Sharing the Wealth:
Program Showcase
IAJVS/AJFCA 2012 Conference
Houston, Texas
April 23, 2012
IAJVS/AJFCA 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Agency / Program Title / Presenter(s) / PageJF&CS Atlanta / Mock Interviewing Program / Linda A. Schneider / 3
Jewish Community Services Baltimore / Jump Start / Tracey Paliath, Mary Blake / 4
JVS Boston / Transitions to Work / Erin Flynn-Blair / 6
SHALOM Denver / Internship to Hire / Meeka Houston, Sara Leeper / 7
JVS Detroit / RECHARGE for the Next Stage of Your Life / Zipora Golenberg / 9
JDC Israel / The Employment Center for Seniors 60+ / Yehudith Glick / 11
JFCS Louisville / Jobs & Enterprise Development / Bob Tiell / 13
JF&CS Minneapolis / Beyond Safety / Mari Forbush / 14
Ometz Montreal / Companion for Seniors / Lori Rubinger / 16
FEGS New York / Thypin Oltchick Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at FEGS / Virginia Cruikshank / 18
JF&CS Pittsburgh / Age Up Not Out (AUNO) / Jeanne Roth-Williams / 21
JVS San Francisco / School Partner Program / Kevin Hickey / 23
JVS Toronto / Aspergers Job Readiness Program / Anat Wertheim / 26
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: Mock Interviewing ProgramAgency Name/City: JF&CS - Atlanta
Presenter Name and Title: Linda A. Schneider
Presenter E-mail Address:
Presenter Phone number:770.677.9340
Annual number of individuals served: 100
Population served: Atlanta Job Seekers
Source of Funding and Annual Budget: Marcus Foundation
Staffing Pattern: Manager of Volunteer Development – Job Developer – Mock Interview Volunteer Coordinator - Volunteer Interviewer.
What problem(s) does the program address? The Mock Interviewing Program is designed to further assist JF&CS job seekers who consistently fail to receive job offers after numerous interviews.
Program objectives: To conduct a one hour mock interview utilizing the Mock Interviewing Guideline questions. The guideline questionnaire consist of (14) questions that include presentation and communication skills. The JD reviews the results of the interview and provides feedback to the job seeker. As a result the job seeker identifies areas of strength and opportunities of improvement.
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be?
1. Partnering with qualified HR managers within the community who understand the importance of interviewing skills in landing a position and the importance the skill set plays for the job seekers confidence.
2. Recruit up to 8 volunteers to participate in the mock interviews to facilitate 2x monthly. This allows the ability to provide up to 16 mock interviews monthly.
3. Schedule all mock interviews via email to protect the confidentiality of the interviewer and job seeker.
4. Mock interviews can be held at the JF&CS office or the HR interviewer office.
5. Once the interview is scheduled there is no other staff involvement except follow up.
Preparation is everything and the ability to interview with confidence is a make or break skill.
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: Jump StartAgency Name/City: Jewish Community Services/Baltimore
Presenter Name and Title: Tracey Paliath, Director of Economic Services
Mary Blake, Senior Manager-Career Services
Presenter E-mail Address: ;
Presenter Phone number: (410) 843-7338; (410) 843-7434
Annual number of individuals served: approximately 50
Population served: clients with significant barriers, including long-term unemployment, physical and mental disabilities, extended gaps in employment
Source of Funding and Annual Budget: Federation core budget-$11,800 which represents staff time, curriculum development and training costs, and supplies.
Staffing Pattern: existing career coaches rotate teaching responsibilities; existing case manager and therapist participate in assisting with barrier removal, presenting at sessions, and assessing participant strengths and weaknesses as part of job duties. Volunteers from the business community also serve as guest speakers to give participants an insider view to what employers are looking for when they hire, and what makes an employee valuable.
What problem(s) does the program address?
The program addresses the myriad barriers that “difficult to serve” populations, such as those dealing with long-term unemployment and disabilities, encounter when looking for jobs. This group of clients is particularly difficult to serve because of gaps in their work history and feelings of depression and anxiety about their limited prospects for being hired, which translate into a lack of motivation to look for jobs. This program focuses intense attention on this population for a concentrated period of time, using a multi-disciplinary approach (mental health services, career services, case management/service coordination, and financial assistance under the same roof), so that participants can greatly increase their chances of becoming employed. For example, we have a service coordinator who is available each week so that if a new barrier arises (or an old one reemerges) for the participant, we immediately deal with it rather than allowing the situation to snowball and derail the participant’s progress.
