Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 4
Item 4 consider and take appropriate action regarding the following workforce development investments, a, workforce solutions, rapid employment model, and b, big Austin, ex-offender pre entry pilot.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, sherri fleming, county executive for health and human services and veterans services.
we are here before you today to discuss an investment that you all actually authorized in the fiscal year 2011 budget process.
that was an earmark on reserves for new investments in workforce development.
that approval was contingent upon your receipt of a report from the ray marshall area which has been looking at and tracking the impact of your workforce development investments.
due to some state law changes sort of beyond the control of both county staff and the ray marshall center, that report was delayed due to some contractual relationships that had to exist between the ray marshall center and the state in order for us to continue to be able to use and make public the data from the Texas workforce commission.
so that delayed our reporting to you until the end of July during this fiscal year which then it, you know, ultimately delayed our implementation of our intended projects for this funding.
so currently we still have approximately $215,000 that is earmarked in allocated reserves for workforce investments should you choose to use it at this time.
we do have two projects that staff would recommend for your consideration, and as luck would have it, I think that should you opt to invest in these programs at this time, they both have the potential to mitigate some effects that we don't really know what they will be at this point as a result of some changes in funding at the state level.
so with that said, the first project is the rapid employment model that you are aware of, we've been working with that program for many, many years with the workforce solutions group, and I have with me here alan miller who will talk with you just briefly about his proposed changes to that program and the investment that would be required.
>> thank you, sherry.
good morning, judge, Commissioners.
thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.
first on behalf -- my name is alan million oh, executive director with workforce solutions capital area workforce board and on behalf of the board I want to express our appreciation to the county for your financial support and other support that you have given for the rapid employment model program we've had for the last several years.
that program really targets a couple of very vulnerable population groups.
first are those who are ex-offenders.
whose unemployment rates are traditionally anywhere from five to eight times what the normal unemployment rates are.
and then those individuals who face various barriers who come to the county for other forms of financial assistance that's available to you the health and human services department.
what we intended to with the proposal here, our intent is to build on the past success that we've had with the rapid employment model in terms of getting those vulnerable population groups to work, not just get them to work but into a job at a wage that puts them on a path to sustainability and self-sufficiency and do so in a manner which allows us to leverage as many other resources as we have available.
the proposal that we're here today to talk about also will allow us to expand the program to assist more individuals and to proactively respond to service delivery change -- changes as other state funding is going away.
this last session of the 82nd legislature, they wiped out in the appropriations bill project reintegration of offenders which cost us about $170,000 a year.
we're also seeing reductions at a federal level.
at the point not dramatic, but we're keeping our eye out because we're still dealing with the effects of the debt ceiling and the appropriations bills that are wandering through congress right now but we have seen reductions to supplemental and and and those are two sources that we use for leverage with -- along with the county funds.
our planned service levels with additional funding would increase to 120 individuals per year, of which 80 of those individuals we intend to put through some type of training.
a combination of either short-term occupational specific training of eight to 12 weeks which is consistent with the program design, but also putting a stronger emphasis on on-the-job training.
for some individuals that's a more appropriate venue for training as opposed to sitting in a classroom.
and then also working in their internships and work experience to give people practical hands on experience combined with the occupational classroom training.
the scope of work, all clients that go through the program at a minimum would receive comprehensive assessment of their interest, their skills, their abilities.
there could be an individual service plan developed for them, an education and an employment plan.
they will also go through a new program that we're launching this fall on work readiness certification that will help prepare them with some of the basic skills that employers say they need the most.
and that's beyond the reading, writing and arithmetic.
it gets into the soft skills about workplace ethics, behaviors, expectations, et cetera.
and they will all continue to receive the job seeking skills of resume writing, interviewing and how to conduct effective job searches and an extensive amount of job placement assistance.
outcome-wise we're looking at 80% of the individuals enrolled in training would complete that training at a minimum.
we would have a plan for 70% entered employment rate.
a $10 an hour average wage at placement and at least 50% employment retention rate after six months from exit of the program.
so that's kind of a recap.
again, what we're looking at doing under this proposal with additional funding, we would be able to bring in two dedicated staff for this program.
right now it's a -- it's an aggregation of different staff from different programs all pieced together.
additional funding would allow us to specifically identify two staff to serve this particular population leading to improved services and greater accountability.
we're also looking to, again, go back to the existing programs that we have, and although we're seeing reduction in funds on some of those, we want to continue to leverage those resources so we further expand the program on the dollars that the county provides to us.
thank you.
>> thank you.
