TEN15-03_AttachA.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EEE x p e rie n c e s fro m th e F ie ld F o s te r in g W o r k fo r c e D e v e lo p m e n t P a r tn e r s h ip s w ith F a ith -- B a s e d a n d C o m u n ity O r g a n iz a tio n s xxppeerriieenncceess ffrroomm tthhee FFiieelldd FF oo ss ttee rriinn gg WW oo rrkk ffoo rrcc ee DD ee vv ee lloo pp mm ee nn tt PP aa rrttnn ee rrss hh iipp ss ww iitthh FF aa iitthh -BB aa ss ee dd aa nn dd CC oo mm mmm uu nn iittyy OO rrgg aa nn iizz aa ttiioo nn ss T oouuuccching L ives aand C om unities P ilot Initiative TTo hhiinngg LLiivveess anndd CC oomm mmm uunniittiieess PPiilloott IInniittiiaattiivvee Submitted to T hheee U .SS . D epartmm ent of LL abor TTh UU ..S .. DD eeppaarrttm eenntt ooff L aabboorr CCC enter for Faith-B ased and Com unity Initiatives eenntteerr ffoorr FFaaiitthh--BBaasseedd aanndd CCoomm mmm uunniittyy IInniittiiaattiivveess OOO fice of the Secretary fffffiiccee ooff tthhee SSeeccrreettaarryy Submitted by M ichelle V ol MM iicchheellllee VVoolllll LLL indan Johnson iinnddaann JJoohhnnssoonn WWW iliam W ub enhorst iillllliiaamm WW uubbbbbeennhhoorrsstt F ebruary 11 2004 FFeebbrruuaarryy 1111 22000044 This pr oject was supp orte d by the U.S. Departm ent of L abor un der a contra ct with M acro Inte rnational Inc . Contra ct No. GS-23F-9777H Order No. AF-12 573-02-30 The views expressed herein are those of the au thor s and do not neces sarily reflect the official position of the U.S . Dep artment of L abor. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments of the many people who have made this project possible mu st start with the Center fo r Faith-Based and Commu nity Initiatives U.S. Depar tment of Labor that provide d the funding. We are grateful to di rect or B ren t Orrell an d h is st aff for the vision creativity an d commitme nt they bring to To uching Lives and Communities. T heir passion to improve the long-term employment ou tcomes for jobseekers in disadvantaged communities is the impetus for this initi ative. We are indebted to the hard work of our co lleague s. Special tha nks for the outstanding contr ibutions and field sup por t of Jennif er Noyes an d Rev. Alex Hur t. Very special thanks also to our collabora tors in Memphis Tennessee and Milwaukee Wisconsin. Without thei r energy and countless hour s of wor k this pr oject would not have been possible. We are grateful for the cont ributions of faith-based and commun ity leader s in both sites the board me mbers and staff of the Workforce Investment Board and the Mayor s Offic e for Faith-Ba sed Initiative s in Memphis and for the board members and st aff of the Private In dustry Council of Milwaukee. P ROJECT T EAM Dr. Wi llia m Ewald ORC Macro Co rporate Officer William Wub benhorst ORC Macro Pro ject Manager Michelle Voll Consulting Service s for Community Solutions Technical Dir ector Lindan Johnson ORC Macr o Senior Consultant Dana Addison ORC Macr o Associate Rev. Alex Hur t Hu rt Inner -City Ministries Field Con sultant Jennifer Noyes Hudson Institute Field Consultant Dr . Fr eddie John Mar tin Senior Consultant Dr . Steve Monsma Pepperdine Univer sity Resear ch Consultant Stephen Lazar us Center for Public Justice Resear ch Consultant i SECRETARY OF LABOR ELAINE L. CHAO In this report you will find valuable informati on about the Touching Lives and Communities pilot projects in Memphis Tennessee and Milwaukee Wisconsin and examples of how Workforce Invest ment Boards WIBs and fa ith-based and community o rganizations FBCOs can work together. In October 2002 the U.S. Depar tment of Labor s Center for Faith -Based and Community Initiatives launched the Tou ching Lives an d Communities pr oject in Memphis and Milwaukee to bridge the divi de between local WIBs and FBCOs. Our prelimin ary finding s show that WI Bs and FBCOs can find ways to cooperate w hen they share a commit ment to impro ving the employability of hard-to -serve individual s in their commu nities and dev eloping economic development r esources. I had the opportunity and privilege to speak to members of the Workforce Investment Board business leade rs an d members of t he FBCO community in Memphis in October 200 3 and was ver y please d with the level o f commitmen t and early p rogress being m ade to addre ss the tr aining and employment needs in their commu nity. My hope is that thes e projects will encourage other local workforce in vestment sy stems to c reat e their own models fo r b uilding par tner ships with FBCOs. We ar e ver y proud of the wor k that the Depar tment of Labor and its Center has done to empower faith-based and community organization s. I congr atulate you on your inter est in lear ning mor e about the To uching Lives an d Communities pilot pr ojects and how yo u can use that infor mation to ser ve those in need in your communities. Wi th your comp assion and co mmitment we can make a real difference for America. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGM ENTS ........................................................................ ..................................... i SECRETARY OF LABOR ELAINE L. CHAO ........................................................................ .... ii SECTION 1. EXECUT IVE SUMM ARY ........................................................................ ......... 1 SECTION 2. TOUCHING LIVES COMMUNI TIES MEMPHIS MILWAUKEE PILOT PROJEC TS ........................................................................ ............................. 5 Navigating A Multi-stakehol der Workforc e Syst em .......................................... 5 The TLC Project Team Stra tegy and Com position ............................ 5 Making The Case Identifying Benefits Oppor tuniti es ................................... 6 A Valuable Return on Inve stment .................................................................... 7 Workforce Sy stems in Pilot Si tes ..................................................................... 8 Why Memphis and Milwauk ee ....................................................................... 8 The TLC Memphis-Milw aukee Appr oach ......................................................... 9 TLC in Me mphis ........................................................................ ...................... 9 Challenges O pportuniti es ...............................................................10 Memphis Research Sampli ng ............................................................10 The TLC Memphi s Strat egy ...............................................................11 Memphis TLC Ac tion Pl ans ...............................................................12 TLC in Milw aukee ........................................................................ ...................15 Milwaukee Resear ch Samp ling .........................................................16 Opportunities and Challeng es ...........................................................17 The TLC Milwauk ee Strat egy ............................................................17 Next Steps Pilot Proj ect Implement ation .......................................................21 SECTION 3. A PRACTICAL GUIDE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE FI ELD ........................22 iii Section 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SECTION 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The more economy m oney and info rmation become global th e more community w ill matte r. The leadersh ip competence and managem ent of the social sec tor nonprofit organizat ion will largely de termine the values the vision the cohesion and the perf ormance of the 21st century society . There is a new energy as leaders of th e future embrace the oppo rtunities in this wider w orld . Social sector le aders must step to the fore and employing the str ength of nonpr ofit missions and val ues operate as the equal par ner of business and gover nment in developing r esponsible leader s caring c itizen s and a healt hy inclusive society. It is th rough alliance s par tner ships and collabor ations that org anizations acr oss a ll sect or s together build the inclusiv e cohesive community that care s about all its people. t 1 Peter Dru cker BA CKG ROU ND . In the United States faith-based a nd communit y organi zatio ns FBCOs have a long history of offering for mal and info rma l ac tivities that a id governmen t agencies in the delivery of human and socia l servic es in cluding employability skills develo pment and job training. FBC Os fr equently have cr edibil ity in dist ressed communiti es due to their passionate co mmitment to the well being of client s le adership that is known and recognize d in the community organi zational flexibility and re spo nsiveness an d gra ssroot s delivery syste ms. M any of these groups are trusted pillars of their commu nities and co nstitute a gateway to social servi ces for members of diverse so cio-econom ic groups inclu ding disadvantaged populations. PUR POSE. The U.S. Depar tment of Labor s DOL Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives CFBCI seeks to improve lon g-term employment outcomes for disadvantaged individua ls by engaging FBCOs 2 in the delivery of workforce de velopment services. 1 Peter Drucker quoted in Meeti ng the Collabora tion Challenge . The Druck er Foundation for No nprofit Management. Jossey-Bass San Francisco 2002. 