Program objectives:
The program objectives are to maximize the self-sufficiency of agency clients who face significant barriers in obtaining employment by rapidly and comprehensively assessing and removing barriers using all available agency resources. JCS staff not only work to remove individual barriers, but also provide assistance and services for a client’s family member, such as an aging parent or disabled child, whose needs have prevented the participant from becoming employed. In addition, the Jump Start program also gives staff the opportunity to rapidly determine if employment is not a realistic goal for a participant and assist him/her in finding alternative ways to meet their financial and personal goals.
How is program success measured? What have been its specific outcomes?
Program success is measured chiefly by looking at placement rates. Of the 101 “hard to serve” clients who have enrolled in Jump Start, nearly 50% of program participants become employed within three months of completing Jump Start, a significant increase over our placement rate for the general population.
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be?
1.) The integrated service delivery model is key. We have workforce development professionals, licensed mental health clinicians, and case managers all working together and talking at least weekly about every participant. Each professional delivers their services as part of an integrated plan, and no one falls through the cracks of the hand-off from professional-to-professional because they are all tightly networked and focused.
2.) It is very important to maintain, and even increase, the participant’s activity level during the week. A Monday morning start is important to give people a sense of purpose and work-like structure to their lives, but they must keep up the work during the week or they will lose momentum and not make as much progress. Participants meet with their coaches, therapists, and/or case managers individually during the week, and also are given assignments to complete during the week, which are often used for discussion in the next class. In this way, participants are also reminded of their achievements over the course of the program, which is especially useful when personal problems may arise.
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: Transitions to WorkAgency Name/City: JVS Boston
Presenter Name and Title: Erin Flynn-Blair, COO
Presenter E-mail Address:
Presenter Phone number: 617-399-3113
Annual number of individuals served: 50
Population served: young adults with disabilities
Source of Funding and Annual Budget: private support through federation, $350K
Staffing Pattern: 1 FTE Director; 4 FTE direct staff
What problem(s) does the program address?
High levels of unemployment/underemployment of young adults with disabilities.
Program objectives:
To provide employer-based training opportunities, targeting specific positions which are anticipated to be in high demand
To involve employer partners in the training design and delivery (through participation in class activities, as well as provision of internship and competitive employment opportunities)
To increase awareness of the benefits of hiring individuals with disabilities and opportunities for people with disabilities within the Jewish community.
How is program success measured? What have been its specific outcomes?
Success is measured by:
· number of employer partners (goal of 2 as training sites and 5-10 additional as hiring partners); year to date, 1 training partner is in place and 7 hiring partners have been identified
· percent completing training/internship (goal of 80%; experience to date 100%)
· percent obtaining competitive employment (goal of 60% of completers; YTD, 50%, with others still in job search)
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be?
Key is finding strong employer partners who are willing to commit to providing space and staff time to support the program.
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: SHALOM Denver Employment Services (Internship to Hire)Agency Name/City: SHALOM Denver, Denver, CO
Presenter Name and Title: Meeka Houston, Program Manager, Sara Leeper, Coordinator of Client Services
Presenter E-mail Address: ,
Presenter Phone number: 303-623-0251
Annual number of individuals served: Approximately 400
Population served: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients.
90% are single females, average age 26, 10% are single males, average age 35, all with 2 or more children.
Source of Funding and Annual Budget: Denver’s Office of Economic Development, Division of Workforce Development. $638,394
Staffing Pattern: Program Manager, (3) Case Managers, (2 Ft, 1Pt) Community Based Training Developer/Site Supervisors, Industry Partnership Developer, Classroom Instructor, Administrative Assistant
What problem(s) does the program address?
Assisting persons with minimal or no work experience to find and secure meaningful and self-sustaining employment utilizing an Internship to Hire model.
Preparing persons with limited education including no high school diploma and/or GED for the workforce through classroom and computer training.
Finding employment opportunities for entry level positions while competing with many job seekers due to the high unemployment rate.
Income for entry level jobs is generally not a sustainable wage.
Addressing unstable housing, transportation, childcare, family support.
Program objectives:
Prepare and assist persons to identify realistic career paths and obtain and retain employment.