>> now he, and I'd like to applaud you for what you do, all of you.
because it's definitely a need and we've discussed this, we looked at the economic development situation how we could look at maybe the possibilities of looking at diverse employment opportunities for several folks in this community.
so I'm impressed as far as what we're doing.
I would like to maybe pose a question and that is make sure that what you are doing here -- let me put it to you like this.
we fund several nonprofits through our social service, hhs, situation, who also are looking to enhance the possibility of persons that they become engaged with to have employment opportunities here.
and, of course, I want to make sure that we get the most bang for the buck.
and by lending whatever workforce is involved with, as far as extending it to those particular nonprofits that we deal with that are faced with same, similar challenges, and that is to ensure that those persons that come up under their umbrella have employment opportunities.
and I don't -- I don't think there is a disconnect between what you do and those particular nonprofits that we -- that we serve -- either fund, assist in funding under our h.h.s., health and human services budget.
so I want to make sure that relationship is continuing.
but again I want to make -- ensure that those persons that do receive the training, those employment opportunities are there for them, and, of course, Travis County is involved as one of the employers of an ex offenders program, for example, and I want to make sure those particular employers that are out there that are willing to not only look at this particular segment of the Travis County population, but the other segment of the population that is in need of a job, in need of a job.
I don't know how to emphasize that more than what I'm emphasizing it.
because with those type of opportunities, it puts a person in a different perspective and a different role, they have families to feed and a whole lot of things they have to deal with.
so I just want to make sure we get the most bang for the buck.
now, I don't mind redirecting this money with that intent with this particular rapid employment program and the things you bring, alan miller, but we still have a ways to go and we aren't there yet, but I think we're on the right road and hopefully we can bring a lot of diverse employment opportunities because everybody in here is not going to be software engineers or they are not going to be a part of that high-tech industry.
but there are folks that need employment opportunities and we need to make sure that we are here to maybe assist as much as possible that we can and hope that goes in the direction.
thank you.
>> thank you, Commissioner.
we'll be back after another year with the evaluation results and I hope to give you a big bang for your buck.
>> okay.
thank you.
>> are the projected out comes that you shared with us based on the results historically?
>> we looked at what we've been able to do historically and we're also considering what's going on economically with the current conditions.
and those are all -- those are things that we propose that would be subject to negotiation with the county and if there's a feeling that we want to increase some of those, we will certainly entertain those discussions.
I don't want to put expectations too far out so they are not achievable, but I also want -- I want us to be able to strive for something that's realistic.
but they are based on what we've been able to do this the past and I think what this particular populations will allow us to do on an outcome basis.
>> okay.
>> we would like the representatives of big Austin to introduce themselves and then discuss briefly, I will remind the court that this would be a new investment.
we have not previously worked with this program, but we do believe that there are some program components that would be helpful for us to pilot much like what we will be doing with the expansion of the r.e.m.
program so we can look at our ability to use these programs to impact the populations we're targeting.
so big Austin.
>> stacy dukes rowan.
>> linda young, board member for big Austin.
it's a pleasure to be here with you.
my other hat, as you know, is with Austin community college district.
so it's always good to see you and thank you.
>> thank you.
>> just to talk a little about the program that we are proposing here, big Austin has been in the business of developing entrepreneurs for the last 17 years.
we have three major components, technical assistants, training and micro loans.
over the last couple of years as economic challenges have come upon us, our numbers have drastically increased in individuals seeking training and assistance and my row loans, access to capital.
and so through that process we have looked at our -- our client base and determined there were particular sectors that we need to invest additional interest in and taylor our programming to be able to fit them better.
and one of those areas is the ex-offender community.
we have a number of individuals who come in for training and assistance, and through our national association of micro enterprises we have determined if one in three small businesses in the nation employs one person, america would be at full employment.
what we want to do is help these individuals become more self-sufficient through learning thousand run and manage a business, maybe they can hire someone in the future or they will get skills they need to the next development be employed by a small business owner who may be more willing to reach out and trust these individuals to work for them.
in that during the past year and a half, the pit program out of houston, Texas, which actually trains offenders in the prison system had come to us and asked us to provide some training at our facility.
and with that in mind, if we do that, we do need the additional fund to go train those individuals.
so we have proposed a program that can train those individuals coming right out of prison, those on probation with not just the technical assistance and training they need for business purposes, but also provide them with additional resources through connecting ourselves with other agencies that provide counseling.
we are looking at a long-term program.
this will just be a pilot with the first 15 individuals, training them from beginning to end, getting them into employment or starting a small business.
actually providing a way to access capital through micro loans and making sure they are bankable at the end of the deal.
like I said, this will be a pilot program.
we intend it to be long term and we even have already a plan for the long-term process in place.