2 There is no per fectly inclu sive d efinition of FBCOs. The pri mary goal for governme nt is to deliv er services effe ctivel y by en gaging organizati ons that are rooted in the neighb orhoods they serve that have not yet or not fully collaborate d with governm ent service s res ources an d that will outlas t any particular government funding stream. The se condary goal is t o ensure that organizations that i dentify the mselv es as faith-based or religious are not excluded fro m opportunitie s to form partnerships ba sed up on their identity. The U.S. Depart ment o f Lab or has speci fical ly t argeted grassroots organizati ons to be eligible recipients or sub-recipients in Soli citations for Grant Applicatio ns in 2002 and 2 003. Nonprofit grassr oots organ izations include religious or faith -based organizations an d communit y or ganizations that have the followi ng characteristics 1 social and human services are a major part of their mission 2 their headquarters are in the local com munit y to whi ch the y provide these services local a ffiliates of nation al social servi ce organ izations ar e not c onsidered grassroots and 3 their total annual operating budget is 300 000 or less or t hey have six or fewer full-time equivalent e mplo yees. The Department al so has partnered with intermediary and coaliti on-type organizati ons that work with such grassroots organ izations. 1 OBJECTIVES. Over the past year a pilot pr oject was developed to pr omote collabor ation and integrati on between FBCOs and the local Workforce Investment Board WIB in two selected sites Memphis Tennessee and Milw aukee Wisconsin. The objectives of the Touching Lives and Communities TLC initiative included Offering workforce development services to har d-to-r each populations by leveraging the assets i.e . services and acce ss of FBCOs in ur ban low-income neighbor hoods Connecting F BCO ser vice pr ovider s an d par tners to the wor kfor ce investment system by including them in the d ecision-m akin g and manage ment processes of the WIB and One-Stop Ca reer Centers and Establishing mechanisms for resour ce shar ing both by building relationships between One-Stop staff and FBCOs and creating comm unity resource sha ring tools fo r example an Internet site . In Memphis FBCOs w ere given new oppor tunities to par ticipate alongside businesses in the Board s plan ning processe s. The Memphis and Milwaukee sites also opened up ne w oppor tunities for funding of FBCOs as gr antees contr actors or sub-cont ractors. The most dramatic outcome of the Me mphis-Milwau kee TLC e xperience was the development of new networks and rela tionsh ips that will impro ve the local workforce syste m. These soci al networks and relationships a re the basis of and energy for transfo rmati on. Building relationships a mong people committe d to strengthening the community is not always easy but it is critical to having a sustained impact. Memphis and Milwaukee provide working example s of ways that communities around the countr y can identify new r esour ces cap italize on the energy of FBCOs and make these organ ization s part of th eir own vision s o f service an d workforce de velop men t. T he connections foster ed have built str ong mo mentum for change. M arga ret Wheatley observes As the network of relation ships is rewoven and stren gthened the syste m processes new infor mation and become s healthier. A human community becomes str onger and more competent as new connections ar e formed with those formerly excluded as it br ings in those w ho sit on the periphery as com munic ation reaches more part s of the system and as bette r relationships are develope d.3 MUTUAL BENEFITS. FBCOs at their b est are v alua ble par tner s and pr oviders that offer servi ces of th e level an d q uality n ecessa ry for WIB s to meet p erforman ce st an dards u nder the Workforce Investment Act WIA . Th e wor kfor ce system can bene fit fr om the knowledge skills and com mitment of FB CO leaders and staff who understand t he environment in which customers live an d work. FBC Os provi de service s avai lable outside of the scheduled program of One-Stop Career Ce nter s. They offer tr aining dur ing evenings and weekends and are historically connected to the communities where customers reside. 3 Margaret Wheatley Supp orting Pioneering Lead ers as Communi ties o f Practice How to Rapidly Develop New Leaders in Great Numbers. Berkana Institu te 2 002. 2 FBCOs have a reputation for going to e xtraord inary lengths to meet customer needs. These are mi ssion- driven organi zations with a comm itment to getting the job done. FBCOs also have the pote ntial to pr ovide flex ible response mechanis ms for disseminating information a nd resources. They are compassi onate with individu als who can be har d to reach and difficult to serve including ex-offend ers at-r isk youth homeless persons welfar e recipients an d immi grants. The service deliv ery mec hanisms of FB COs allow O ne-Stop Car eer Center s to enhance access to pr ogr ams expand services and leverage volunteer resour ces. INSIGHTS OBSERVATIONS. Successful effort s to integrate F BCOs and the workforce syste m Ar e loc ally driven. Any initiative to imp rove integr ati on and collab oration with FBCOs must be locally driven and suppor ted not seen as a mandate from either the state or federal level. Establish clear objectives and expectations. As a first step consensus needs to be reached abou t what it means to achieve i ntegr ation and collabor ation betwee n the local public workforce dev elopment system an d FBCOs. Objectives and expectations can be seen ver y differ ently and need to be defined at the local level. Establish the success factor. Success can also mea n different things to differe nt participants. At the onset of the Memphi s and Milwaukee pilots WIB staff and members emphasized infor mational and non-financial r elationships while FBCOs wer e mor e interested in forming finan cial partnersh ips and acce ssing WIA dol lars t o help pay for addit ional so cial se rvice s. Reaching agreed upon me asur es of success that attend to both per spectives is important. Ident ify a shared vision and meet specific community needs. Wh en momentum is built around a sha red visi on and add resses sp ecific com munity needs WIB staff and members FB COs and busi nesses a re m ore inc lined t o commit t ime and energy to move the collaboration forward. Depend on local wo rkfo rce sy stem st ructu res. G iven the str uctur al differ ences thr oughout the pu blic workfor ce investment system i.e. the relat ionship between WIBs city local gove rnme nts One-Stop Career Centers se rvi ce provide rs et c. s ome WIBs are m ore open to change than others. Depending on local c onditions it may be a better investment of reso urces to focu s on increme ntal change within the existing framework rather than expending time a nd energy to achieve changes that require a complete re working of existing WIB practi ces. Use a systems appro ach and leverage mul tiple program resources and funding stre am s. Look for oppor tunities to pair an FBCO initiative with other feder al and state workforce projects i.e. welfare-to-work ex-offender employmen t and assist ance for limited English populations that have separ ate funding strea ms rat her than buil ding a FBCO initiati ve that depends on its own funding r esour ces. 3 Ident ify change a gents an d cha mpion s fro m different social network s to move the project f orw ard on multiple f ronts. New partners h ave relati onships with loca l elected officials foundation r epresentatives and ot her faith and community leaders that can be tapped to suppor t a faith-based and community initiative. De velop a com mon lan guage tha t pro mote s collabo rat ion and act ion avo id jargon and rhetor ic. Co nsider ation needs to be given to th e language used when ap proaching faith- based and community or ganizations becaus e a com mon language regarding se rvice delivery is not shared. Eve n the term workf orce de velopment does not reso nate with many FBCOs. For example many faith-ba sed organiza tions have tra ditionally focu sed on serving the needs of the whole family o r an i ndividual in t he co ntext of the whole fa mily rather than on the particula r job skill needs of an individual. The holistic approach i s among the chief str engths of small FBCOs but is quite differ ent from the targeted service provision of publicly funded pr ogr ams. Wor kfor ce Boar ds bring a broad perspective of how wor kfor ce development should be dr iven by the ne eds of loc al businesses an d economic de velopment oppor tunities. FBCOs and WIBs need to under stand their differences and c reat e plans that use the str engths of both per spectives. Uti lize f acilitato rs and interme diary organi zations. Facilitat ors who have serve d organi zations in both worlds i.e. g overnment and FBCOs and can serve a s translato rs are key to the initiative. I nterm ediar y or ganizations can also be ver y useful in building br idges between networ ks of pe ople providing technical assi stance an d helping to focus and agg reg ate the work of individual small FBCOs. Ta rget effo rts towa rds susta inabili ty at the lo cal le vel an d av oid un rea listic expecta tion s of out side funding. WIBs and FBCOs should seek financial support from local foundations community gr oups and gover nme nt to ensur e long-ter m funding for the faith-based an d com munity initiative rat her than depending on short-te rm funding from federal and state governme nts. In a dditi on WIBs and FBCOs should manage expectations with r egard to new gr ant and contr acting oppor tunities to avoid the problem of dashed hopes and cynici sm amo ng FB COs that are contacted by the WIB or its intermediary to tak e part in the project. Are patient. Change at the local level t akes time not all succe sse s are go ing to be immediately quantifiable. It is important to identify outcomes define success and keep track of pr ogr ess fr om the beginning. T he workforce syste m is c omp rise d of m any moving pa rts and a wi de-range of insti tutio nal relati onships and dynamic s. Change at the local level requires vi sion trust a dequate time for coal ition building and persistence. THE WIB-FBCO INTEG RATION REPORT. This report seeks to share the experiences observat ions and recom mendations gat hered du ring the CFBCI pil ot pr ojects in Memphis and Milwaukee. Section 2 discu sse s the workfo rce system in each city the collaboration relationship-b uilding sta ges and impleme ntation strate gies. Se ction 3 pr esents highlights and success fact ors identifie d from the t wo pilot projects. The acc ompanying appendices provide g reat er detail on survey dat a and instrument s. 4 Section 2. TOUCHING LIVES AND COMMUNITIES MEMPHIS MILWAUKEE PILOT PROJECTS SECTION 2. TOUCHING LIVES COMMUNITIES MEMPHIS MILWAUKEE PILOT PROJECTS In today s wo rld there is a constant req uirement for organi zations in all secto rs public private social pr ofit and nonpr ofit to under go nearly continuous lear ning and reinvention. Organization s must be responsi ve agile and have the ability to me et new challenges and disc ard st rate gies and approaches th at are outdated or ineffective. In this enviro nment of constant and accelera ting change WIBs and FBCOS must continually identify community needs and develop strate gies fo r addressing t hem. What s more they must have a knowledge sharing system th at permits communicati on acro ss sec tors . N AVIGATING A M ULTI -STAKEHOLDER W ORKFORCE S YSTEM Any new collaboration o r initiative needs to star t wi th a question How will thi s effort help my local workforce syste m operate more e ffectively and efficiently The workforce investment sy stem is comp rise d of a di verse cross-section of stake holders f rom gover nment business and nonpr ofits each one with somewhat dif ferent goals a nd measure s of success. Tr aditional appr oaches consider development effo rts as driven by needs instead of driven by local capacity. In the models developed in Memphis and Milwaukee successful collaboration and communi ty capacit y de velopment was internal ly focused on le veraging l ocal asset s. The key to regeneration is locating all the availa ble assets in a community and har nessing those assets for local development pur poses. 4 An asset-ba sed developme nt strategy seeks to recogn ize map and mobilize the strengths of individua ls a ssociat ions an d institutions in th e community. The strategy starts with what is present in the community and concentrates on the agenda-setting and problem -solv ing capabilities of local co mmu nity resi dents associat ions and instituti ons. The TLC Project Team Strategy and Composition The Touchi ng Lives and C ommunities TLC initiati ve invited a wi de array of stakeholders t o come togeth er and participate in the M emphi s and Milwaukee pilot projects. The mindset of the TLC Project Team CFBCI contrac tors and part ners wa s one of coming alongsi de area st akeholders with the aim of devel oping a local i nfrast ructure of engaged c ommitted change agents in the workforce sy stem who woul d bring their ow n solutions t o the table. Special care was taken to present the role of the TLC Project Te am as f acilit ators in the 4 John P. Kretzmann and John McKnight Building Communities From the Inside O ut A Path Towa rd Finding and Mobilizing A Co mmunity s Ass ets ACTA Publica tions 1993. 5 pilot projects. The collaboration pro cess was desi gned to give lo cal leade rs th e oppor tunity to identify and be r esponsi ble for the outcomes of the project. Key contact s at different levels of instit utions includi ng city gove rnment workforce development entities businesses and a wi de r ange of faith-based and community organi zations were develo ped. The FBCO in cluded gra ssroot s organization s c hurches and organi zed co mmunity dev elopment corporations. The TLC Project Team included experts in faith-based wor kforce development with backgr ounds in or ganizational and community devel opment colla boration building communications str ategic planning technical as sistance tr aining evaluation and wor kforce activitie s. This included team members who we re tr usted and known by local stakeholders as well as te am members f rom outside the pilo t cities. Both types of team members se rved as br idge-builder s among religious civic government and business sectors. As intended the networks of relationsh ips that were starte d as a result of the TLC pilot project grew in scope and size. Businesses found new community par tner s to help them meet labor needs. Organizations an d individu als who pr eviously might not have r etur ned each other s telephone cal ls built mutually be neficial par tner ships. City gover nment agencies with closely aligned concer ns and miss ions b egan collaborating for the first t ime. Faith leaders overca me de nominational differenc es to collaborate on grant applications. New sour ces of financial suppor t both pub lic and pr ivate emer ged to suppor t the integration of FBCOs with the local WIB s. M AKING T HE C ASE I DENTIFYING B ENEFITS O PPORTUNITIES To launch a new initiative a nd unite stakeholde rs in a common purpose it is impor tant to demonst rate how the workforce sy ste m and the loc al community will benefit from including faith-based an d com munity organization s that have not pr eviously par ticipated in WIA- funded service delivery. As wi th ever y successful partner ship the successful integr ation of FBCOs with the wor kfor ce system depends upon all par ties viewing the pr oject as a win- win scenario . In Memphis for example action gr oups cons ist ing of WIB members and FBCO l eadership worked together to identify oppor tunities for collabor ation. Afte r asse ssing pot ential points of co nnection the action group made proposals that r anged fr om establishing neighbor hood r esou rce center s to pr oviding mo re l ocali zed ca reer services t o forming a Faith-Base d a nd Gr assro ots Council to serv e as an ad visory bod y to the WIB. The Milwauk ee Private Industry Council PIC which serve s as the Milwaukee WIB already had a number of contractin g mechanism s availa ble fo r qualified FBCOs. The TLC strateg y in Milwaukee e mphasized a systems approach. The pr oject team in addition to its work in bringing toge ther interest ed FBCOs w as able to wo rk directly with PIC staff to identify entry points for FBCOs th rough the many solicit atio ns and contra ct vehicles al ready in place. The TLC project was also able to ex amin e referral p atte rns for On e-St op 6 caseworke rs to insure that FBCOs that did become q ualified vendo rs a ctually received referra ls. A V ALUABLE R ETURN ON INVESTMENT WIBs that de cide to leve rage the assets and str engths of new non- traditional provider s can significantly expand the system s capacity beyond curr ent boundar ies. In doing so they can expect a num ber of valuable r etur ns on their investment. The immedia te question for mo st WIB s of course is whether the board will b e eligible for addit ional funding. The answer ma y be yes since the U.S. Depar tment of Labor has placed a high pr ior ity on creating new gr an t opportunities encoura ging linkages between the workforce system and FB COs. Congr ess has not p asse d WIA re -authoriza tio n legislation a s of January 2004 but drafts of the bill contain new inc entives for WIBs to work with hard- to-serve populations in their commun ities. To take full advantage of these po tential incentives it will likely req uire WIBs to increase out reach to FBCOs. Mor e impor tantly a WIB that functions as a neutr al convener or broker in the community can leverage WIA dolla rs t hrough grant- mak ing st rate gies. A WIB for example can leverage it s dollars by enga ging FBCOs i n cust omized tr aining which can include soft skills development that r equir es employers to provide at least 50 per cent of the cost. 5 As a funding br oker the WIB can also help FBCOs to qualify for matches fr om philanthr opic and corporate foundations and city g overn ment agencies. There are other returns on the investment some me asurable and some intangi ble including Enhanced access to hard-to-r each populations Mu tual referr als More flexible or re sponsiv e service deli very mechani sms Better training Long-ter m employment and r etention outcom es with populations of disadvantaged communities System-wi de cost saving s t hrough resou rce sha ring e limination of duplicative a ctivities customer-ori ented contra cting and vol unteer servic e and Incr eased potential for additional and new f unding streams as a r esult of expand ed new par tner ships. 5 Customi zed training is designed to meet the sp ecial requirement s of an e mployer or group of em ployers conducted with the commitmen t by the emplo yer s to empl oy t he individual up on succ ess ful c ompletion of th e training and fun ded in part by th e emplo yer s or training provider s . 