Assist persons receiving services to identify barriers and challenges that may hinder success.
Apply strategies to stabilize family situation.
Assist persons to obtain and maintain employment.
How is program success measured? What have been its specific outcomes?
Our contract defines the expected program outcomes. These include enrollments, program completions, employments, 6 and 12 month job retention and wage gain after 1 year.
Current enrollment year to date 385
Employed last year and receiving retention services 41
Persons employed so far this year 86
24% employed, enrolled in school, transferred to another program, SSI approved
30% currently participating in internships and classroom training
46% drop out before program completion (referral to alternate programs, job acquisition, mental, physical health barriers, legal issues, relocated to different county, etc.). We accept over double the contracted number of referrals to offset the large percentage who don’t return for services.
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be?
· Develop partnerships with local businesses to provide job training and internships for work experience.
· Provide combination of work experience in local businesses along with life skills training.
· Know and understand the population served. Use a personalized and supportive team approach to caseload management which builds client trust.
· Provide a safe and inclusive environment.
· Train from a curriculum that uses real life examples to empower persons to change the way they think about their life.
· Teach job readiness skills, i.e., basic computer for email and on-line job search; complete applications, resume and letters; mock interviews; dress for the job; workplace communication, etc.
· Utilize a practical skills assessment and career profile with realistic goals.
· Provide at least some on-site supportive services, i.e., bus tokens, clothing and/or emergency food.
· Have knowledge of and develop partnerships with community resources that can provide supportive services.
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: RECHARGE for the next stage of your lifeAgency Name/City: JVS Detroit
Presenter Name and Title: Zipora Golenberg, Career Counselor
Presenter E-mail Address:
Presenter Phone number: (248) 233-4236
Annual number of individuals served: 10-15/session
Population served: Job Seekers age 55-70
Source of Funding and Annual Budget:
Staffing Pattern:
What problem(s) does the program address?
JVS Detroit has been working with older individuals who got stuck. They were nearing the end of their career with retirement on the horizon but their company closed suddenly or their industry disappeared. After two to three years of unemployment, now what? They are having difficulty giving up their old identity and transitioning into a realistic career or retirement plan.
Program objectives: Assist participants in assessing their skills and passions; reviewing the local job market and their personal finances in order to make a realistic career/retirement plan. The participants are provided with guest speakers on such topics as the local economy, budgeting, entrepreneurial pursuit, volunteer opportunities, updating professional image and the technical skills needed in today’s job search.
How is program success measured? What have been its specific outcomes?
Participants gain a realistic view of their skills and needs and how they match the local job market, which result in developing an action plan, whether it’s a viable job target (returning to old industry or moving to encore career), Entrepreneurial plan or a volunteer/retirement plan.
By the time of the conference we will have completed our first group and be excited to share insight.
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be? Adjust the program to the needs of your participants.
IAJVS 2012 Conference
Sharing the Wealth: Program Showcase
Program Title: The Employment Center for Seniors 60+Agency Name/City: JDC-ESHEL, Israel
Presenter Name and Title: Yehudith Glick
Presenter E-mail Address:
Presenter Phone number: 972-2-6557128
0506-847066
Annual number of individuals served: 2000
Population served: Retired elderly people aged 60+ with applicable(work) skills
Source of Funding and Annual Budget: Eshel, government, private donations
Staffing Pattern: Eshel-senior director Yehudith and partners from Government Ministries. Program operated by two NGO’s
What problem(s) does the program address?
The establishment and operation of a professional structure that provides employment opportunities for every 'job seeker' aged 60 and above. Through the center, seniors will be exposed to diverse job placements, training and retraining. Through the activities at the centers, seniors may also explore developing their entrepreneurial skills, with ongoing guidance and support.
Focus will be on helping retired elderly people return to any sector of the workforce
Program objectives:
The Center for Assorted Employment Opportunities for the Elderly Aged 60 and The employer is a customer and a partner in the development of a new senior's workforce.
Above.
How is program success measured? What have been its specific outcomes?
Quantitative outcomes are measured by registering the number of applicants and the number of people that find employment.
Today the program reached more than we were planning; 500 people are working
If you were to give advice on successfully replicating this program in another community, what would it be?
To find the suitable operators to add Employment Fairs for Seniors as part of the program
IAJVS 2012 Conference