Our Goals
- Develop a skilled, competitive workforce that
is responsive to the needs of employers and contributes to the economic
vitality of the state.
- Create jobs, and assure access to jobs, that
pay self-supporting wages.
- Provide effective education and training pipelines
for workers, particularly those with the largest barriers to employment,
so they are prepared for jobs that lead to career advancement.
- Develop greater public awareness about economic
development, employment, education, training and their relationship
to poverty.
The Challenge, The Opportunity
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. Employers complain that they have difficulty finding
skilled workers to fill job openings. By revising state policies we can
better meet the needs of both employers and job seekers.
1. Increase opportunities for
low-skill, low-income workers to upgrade their skills through education
and training.
The Challenge
One in six adults in Maryland does not have a high school degree or a
GED. One in five Marylanders aged 16 and older reads at or below a 4th
grade reading level. This limits employment options, particularly in jobs
that pay family-supporting wages.
The Strategy
Increase opportunities for low-skill workers to upgrade their
skills through adult basic education (literacy, GED and English for Speakers
of Other Languages).
- Over three years, increase access to
adult education for eligible populations by 5 percent per year.
- Establish a 50/50 matching grant program for employers who provide workplace
adult education programs.
- Allow Department
of Business and Economic Development (DBED) employee skill- and productivity-enhancement
programs to be used for adult basic education.
Remove financial barriers
for low-income working adults seeking to upgrade their skills through
post-secondary education.
- Allocate more
financial aid funds for need-based aid. Allow part-time students to be
eligible for need-based aid. - Update the cost-of-living allowance for
commuter students, allowing childcare to be a counted expense.
Assist welfare recipients’
long-term earnings capacity by providing increased education and training
opportunities.
- Allow adult
basic and vocational education to count as a Family
Investment Program work activity for Temporary
Cash Assistance recipients.
2. Enhance
employment opportunities for low-skill low-wage workers.
The Challenge
The availability of a skilled workforce is among the most important factors
in location decisions for businesses. In areas with an abundance of low-skill
workers, it is crucial to upgrade the skills of the workforce to meet
the needs of employers and provide better economic opportunities for workers.
The Strategy
Ensure economic development funds are used to create family-supporting
jobs by increasing public accountability.
- Adopt a disclosure policy requiring businesses that receive state economic
development subsidies to report the number and quality of jobs created
or retained, and requiring the State to make this information available
to the public.
Increase funding for workforce training programs.
Prioritize training that meets the needs of employers in sectors with
labor shortages.
- Increase funding for workforce training to upgrade skills of entry-level
and incumbent workers. Target half of the Governor’s discretionary
Workforce
Investment Act funds for customized training programs for low-income
workers.
- Increase coordination between the DBED business recruitment and expansion
programs and Department
of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation workforce programs.
3. Provide the supports needed for workers to stay employed
The Challenge
One sixth of Maryland’s working families, over 110,000 families,
earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold. Over 384,000
Maryland workers hold jobs that pay less than the federal poverty wage
for a full-time worker of a family of four.
The Strategy
Restore funding for childcare support for low-income parents.
- Restore the $25 million cut from the Purchase
of Care childcare subsidy program last year.
Continue to provide income support to working
parents through the state Earned Income Tax Credit.
Expand access to health care for low-income
working parents and children.
Modernize the unemployment insurance system to serve the modern-day
workforce and provide adequate benefits to workers who lose their jobs
through no fault of their own.
- Allow part-time workers access to benefits when they lose their jobs,
and increase the maximum benefit level to keep pace with inflation.
Increase outreach and simplify access to work
support programs for which working low-income families are eligible.
- The Department
of Human Resources should increase utilization of work-supports such
as food stamps and health care assistance.
4. Reduce barriers to employment for special populations
The Challenge
Over 15,000 ex-offenders return to Maryland communities each year. Seventy
five percent of prison returnees are high school dropouts, and 20 percent
read at or below a 3rd grade level when they entered prison. Of the19,800
inmates eligible for educational services in 2000, only 9,300 (47 percent)
received any educational services. A criminal record acts as a significant
barrier to employment. Investment in education and job training for prisoners
has stagnated while the incarcerated population has exploded.
The Strategy
Reduce the impact of a criminal record on employment.
- Allow the expungement of convictions for certain nuisance crimes after
a reasonable period of time.
Prepare inmates for gainful employment upon release.
- Increase funding for correctional education programs to better prepare
inmates for jobs upon release.
- Promote State
Use Industries as a skills training center for pre-release inmates.
Direct SUI profits to education and job training programs for inmates.
- Stop the child support clock for inmates who have no economic resources
and who stand to accumulate child support arrearages during incarceration.
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