Poverty Initiative

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Jobs

Systemic Changes

Physical ease of access – jobs in communities where poor live or transportation to get people to where the jobs are
Jobs skills training – how do we get people ready to get a job; both technical and soft skills
Identify a career path for any job. We need menial jobs done and we need to identify a path up
Linking training & outcomes to real job and hold placement accountable
Employing students and linking that to graduation
Training for the “right” job; jobs that actually exist in our community
Making employer incentives easier; tax policy
Tying training to economic development
Childcare as part of job training, search, when the get a job
Transportation to jobs
Are jobs available, are they family friendly – soft skills (interpersonal, scheduling, etc.)
Support through the process through coaching/mentoring; sending people “out” before they’re ready
Access to computers and computer skills to fulfill job applications
Disqualifiers (hs diploma, diploma equivalent) separate from actual skill
Help employers address re-entry issues (incarceration)
Skills gap that can’t be addressed by SMB (can’t pay for training while someone is on the job); address capacity issues through associations
Make work pay – tax credits, child care assistance
Community benefit agreements like in Buffalo with the port work
Language skills training for newcomers to the country
Database on workforce
Incentive more volunteers to work with job skills, work mentors
Workforce development group is doing this work. Heard a plan about Edison, East and MCC plans ; WPA/CCC kind of program – getting people ready for a first job and get employers to step up to hire those jobs; government can create the first jobs
Segment it b/c there’s not enough $ to solve it all over the community – focus on few key neighborhoods vs. a little bit everywhere

Programmatic Changes

Database that takes info from “any door” that tracks education, job skills training, etc. to move people along a continuum of progress; how do we track “where folks are”
Connectivity; dashboard for all agencies, providers
Subsidize salary (NY Works, Rochester Works)
Respect for the worker, no matter what level – we can’t just “tolerate” working teens, young people
Opportunity for people on public assistance to encourage employers to hire by diverting public assistance to be part of the pay; continued employment after subsidy is over
Catalog for employers for what is available to them in terms of subsidies, programs, on-job coaching
Economic development programs like comida that should be doing good things, but don’t always; make that program work and extend it to all level of employers
Mobile jobs unit ala mobile healthcare United Way of Greater Rochester
42% don’t have HS diploma/equivalency which is required for the training programs we’re discussing; need to lower requirements
Integrate academics into sills training
Change from facility based entity to an in-community based service (e.g., mobile)
Bring resources into the community that also leverages database both ways (info from database and updating info)
Make sure program level providers know what’s out there so a central database could help food worker to ID work programs for example
Giving people what they need vs. a prescribed amount of training, etc.
Expand job opportunities for teens to get them ready for work earlier and build strong skills
17/18 projected hs grad rate is 70%, but college/career ready is only 30% -- all graduates need to be college and career ready
Acknowledge most people in poverty are working already so connect with HR/EA of workplaces to understand the challenges that working poor face and what leads to termination to address issues of people already working vs. needing to get into workplace
Retention vs. acquisition in terms of jobs
One size doesn’t fit all in terms of job readiness; flexibility of how we spend the funding across all horizontal issues we might need to address
Entrepreneurship training and access to capital
Systemic reconsideration of the bonafied qualifications into entry level positions, CTE programs
Middle skills jobs aren’t being filled and low way workers not making ends meet; bridge subsidies, rainy day funds (drop out b/c of car break downs)

Public Policy Changes

Structure so people on public assistance can get 2 or 4 year degrees; led to sustainable jobs; Changing public assistance rules to change work first as the only way to look at solving the problem
Ease of use, ease of access for the subsidy so employers want to participate
Consequences for families where kids aren’t involved in school to encourage early learning
Robust summer jobs program with less restrictions and the need to expand funding/allow flexibility past the 6 weeks of summer to extend the skills, income, etc.
Give people $ to give them what they need to do to connect to jobs so they can get employed and sustain that job; efficiency of giving some poor people some money; grants (perhaps $6K) to pull out of poverty
Education is a civil right and we need to be transparent in our graduation rate (does “passing” really make a kid ready to graduate, get a job; no curve grading, etc.)
Investment in the workforce and the kids for a sustainable future - investment not subsidy
ESD loan loss reserve program only for minority business that have state contracts – expand this program beyond that limited scope
MA passed community investment tax credit – limited community development tax credit that invest in non-profits that have a community development plan
State contracted companies need a provision that they hire teenagers that is tied to the state award
More right doors – what is the incentive of the nfps to collaborative more aggressively. In the profit world there are tax incentives; what are our incentives.
Community organizations need requirement to build integrated plans, integration is key
Child care investments can support chidren’s educational development, parents career development and the small business owners who run many child care agencies. The staff of the child care centers are often the people being helped so investing there helps on two fronts
Leverage success of employment partners (vs. job provider) for teens
Barriers for some teens in some industries (e.g., manufacturing)
Flexibility btw. Funding silos and regulation of those funds; state government can fix some of those issues; governor can request federal waivers
Tax subsides might work for businesses, but don’t necessarily work for local government – how can we make those incentives work for local government
A lot of policies don’t apply to small businesses (e.g., sexual harassment, gender) which might be a barrier to employment; employers need to be educated on issues of race, ethnicity, gender, etc.

