Putting People First!
Budget Line Item Proposal FY06
Putting People First!
Emergency Employment & Advancement Initiative
A initiative to address unemployment, underemployment, and poverty among the hard-to-employee in the City of New York with paid transitional jobs and career ladder training.
This initiative was put together by: For more information, please contact:
Community Voices Heard Sondra Youdelman
170 East 116th Street, #1E Director of Policy & Research
New York, NY 10029 (212) 860-6001 x 108
Summary:
Putting People First! would designate a $75 million budget line item for a citywide initiative to provide a total of 2,500 participant slots across two programs:
(1)Emergency Employment and Job Experience through an
Expansion of Paid Transitional Jobs Programs, and
(2)Career-ladder Training Program Coupled with Paid Internships
Targeted at High-Wage Growth Industries.
The $75 million is intended to build upon promising city initiatives and would include intensive case management, job placement, and retention services. A variety of City host agencies could potentially administer the paid transitional jobs program with oversight from either the Human Resources Administration (HRA) or the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). SBS is also put forth as a potential administering agency for the career-ladder training initiative program.
Background:
This initiative is intended to address unemployment, underemployment, and poverty in New York City by creating opportunities for hard-to-employ individuals to better prepare themselves for longer term sustainable employment. The program would help transition public assistance recipients and other unemployed people into jobs and on the path toward economic self-sufficiency. Simultaneously, it would work to address the critical needs of our communities and the workforce needs of our city’s economy.
Putting People First! incorporates labor market analysis with critical workforce development elements such as paid transitional jobs & internships, targeted education and training programs, intensive case management, and job placement and retention services into a well-rounded initiative to create pathways out of unemployment and underemployment for New York City’s most disadvantaged. It expands upon and improves already existent programs and initiatives and incorporates an evaluation component that would allow for serious study of the benefits of such programs for participants over time.
Between the recent U.S. employment peak month of March 2001 and December 2004, New York State lost 219,000 jobs (190,000 of those in New York City). This is a 2.5% change for the worse in the state and a 5.1% decrease for New York City.[1] For the City of New York, the December 2004 unemployment rate was 6.2%, considerably higher than the nationwide figure of 5.3%[2]. Still, these figures underestimate the problem at hand – add part-time workers who wish they had more work, people who have given up actively looking for work, and others not captured by the unemployment tracking mechanisms and the rates go up. Focus on low-income communities and communities of color, and the figures are higher yet. As of February 2005, while the nationwide unemployment rate was at 5.4%, Blacks or African-Americans faced an unemployment rate of 10.9%, and Latinos or Hispanics one of 6.4%.[3]
The Community Service Society of New York, an independent non-profit organization leading the fight against poverty in New York for 150 years through research, advocacy and direct services, has released a variety of recent reports that highlight the poverty and unemployment crisis that NYC is currently amidst. “One out of five (20.7 percent) New York City residents is poor, compared with one out of eight Americans (12.5 percent) nationwide. The number of New York City residents who live in poverty (1.7 million) is enormous.”[4] Nearly 1 in 6 of our City’s youth are “disconnected” – out of school and unemployed.[5] Those numbers climb in minority populations. A look at black male employment showed a crisis of joblessness among this group, with barely half of the city’s Black men employed.[6] These numbers, and others, paint a bleak picture of the reality of joblessness and career mobility for a variety of populations in our City.
The paid transitional jobs program of the initiative (Program 1) would build upon successes of the Parks Opportunity Program (POP) and other similar City programs. Community Voices Heard, a membership organization of low-income individuals throughout the five boroughs of NYC, has been working on developing options to address unemployment and poverty since its inception in 1994. A report released by CVH in March of 2004, Wages Work!: An Examination of New York City’s Parks Opportunity Program and Its Participants ( found that paid jobs programs have measurable benefits over unpaid public assistance WEP assignments. Paid jobs make workers motivated to obtain long term employment, improve their standard of living and self-sufficiency, and prepare participants for long term work while simultaneously providing needed work for the City of New York. The report highlights how real access to job placement services and attention to employment barriers could make transitional job programs even more effective.
