Baltimore Employment Roundtable

Meeting Notes
July 24, 2002
8:30 a.m.

Prepared by Kevin Griffin Moreno

Present: Anna Berglowe, Maryland New Directions; Marie Conigland, Baltimore City Department of Social Services, Homeless Unit; Herman Ford, BCDSS Homeless Unit; Allison Kreisberg, Baltimore Workforce Investment Board; Nicole Nell, Baltimore Urban League; Kevin Griffin Moreno, JOTF; Heidi Stave, Genesis Group; Carolyn Watson, IAM CARES/Civic Works – JHH.

1. Workforce Funding Streams
The Roundtable welcomed Allison Kreisberg, research analyst with the Evaluation & Accountability Committee of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board (BWIB). Ms. Kreisberg began by asking attendees to describe their respective programs and the funding streams that support them.

• International Association of Machinists Center for Administering Rehabilitation and Employment Services: IAM CARES is a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to provide technical assistance and support to workers, labor, business, and industry. In Baltimore, IAM CARES is supported by funds from Civic Works/Johns Hopkins Hospital, Welfare-to-Work, and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, in addition to the machinists’ union. IAM CARES serves a wide range of low-income clients, including a percentage of Empowerment Zone residents. For more information, visit http://www.goiam.org/memberadvantages.asp?n=25.
  
  
• Baltimore City Department of Social Services: The Homeless Services Unit receives federal and state funding to provide employment and other assistance to disadvantaged city residents. For more information, visit http://www.dhr.state.md.us/baltocity.htm.
  
  
• Baltimore Urban League: BUL partners with the Department of Social Services to provide fatherhood and foster care programs. It also receives housing and transportation grant moneys from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. For more information, visit http://www.bul.org.
  
  
• Maryland New Directions: MND provides employment services, including job readiness, training, and placement, to women with special needs. MND is supported through private grants.
  
  
• Genesis Group: Genesis receives funding from the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development for job placement services. It also offers job training and transportation programs, which are funded through public and private sources.

Ms. Kreisberg described the complexity of the funding streams that support workforce development activities in Baltimore City. These funds are administered by seven federal and seven state agencies. Locally, funding is received by approximately seven public or quasi-public organizations, including:

• Mayor’s Office of Employment Development: responsible for programs including WIA and the one-stops, Welfare-to-Work, Youth Opportunity Grant, and others.
  
  
• Baltimore City Department of Social Services: administers the Family Investment Program (FIP, Maryland’s cash assistance program) including the Work Opportunities Program (the employment and training component of FIP), as well as the Food Stamps Employment and Training Program.
  
  
• Baltimore City Community College: offers a range of credit and non-credit academic and vocational courses, customized training, adult literacy, and GED preparation.
  
  
• Empower Baltimore Management Corporation: this quasi-public agency administers the Baltimore Empowerment Zone grant, which includes funding for workforce development directed at EZ residents.
  
  
• Housing Authority of Baltimore City: offers employment and training programs for public housing residents.
  
  
• Baltimore City Public School System: administers K-12 education, including dropout prevention programs, credit-recovery programs, and alternative schools.
  
  
• Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation: administers Wagner-Peyser/Job service, Veterans’ Services, Unemployment Insurance, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and other programs.
  
  
• Maryland State Department of Education: among its workforce development-related responsibilities are Correctional Education programs, Adult Education and Literacy funding, and Rehabilitation Services.
  
  
• Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development: administers several programs that provide grants to targeted businesses to provide training.

A ‘job gap’ report being developed by the Job Opportunities Task Force will discuss these issues in more detail. The report is scheduled for release in Fall 2002.

2. Information Sharing

• If providers of services to homeless persons are experiencing difficulty helping their clients to access public housing, they should go to 417 Fayette St. in person.
  
  
• Under the “Family Self-Sufficiency Program” administered by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, Section 8 public housing residents are eligible to receive Maryland Drivers’ Licenses.
  
  
• The following job fairs are being planned for Fall 2002: September 19 – Catholic Charities; October 19 – Baltimore Urban League/Baltimore Sun; October & November – Goodwill Industries.

Kevin Moreno requested that Roundtable members announce their organizations’ upcoming job fairs through the Roundtable listserv. The JOTF will post announcements of job fairs on its website, http://www.jotf.org.

3. Next Meeting

The major topic to be discussed at the next meeting will be ‘effective employer engagement.’