Heath & Nutrition

Systemic Changes

Need to capture the impact of savings in the health area -- global budgeting concept – look at the health status of a population and see how non-medical services (i.e., social services) affect health status of a community; how can we leverage health care spending at non-traditional health care locations in community that can benefit health; document how these interventions affect outcomes
How can we affect non-sustainable funding we’re facing
Using predictive analytics across the system
Access to healthcare; how to navigate the health system
Discourage investing energy redesign of health care delivery network
More integration in addressing physical, mental and dental issues
25-40K/year – addressing those who find healthcare unaffordable, but aren’t able to be subsidized
Address the right issues affecting our people and address them holistically; can’t address HBP when people have no money, rats in the basement; let’s solve a family’s overall issues vs. focusing on one “community” issue
Case management model – Brighton, JFS model – can be used as a county-level model; measure analytics and allows movement of people with secure info/tracking of services/etc.
Practical access to services where people are
As little as 10% of a community’s health status can be attributed to health care
Poverty is so highly geographically concentrated so their environment is so vastly different than the normative environment so we need to truly track what’s happening within the system; strategic conversation understanding the key metrics we want to improve and how does addressing issues of poverty address our community health
Support person living in 100 year old home that wasn’t built for aging in place
Minority community – lack of professionals among providers of behavioral health that can speak the language and relate to the individuals in need
Outpatient systems aren’t working for impoverished communities (transportation, etc.) – looking at alternatives for mental health issues
Early childhood experiences have long lasting health consequences; need to be looking at prevention of childhood trauma, neglect, etc.
Document social determinants of health; no access to grocery stores
Access to nutritious food – affordably and easily accessible

Programmatic Changes

Make it easier for people to have whole-family solutions (what age can eat where – kids, seniors, adults; so families can’t have holistic solution)
Trauma effects on women and children; trauma informed care, peer support, human care vs. data collection as first “question”
Universal take of available government benefits -- get those to people who are eligible, but haven’t applied; how do we get everyone eligible connected to anti-poverty federal programs
Access programs to assist where/when need happens – kids eat less in winter when families need to heat their homes
Inform families on connection btw. Nutrition and academic success
How we incentivize non-profits/schools; we see good outcomes but then b/c of changes (age, location) we lose case management history/nfp cohesiveness
State level is delinking health and nutrition systems
Last study on pre-k was done by American medical association – Pre k addresses health and changes economic opportunity for child and family overall
2 generation programs improve health of both moms & kids; also lift families out of poverty
Nutrition element of community gardens to provide opportunity to learn about food, but has economic and community building benefits
Address environmental aspects of the home; asthma triggers, lead poisoning
51M hours of school were lost b/c of lack of dental care; affects nutrition and overall health
Health homes – adult now; kids in 2016 – connect with that movement
Groceries on wheels ala meals on wheels
Social determinants of health have many holistic predictors that have nothing to do with health (e.g., house needs roof, house becomes abandoned/destroyed, rats move into house next door)
Family caregivers that must leave job to take care of things at home