>> so at health and human services programs we have continually shared with the court we think it's important to have a continuum of services because we don't always have the luckry of all of our residents meeting at the same place and so we need a menu of programs we feel can meet folks where they are in their process of development so that they can become more self-sufficient.
so you have our rapid employment model and you have a program that with the outcomes toward entrepreneurship.
so staff's recommendation today, the funding for both programs would total 165,000 with 15 of that added to our contract with the ray marshall center.
about 2004 we entered into a relationship with the ray marshall center so they walk with us through workforce development investments and look at the success of the cohorts that go through our programs to make sure we're continue to go receive the outcomes that we anticipate.
so each time we add to that investment, we request that you also add to that responsibility for the ray marshall center to look at those programs. And this has been essential to the development of our workforce efforts because ray marshall has been able to look at our early data and help us to make changes in our program where it was necessary.
so staff's recommendation for your consideration would be $125,000 increase for the rapid employment model, a pilot project with big Austin for $25,000, and then $15,000 in additional resources for the ray marshall center contract.
>> and I will need to invoke the one-week professional courtesy rule.
what is not posted today is a third group, yesterday I met with miss dover who did not know this matter was on the agenda and during our conversation I shared wither that we were considering requests from two groups.
I think we ought to add that third one and maybe us take an opportunity to mull over this between now and next week.
my own view is that with the economy being the way it is and this being -- or these being parts of several vulnerable populations, that we ought to do what we can.
and money was put in reserve for us to use to address what we consider to be some critical issues.
those issues have not gone away.
so I guess my own view would be in addition to the money that's available in that reserve line item, if we could augment that somehow with f.y.
11 money, it might would help.
so in my view, we ought to change the agenda language, but the three agencies there and between now and next week try to figure out how to get it done.
unfortunately, this was sort of a last-minute suggestion.
we have some other agencies to consider during the budget process.
I mean I just think that since the money is there, since we intended to use it for the purposes that we've heard today, that we ought to do that.
>> I am totally with you on that idea and I've been concerned about the level of state funding and federal funding that may go away.
in this arena as well as in some other -- what we traditionally think of as health and human services arenas with regard to family stability and pre-k through 12.
and unlike those arenas workforce development can go viewed from the economic development lens.
I think all of them could, but workforce development lends itself more easily.
I'm wondering about what we did a couple years ago with regard to laying aside a certain pool of money and did an informal request for services.
I think that that was -- that was the partnership that spawned the -- the analysis portion that showed us how robust r.e.m.
was.
>> yeah, back in I believe it was the -- what would have been the f.y.
'05 budget but during 2004 the court allocated about $450,000 at that time is that we then but out to the community for proposals.
and we added the ray marshall center at that time.
and I think ray marshall, that was a brilliant addition and thank you so much for bringing that component into our lives, sherry, but I think with regard to workforce development we need to ensure we're getting the bang for the buck but also we as policy makers are selecting the consortium of continuing need that we have the highest probability of impacting.
and I think that these two organizations, big and the r.e.m.
portion of what workforce does, is designed for that portion of the continuum that we have a particular obligation to do, which is those with felony records.
we're seeing those folks being tagged as unemployable when we know they have capacity.
and it's very difficult to get them into employment that's sticky, that sticks on them, that gives them the reputation to move forward in their lives and not be tagged forever for their past misdeeds.
so I'm with you on waiting a week and seeing the full -- all of our options, but I would like us to contemplate sticking with this idea of which part of the continuum we're concentrating on and having that robust analysis, independent analysis component to make sure that we really are moving the needle.
>> but the problem with the independent analysis is that it does require time.
and there are untold residents who really need help.
this will provide that assistance.
so my own view would be better sooner than later.
of course, better later than never.
so we need to fund these.
>> I'm not asking for more than a week.
the same week you are --
>> the r.f.p.
I considered and it is still a possibility, but I mean rapid employment means basically rapid action by the Commissioners court to get these things done.
that will be my thinking.
but at the same time we want to do it is right way.
but that will give gateway an opportunity to have a short presentation next week, and I did -- sorry to spring this on you at the last minute.
this brilliant idea hit me yesterday afternoon, miss fleming.
>> that's okay.
>> gateway has been analyzed as part of the ray marshall study.
so I don't mean to propose slowing down our attempts to help this portion of the continuum as quickly as possible.
>> okay.
thank you all much.
>> thank you.
>> see you next week.
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