Examples of similar initiatives across the country can also be found by looking at the work highlighted through the National Transitional Jobs Network ( Paid jobs programs are a viable option for addressing the current crisis faced by hard-to-employ individuals. They provide short-term paid employment for unemployed individuals, coupled with advancement training. People that graduate from such programs benefit from having recent job experience and new certifications that help them better market themselves for longer-term employment. Simultaneously, such programs meet critical public needs through the provision of vital under-resourced public services: school classroom assistants, healthcare support, childcare and after school program expansion, parks maintenance, etc.
The career-ladder training program of the initiative (Program 2) would expand upon initiatives such as that of The New York City Workforce Innovation Fund. This partnership between the Department of Small Business Services and the Workforce Development Funders Group created the New York City Sectors Initiative ( and provided grants to two organizations to lead a collaboration of employers and service providers to run sector employment programs in the health care industry. Collaborations received three-month planning grants, and will be later awarded additional funds to implement and launch their initiatives.
Examples of similar initiatives across the country can also be found by looking at the work of the Workforce Strategy Center ( a national non-profit that works throughout the US to help create public systems that promote career pathways leading people to high-wage, high-demand employment. The Workforce Strategy Center advocates for the creation of “career pathways – targeted to regional labor markets, focused on employment sectors, and combining education, training and on-the-job learning –…to assist economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals in entering and advancing in high-wage, high-demand employment sectors.”[7] Through a targeted RFP process, this initiative would foster the creation of career pathways that would assist hard-to-employ New Yorkers in gaining skills and training necessary for not only obtaining employment, but for moving up within it.
Initiative Programs:
Program 1:EXPANSION OF PAID TRANSITIONAL JOBS
WITH EDUCATION & TRAINING
Paid Work and Training for the Hard-to-Employ
“Transitional jobs are time-limited, wage-paying jobs that combine real work, skill development, and support services to help participants overcome substantial barriers to employment….Of those that finish the program, 70 to 94 percent find unsubsidized employment regardless of population or location.”[8]
Transitional jobs are designed to give public assistance recipients and hard-to-employ people paid jobs that provide vital services while gaining experience to move towards permanent, unsubsidized employment. The City of New York Human Resources Administration has set a precedent with a transitional jobs program in the Parks Department that employs up to 3,500 people at one time, and has sent over 10,000 individuals through the program since its start in 2001.
This initiative would provide funds to expand this paid jobs program into different City agencies and non-profit organizations, thereby broadening the type of skills and occupations for which individuals would be able to gain direct experience. Individuals who want to work but have limited work experience and/or job histories, benefit through participating in such programs by gaining recent job experience, new references, a broader skills base, and more. All these add to their ability to market themselves for longer-term employment.
The part of the jobs initiative would support placements in the public and private not-for-profit sectors.
Potential Sites for Paid Transitional Jobs:
- City Agencies currently holding Work Experience Program (WEP) slots
- City Agencies and Public Authorities with clerical, technical, administrative and other positions with opportunity for learning, advancement, and/or placement
- Private, Non-profit Agencies
Wages and benefits would be commensurate with equivalent salary levels for unionized employees in comparable positions and would not cause displacement.[9]
In addition to the paid transitional job, participants would be offered education and training to further enhance their prospects in the job market. This would include, but not be limited to: ABE, GED, ESL, and vocational training. Participants would continue to receive pay – at the same rate - for the hours they pursued education & training for up to 8 hours of education & training per week.
Program 2.CAREER LADDER TRAINING
COUPLED WITH PAID INTERNSHIPS
Connecting Job Seekers to Emerging Industries and Self-Sufficiency
Career Ladder Training programs are designed to prepare unemployed and underemployed individuals for careers in high-wage growth industries. This program of the overall initiative would have the administering agency put out an RFP for a planning grant to encourage organizations and businesses to pool together and develop model career pathways and the training that goes with them. This RFP would be modeled on precedents such as the New York City Sectors Initiative and would include a portion allocated for planning grants to develop appropriate programs, followed by funds for implementation of the training & paid internship components. It is expected that this process would take up to one year for implementation.
Duration of the participants’ involvement in the program would depend on time necessary for appropriate training and experience, based on specific targeted industries. It would include education and training for a period appropriate to the industry needs and requirements, followed by or accompanied with a paid internship. The education and training component can either be at the beginning of the program or interspersed with the internship, depending on the industry and the program plan developed by the participating implementing entities. The participant would be paid during both components and would then receive job placement assistance to move into permanent and unsubsidized employment.