Public Policy Changes

Unhealthy behaviors more expensive and healthy behaviors cheap
Raise tax on unhealthy activities and use revenue on healthy outlets/options
Adding income supplement vastly improves family health
Reimbursement for food/snacks – make it easier for childcare providers to supply (cacfp)
Misdiagnosis of adhd that become reliant on medications/substance; be cautious on how we diagnose young people and address those issues
HIPPA issues in terms of communication btw. Organizations
Interoperability of the systems to have systems talk to each other
Largest health barrier to employment are mental health issues; not robust enough, not staffed/reimbursed enough
Fresh connect funding – expand outlet points, people that use it
Misidentification of kids into special education is disproportionate for minorities, people in poverty which leads to more intense/acute mental health issues
Look inside RCSD identification of adhd/learning issues; could be a reaction to trauma
Need consistency in medical care to identify systemic health issues
Diagnostic systems for mental health aren’t family friendly and don’t take into account issues in kids under 6 and they’re not necessarily reimbursable
More places (e.g., nonprofits) that can address health issues beyond traditional health outlets
Kids behaviors are directly impacted by their situation (poverty, hunger, dental issues); school looks for more support in the classroom; IEPs might drive diagnosis and then the problem isn’t necessarily fixed even if the problem behavior is on the surface (e.g., calmer kid)
Consider models that aren’t case management, but peer support or community support
Certification programs for peer support aren’t sufficient for need

Education & Workforce Training

Systemic Changes

Expansion of urban/suburban in taking kindergarten students to begin the process at one school
Opportunity for suburban kids to get into unique/good programs in the city
Incentivize suburban districts beyond funding; ability to add support services that affect all kids in the district
Full service community schools has great traction throughout the nation (Cincinnati as example) with resource coordination, reduced need for transportation
Does urban suburban really address the issue of having the same quality of education in the city that we do in the suburbs; what rules/laws in the state are impeding the success of city schools
Laws focus on what you can’t do vs. what you can do; the laws need to impact learning vs. hamper it
Return to programs that offer jobs and hs credit; expand throughout community
Cannot innovate from inside a school district; must come from outside – our school district can’t do it alone; we have to change the system currently is and ensure we have a children first strategy
Until we get to neighborhood schools we need everyone working on a common agenda, outcomes, dashboard
More representation from African American, Latino leaders and really tap into the voice of the people we’re trying to help
How do we simplify this process to really affect the people in the community; can we focus on a particular neighborhood – what do we need to do to help YOU get out of poverty – person approach vs. system approach
LOOK AT WRITTEN NOTES FOR MISSING INFO

Programmatic Changes

LOOK AT WRITTEN NOTES FOR MISSING INFO
Address system gaps – 24mo-36mo gap in healthcare; gap btw. Out-of-school time and school time; gap for people that leave school (secondary and higher)
GED are not adequate
Differences btw. Wages/opportunities btw. skilled, low skill and unskilled jobs – can gap be filled by vocational training

Public Policy Changes

CTE to be counted as regents exams has created a new pathway to graduation and a path to career; earlier career exploration and opportunities
Create community based schools while allowing people to move across boundaries – not favoring one for the other
The way to be successful for kids is the way to be successful in an election – “vote early and often”…educated early and often; 3 to 3 initiative; Screening of 3 year olds to id problems across all parts of a child’s needs
Generation of young children that are now adolescence and making sure we don’t lose them; ensure they have a caring adult that goes beyond volunteers
Need adults to connect youth to services; provide a discipline they don’t have in their lives
Tutoring is really important to reinforce what they might be missing during the day
RCSD – trying to mitigate impact of poverty; time really matters to close that gap on inequality; trying to increase time that students are in instruction; more kids in summer program (currently at 1/3, want ½ for summer 2015; pre-k will start early for select classes; race to the top is being defunded so hopefully the state will fill that void of federal funding
Change culture within the organizations – how do we hold people on the ground accountable
Parents – the fastest way to get a kid out of poverty is for the parent to get a sustained job, which they can’t get if they don’t have proper childcare. Subsidies disappear once a person gets any type of job even if it’s not self-sustaining
Government is in the position to deal with the education system as they did in enforcing brown vs. board of education if we have the political will
Schools with less than 40% of poverty are successful – how do we make sure all schools are
Let’s do everything we can to make our city schools better -- $ should follow the child wherever the parent wants them to go
There are children who are growing up in poverty that are succeeding – what can we learn from them/their experiences to see how they’re getting around the obstacles
Wall mart foundations approach to workforce development (NO, Florida, Rochester, Essex County NJ)
Changing kindergarten selection process in RCSD
To expect that all kids start at the same place and then develop at same rate leads to not being able to meet grade-level standards – how can we mirror college policy that you can graduate faster/slower depending on “where” you came in and what you want to accomplish

Housing