Through the Eye of a Needle: The Challenge of Providing Employment Services in New York's Chinatown Post September 11th

Prepared for the US Department of Labor, this P/PV report evaluates the effectiveness of the National Emergency Grant (NEG) money awarded to organizations in Chinatown in the wake of September 11th. Through interviews with program staff and key informants, P/PV examines the outcomes achieved by individual grantees, assesses the effect of the NEG on overall service provision and provides recommendations about how the Chinatown NEG could be adjusted to respond to similar situations in the future

Getting Connected: Strategies for Expanding the Employment Networks of Low-Income People

We've all heard the familiar phrase, "It's not what you know, but who you know that matters." Not surprisingly, studies have found that most people find jobs through informal networks. This is no less true for low-income job seekers, who may be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to connections to people who can help them get good jobs. Getting Connected looks at eight programs from across the country that focus explicitly on increasing the size and quality of low-income people's networks as part of their broader strategy. Though there is variation in how networking is incorporated into these programs, all aim to provide participants with the ability to form connections that will help them negotiate job change throughout their working lives

Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative

Noncustodial fathers have an essential role to play -- both financially and emotionally -- in the lives of their children. However, of the 11 million noncustodial fathers in the US, two thirds do not pay any formal child support. Many of these fathers are poor themselves and face multiple barriers, including low education levels, limited work experience, and criminal records, which impede their success in the labor market as well as their ability to provide for their children.Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative presents findings from P/PV's evaluation of Fathers at Work, a national demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, designed to help low-income noncustodial fathers increase their employment and earnings, become more involved in their children's lives, and provide them with more consistent financial support. The Fathers at Work programs offered a unique combination of job training and placement, child support and fatherhood services at six well-established community-based organizations in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, CA; and Roanoke, VA. Our findings suggest that the programs produced important benefits for participants, including increased earnings and child support payment. The report details the specific strategies Fathers at Work programs used and explores the policy implications of this research

Collaborating to Innovate: Achievements and Challenges in the New York City Sectors Planning Phase

In 2004, the New York City Department of Small Business Services and representatives from the New York City Workforce Development Funders Group joined together to form the Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) with the goal of sharing expertise and learning and providing an avenue to merge resources to support common goals. WIF's first project was the New York City Sectors Initiative(NYCSI), a project aimed at creating a new model for workforce development in New York City -- one that would be responsive both to employers and job seekers.After almost three years of start-up and planning, funding for two sectoral programs was awarded in March and October 2006. This report -- the first of three P/PV reports on the NYCSI -- looks at the Initiative's initial start-up and planning phases from WIF's formation in early 2004 through October 2006. Collaborating to Innovatereflects on lessons learned around how to build collaborative workforce projects aimed at meeting the needs of employers and job seekers

A Foot in the Door: Using Alternative Staffing Organizations to Open Up Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers

Despite the current recession, temporary employment will likely represent an increasing share of the labor market in the future, particularly for entry-level and low-wage occupations. In recent economic downturns, the temporary help sector has been among the first to rebound, coming back strongly after times of high unemployment. In this climate, alternative staffing organizations, which couple temporary placements with key supportive services, are well-positioned to provide needed assistance to both disadvantaged job seekers and employers.A Foot in the Door presents P/PV's findings from the national Alternative Staffing Demonstration, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. It provides a close examination of four alternative staffing organizations (ASOs) and their efforts to help low-skill and low-wage job seekers find employment. Unlike typical for-profit staffing firms, ASOs may offer -- in addition to the temporary jobs they help participants secure -- retention and supportive services, access to better jobs and assistance obtaining full-time, permanent employment. Fees charged to employers largely cover the costs of these services, making ASOs distinct from other workforce development strategies that depend entirely on foundation grants or public contracts and are usually required to serve certain populations. In contrast, ASOs are flexible on both the supply and demand sides -- they can make adjustments to whom they serve to meet employer needs and identify businesses that are a good match for job seekers. Our findings suggest that when this flexibility is combined with the provision of appropriate supportive services, it may open doors for populations that would otherwise have difficulty accessing these opportunities.A companion report from the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston's John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies focuses on the capacity of the four ASOs to generate job assignments and serve two sets of customers -- job seekers and employers -- and explores the financial and operational implications of meeting mission and income-generation goals

Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative Executive Summary

This executive summary draws on findings from P/PV's evaluation of Fathers at Work, a national demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The demonstration was designed to help low-income noncustodial fathers increase their employment and earnings, become more involved in their children's lives, and provide them with more consistent financial support.The Fathers at Work programs offered a unique combination of job training and placement, child support and fatherhood services at six well-established community-based organizations in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, CA; and Roanoke, VA. Our findings suggest that the programs produced important benefits for participants, including increased earnings and child support payments.The summary presents an overview of the initiative's implementation activities and participant outcomes and explores implications for policy, programs and researchers

Expanding Economic Opportunity for Young Men and Boys of Color through Employment and Training

Young men of color have long experienced lower earnings and higher unemployment compared to young white men. Many factors have contributed to these negative outcomes: persistent discrimination, hiring practices of employers, geographic and social isolation, substandard secondary education, lack of career and postsecondary educational guidance, inadequate career and technical education, and higher incarceration rates. This paper focuses on promising strategies for improving the labor market outcomes of low-income young men of color. It outlines an employment-focused approach to improving economic opportunities and outcomes for these young men, highlighting potential policy, system and institutional reforms as well as program investments