837-8930
or mmadden@goodwillches.org. RESERVOIR HILL IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL SEEKS HOUSING ORGANIZER/COUNSELOR Reservoir Hill Improvement Council, a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization, seeks a housing organizer and counselor to help revitalize a historic Baltimore historic community and increase homeownership. Desirable experience: Past work in affordable housing programs, tenant organizing, housing sale programs, mortgage loan activities, real estate financing, and/or urban planning. Submit resume to: Reservoir Hill Improvement Council, 2001 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217, Attn: Mr. Ruffin. EOE. ACORN SEEKS ADMINISTRATIVE ASST./ACCOUNTS CLERK The Baltimore office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is searching for an Admin. Asst./Accounts Clerk to support the general office by processing, balancing, monitoring, and adjusting a variety of fiscal transactions; accounting; performing data entry; and providing administrative support to the Head Organizer. Minimum Qualifications: Proficiency in basic principles
and practices of accounting; proficiency in modern office procedures and
methods; proficiency with basic software; data entry experience; some
typing proficiency; high school diploma or GED; willingness to learn.
GREATER HOMEWOOD SEEKS VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Greater Homewood Community Corporation announces a vacancy in the Adult Literacy and ESOL Program for the position of Volunteer Coordinator. This 40-hour position supports the Program through recruitment, training, retention, and coordination of volunteer activities for a non-profit, community-based adult education program in Baltimore City. Currently, the Volunteer Coordinator also conducts data entry for the Program’s management information systems. Click here for full job description.
NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES GAO REPORT LOOKS AT ONE-STOP PERFORMANCE STANDARDS A June 2004 report by the Government Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, examines the ways state and local jurisdictions have evaluated the performance of workforce development programs funded under the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The report finds that while states and localities have made strides in assessing the outcome of their WIA-funded employment services, the U.S. Department of Labor could do more to support their evaluation efforts. Read the GAO report in PDF format. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required.) CENSUS SITE OFFERS WORKFORCE INFORMATION ONLINE A new website launched by the U.S. Census Bureau offers local labor market information for use by employers, job seekers, economic development agencies, researchers, and others. The Local Employment Dynamics site provides quarterly data on worker demographics, employee turnover, and other workforce and economic indicators by local jurisdiction.
Newsletter Editor: Kevin Griffin Moreno If you would like to unsubscribe from the JOTF E-Newsletter, send e-mail to info@jotf.org.
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