Career pathways being developed across the country for the information technology sector can serve as an example of the basic steps such pathways involve:
- Community outreach to economically and educationally disadvantaged adults,
- Basic skills coursework at community-based organizations that serve as branch campuses of local community colleges,
- Entry-level training for computer technicians and office workers,
- Internship placement,
- Entry-level employment as a computer technician or office worker, and
- Upgrade training in programming, database applications and computer networking.[10]
Effective career pathways tend to include three levels of training: basic skills training (AED, GED, ESL, etc. for those with little skills &/or work experience), entry-level training (providing skills training in a specific industry), and upgrade training and education (providing additional skills and education to meet evolving employer and labor market needs).
Examples of New York City growth industries and/or occupations for which to target training include, but are not limited to the following:
* Administrative and Clerical* Construction & Building Trades
* Aviation* Customer Service
* Childcare* Health Care / Medical
* Computer Programming / * Hospitality & Tourism /
Information Technology (IT) Foodservice
Putting People First!
Budget Line Item Proposal FY06
Putting People First!
Budget Line Item Proposal FY06
Initiative Features:
Both initiative programs would include certain common features to ensure participant success on the road to self-sufficiency.
A.Paid Job or Internship
Participants would be paid for their work as they gain experience on-the-job. Wages would match prevailing wages for the work being done, and job placements would take necessary precautions to avoid displacement of other workers. Those in the paid transitional jobs program of the initiative would be paid for 40 hours a week, with 8 of those hours being their participation in education &/or training. Those in the career ladder training program of the initiative would be paid for 40 hours a week, satisfied by any appropriate combination of paid internship and training.
B.Education & Training
Those participating in the paid transitional jobs program of the initiative would be encouraged to participate in education &/or training linked to the program for up to 8 hours per week. They would be paid, at the same rate as the work wage, while participating. Those participating in the career-ladder training program of the initiative would have the opportunity to receive a wage/stipend while participating in full-time or part-time education & training related to the target industry.
C.Intensive Supportive Services & Case Management
Participants shall qualify for subsidized childcare and transportation regardless of their wage rate while participating in either program. They would also receive a clothing allowance at the start and completion of the program. They would also be provided with a case manager to support them throughout their participation in the program – helping them to address (and/or be referred elsewhere to address) personal barriers that they face (including, but not limited to: homelessness, childcare issues, drug addiction, mental health issues, domestic violence, stress management, etc.). Case managers would provide whatever assistance is necessary to support the participant in their successful completion of the program and stabilization of their life to help prepare them for their broader job search and ultimate workforce attachment.
- Career Planning & Job Placement Services
Both Career Ladder Training and Paid Transitional Jobs would include job placement services with a career-planning model similar to those provided by educational institutions and the One-Stop Centers in New York. Career planning services would begin upon participants’ entrance into the program. The goal is that strategic thinking about ultimate unsubsidized positions would influence placements for the paid transitional jobs (allowing such jobs to prepare individuals for their ultimate placement) and targeted industries for career ladder training. Job development services might be provided at the One Stop Centers or at community organizations that specialize in such services.
- Job Retention Services
Support for participants would not end immediately upon program completion or upon job placement. Rather, job retention services would continue for up to one year following placement, with a gradual diminishing of the services provided over time. Job retention specialists would be responsible for assuring that participants gain access to all benefits for which low-wage workers might be eligible (including, but not limited to: the EITC, subsidized childcare, Food Stamps, rental assistance, etc.). Job retention specialists would also help workers trouble-shoot conflicts at their work sites prior to their eruption.
Initiative Particulars:
Putting People First! would focus on some of the hardest-to-employ populations and would draw upon the expertise of multiple City agencies, while simultaneously encouraging broader coordination across agencies and objectives.
Agency Responsible for Program Administration[11]:
- SBS, and entities contracted by SBS, would be responsible for labor market analysis that identifies growth industries to target training toward.
- The expanded paid transitional jobs program would be coordinated by SBS, but administered by the host agency or agencies.
- SBS would also manage the RFP process and monitor grantee progress for the career ladder training and paid internship program.
Agencies/Entities Eligible to Refer Participants into the Program: