Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Government, particularly at the federal level, can only do so much to help those who are struggling in poverty to lead stable lives. We know instinctively that real change happens at the community level, when individuals, businesses, nonprofits, churches, and schools come together in the joint mission of lifting people out of poverty, giving them purpose, and strengthening the local economy.

That’s the theory behind Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) initiative. HWDG brings together individuals seeking jobs with employers who need good workers and nonprofit community organizations who serve those in need.

Here’s the exciting news: Until this point, HWDG was all about one-on-one, face-to-face interaction. As a result, there was a natural limit to the number of people we could reach.

 

Announcing the HWDG online portal

The great news is that we’re taking the one-on-one interaction that makes HWDG so special and effective and scaling it online. In the coming weeks, we’ll be launching a new online portal website for HWDG as a pilot test in Columbus before scaling to other Georgia cities later in 2020, including South Gwinnett.

Individuals start with the HWDG online assessment tool to identify their barriers. The portal then shepherds them through the process and connects them with wrap-around services to remove their employment barriers and then directly with employers eager to hire.

Employers who participate benefit by getting a steady stream of committed, reliable workers ready to contribute.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the launch of HWDG’s online portal,” said Eric Cochling, Chief Program Officer and General Counsel for GCO who is also heading up HWDG. “This gives us a unique opportunity to reach underserved areas and treat individuals holistically. We know that a well-paying, upwardly mobile job is a key factor in well-being. But the benefits of work extend so far behind that—it provides a sense of purpose and contribution to one’s family and broader community.” 

What makes the HWDG portal unique

It would be a mistake to think of the HWDG portal as just another Monster.com or Indeed.com. What makes this portal unique is the fact that it addresses the individual from multiple sides.

We’ve actually vetted and worked with the full spectrum of local resources to ensure that peoples’ barriers are addressed and resolved. We match a specific individual to help for a specific barrier they’ve experienced that’s preventing them from getting a job.

That’s what really excites us. Other services only have one side of the equation—linking an individual with a job. But that’s not treating people like people. The wrap-around services provided by the HWDG portal remove the barriers that make employment difficult.

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Is it possible to do good while making a profit?

The resounding answer from our jobs panel at Breakthrough 2019 was “yes.”

The big question, of course, is how to do it. We heard from mission-driven leaders in the business community dedicated to helping the disadvantaged access the social capital and soft and hard skills needed to excel and thrive:  

  • Michael Jones of Thrive Farmers, whose coffee and tea business not only serves great products but also sought to find an equitable way to support farmers. 
  • Donnell Woodson of FCS Ministries, which works with communities to provide solutions and job resources that uniquely suit a given community. 

Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) initiative is dedicated to helping the disadvantaged find and thrive in work. HWDG seeks to understand the barriers that disadvantaged people face (such as lack of childcare, transportation, and housing). We also focus on the type of soft-skills training that is key to getting a job and progressing in it.

Check back soon for more content from Breakthrough 2019!

 

 

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Is it possible to do good while making a profit?

The resounding answer from our jobs panel at Breakthrough 2019 was “yes.”

The big question, of course, is how to do it. We heard from mission-driven leaders in the business community dedicated to helping the disadvantaged access the social capital and soft and hard skills needed to excel and thrive:  

  • Michael Jones of Thrive Farmers, whose coffee and tea business not only serves great products but also sought to find an equitable way to support farmers. 
  • Donnell Woodson of FCS Ministries, which works with communities to provide solutions and job resources that uniquely suit a given community. 

Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) initiative is dedicated to helping the disadvantaged find and thrive in work. HWDG seeks to understand the barriers that disadvantaged people face (such as lack of childcare, transportation, and housing). We also focus on the type of soft-skills training that is key to getting a job and progressing in it.

Check back soon for more content from Breakthrough 2019!

 

 

Breakthrough 2019 – Businesses Investing In Student Readiness

Breakthrough 2019 – Businesses Investing In Student Readiness

Breakthrough 2019 – Businesses Investing In Student Readiness

We know that a traditional four-year college pathway isn’t the right choice for many students in Georgia. The harder part is figuring out which alternative pathway is the best.

Breaking ground in these areas are forward-thinking employers like Southwire, America’s leading manufacturer of wire and cable used for electricity distribution and transmission. Southwire’s 12 for Life apprenticeship program has become a national model for helping at-risk high-school students finish their education, attain marketable skills, and potentially move right into a tech job right after graduation. 

The program graduates anywhere from 50 to 75 students each year, drawn from eight high schools represented in three Georgia counties. Over 2,900 students have graduated the program over the last decade. Watch the video to hear Marsha Smith, who heads up 12 for Life, explain how the program is a catalyst for community-level change. 

“We’ve seen students go from being homeless to being interns in our facility to become full-time employees,” Marsha shares.

 

Ready to work, right out of high school

Ready to work, right out of high school

Georgia’s public-school teachers should be proud of the work they’ve done to raise graduation rates in our state. Since 2011, graduation rates have increased by more than 14 percent, with 81.6 percent of the class of 2018 graduating. It’s an improvement that has moved Georgia, mercifully, out of the bottom tier of states. This is no small achievement and marks a dramatic improvement in the opportunities and prospects for the students who would not have graduated otherwise.

But graduating high school is not enough to ensure that our students succeed as they launch into the critical first years of their adult life. While college attendance is an important next step for many Georgia students, it’s not the route that most take.

According to a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania, only 31 percent of 18-24-year-olds in Georgia are in college. Of those who do attend college, completion isn’t guaranteed. According to research from the Georgia Governor’s Office for Student Achievement, only 27 percent of the class of 2012 (the most recent year available) had a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or certificate five years after graduating from high school.

And then there’s the large number of young adults in the state who are still trying to find their way years after high school. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in 2017 Georgia had 123,000 young adults aged 20-24 who were neither in school nor working. That’s nearly one in five people in that age group.

So, if nearly 70 percent of students are not going to college and a very high percentage are still floundering into their early 20s, what’s the solution for helping them find a path to a rewarding, self-supporting career?

An important answer, according to Dr. Robert Lerman of the Urban Institute, is apprenticeships—where students start working while high school juniors and seniors in fields that lead to credentials and, importantly, careers immediately after graduation. Dr. Lerman’s work researching apprenticeships spans decades and covers most of the globe. His research has shown that apprenticing is one of (if not the most) effective way to ensure that students who are not college bound find their way into a well-paying, sustainable career.

In the last two years, GCO has worked with Dr. Lerman to research the role of apprenticeships in Georgia and to provide recommendations on how to expand an already well-structured program into one that meets student demand.

Dr. Lerman’s most recent report, released just this week, focuses on Georgia’s Youth Apprenticeship program, created in the mid 1990s with fewer than 400 student participants. Today, the program has grown to more than 3,000 students in nearly 350 schools across the state. State funding of the program is relatively modest at $3 million annually and mostly funds program coordinators who oversee student participation and work to attract businesses to offer apprenticeship opportunities.

According to the report, demand for apprenticeships of this kind is high in Georgia. Dr. Lerman has estimated elsewhere that Georgia needs nearly 100,000 apprenticeships in order to meet that demand. Why hasn’t apprenticeship availability kept pace with student demand, according to Dr. Lerman? Based on interviews and surveys of program coordinators, the primary answer is that companies are skittish to offer jobs to high school students. This is due to the fear of liability for such young workers and related costs.

But, according to Dr. Lerman, these fears are largely unfounded and based on inaccurate assumptions about what the law requires and the cost of hiring younger workers. He cites Southwire as a prime example of a company that has successfully embraced apprenticeships since the 1990s and now employs more than 300 students. And Southwire has intentionally sought out students who are known to be at risk of falling into poverty and suffering from related issues, complexities not faced by the majority of students who would seek apprenticeship opportunities.

For the companies that are currently providing apprenticeships, Dr. Lerman points to regular reports of high levels of satisfaction (more than 90 percent) as a reason to be optimistic that, with accurate information and an opportunity to participate, more companies can be convinced to join the effort.

And, at GCO, we believe now is the perfect time to expand apprenticeships in Georgia. As the chart below demonstrates, the job market is tight in a way that hasn’t been seen for nearly two decades, with more job openings than job seekers. Surely now is the time to scale up apprenticeships to create a pathway from high school to work for those hundreds of thousands of students and young adults in our state who are not college-bound but are full of potential and have great things to offer to any company willing to take a chance on them. We owe it to them to make it happen.