7 In sum there are both short-term benefits an d long -term advantag es for WIBs t o begin the wor k of under stan ding r eaching out and ul timately incorporat ing the effort energy and commit ment of FBCOs for the benefit of the community. W ORKFORCE S YSTEMS IN P ILOT S ITES One of the cl earest le sson s learned from the TLC pi lot exper iences in Memphis and Milwaukee was the extent to which the structur e of the local work force system i.e. the WIBs and One-Stop Career Cent ers inf luences the strategy fo r F BCO integrat ion. Among the 60 0 wor kfor ce investment ar eas ar ound the coun try ther e ar e a number of differ ent workforce system st ructu res ran ging fr om governme ntal to nonprofit admini ste red structure s. T he system s tructure is defi ned by the relationship between the city county government the WIB board- staffing ag ency One-Stop Centers and service provide rs. Every loca lity has its own v ariat ions a s to how these entities are related. The TLC pilot sites a re at opposite ends of the spectrum of sy ste ms st ructure s. The Memphis site r epresents a gover nment-adm ini stered syste m. The city gove rnm ent admini sters a nd manages WIA progra ms staffs the WIB and services cu stomers through a single administrative structure. The Milwau kee site in contrast represents a nonprofit structure wit h no direct in volvement of city gove rnm ent. The Public Industry Council Milwaukee WIB is structured as a 50 1 c 3 organization and provides administrat ive functions and contract s se rvice s to eith er for -profit or nonpr ofit entities. It is impor tant to under stand the str uctur al differences in workforce investment areas because workforce syste m operations shape th e ch allenges and oppor tunities that FBCOs encounter w hen seeking t o provid e services in that system. W HY M EMPHIS AND M ILWAUKEE The pilot cities Memphis and Milwaukee were selected from among a numbe r of citie s or counties in ten states Calif ornia Colo rado Flo rida Georgia Indi ana New Jersey Ohio Tennessee Texas and Wi sconsin . Th e TLC Project Team selected these ten states by conducting a scan of the countr y for wor kforce inve stment area s using the following selection c riteria The WIB de monstrated the commitment and enth usiasm to become a pilot site for the initiative which means that suppor t came no t only fr om the executive staff of the WIB but also from board memb ers themsel ves The WIB had the suppor t of local elected officials to integr ate faith-based and gra ssroot s organization s into the workforce system The WIB had the or ganizational infr astructur e and monetar y resour ces to suppor t and make operational an intervention of this kind 8 FBCOs were committe d to working with the WIB and showed suf ficient capacit y to engage in coll aborative effo rts The integration or collabo ration with F BCO s was either nascent or not yet begun The WIB and FBCOs encompasse d a w orkforce investment ar ea including ur ban low- income neighbor hoods as deter mined by U.S. Census Bureau data and Faith-based and community networ ks suppor ted the adoption and mobilization of the project in other localities thr oughout th e countr y. T HE TLC M EMPHIS -M ILWAUKEE A PPROACH In Memphis an or ganizational gr oup pr ocess str ateg y was de signe d to build co nsensus among a la rge and diverse set of stakeholders on a c ommon vi sio n goals and objectives. The pr imar y concer n was the exte nt to which the W IB was adequately serving the employment and tr aining n eeds for those har d-to-r each inner -city low-income residents. In par ticular the TLC tea m sought to identi fy and addr ess both geogr aphic an d cultur al barrie rs that i mpeded acce ss to needed servi ces. Milwaukee by contrast w as better suited to a network approach . The project sought to develop r elationships and impr ove communicati on between PIC s taff and specific FBCO leaders as well as among FBCOs themselves. Like Memphis the TLC project in Milwaukee sought to broaden access to wor kfor ce development r esources in under ser ved neighbor hoods. Unlike Memphis however wh ich required a sy stem change in the way workforce de velopment activities we re cond ucted thr ough a new competitive contr acting pilot Milwau kee already h ad the contracting systems in place. Milwaukee ne eded a strategy to create new relationships between existing workf orce p rov ide rs an d sma lle r gr assro ots FBCOs that demonst rate d clo se ties to the communities they served. TLC IN M EMPHIS The WIB in Memphis is responsible for poli cy an d prog ram o versight in local Workforce Investment Area 13 that encompasse s t he Ci ty of Memphis Shelby County and Fayette County. The mission of the WIB is to foster wo rkforce develop men t th at en sures re siden ts have family- sustaining care ers and bus inesses have a qualified workforce. The Memphis -area WIB consists of 52 board me mbers with an annual budget of 11 million. The administ rative structu re that encompasse s all m anagerial and servi ce functions in Memphis is c alled the Workforce Investment Networ k WIN which employs about 50 city employees. In Memphis the executive direct or of WIN is acco untable to the City of Memphis as i s typical in a government- based workfo rce st ructure. The WIA core and intensive service s for adul ts ar e provided by the downtown Memphis Ar ea Car eer Center plus six additional One Stop locations. The Career Center and its satellite s house both required WIA part ners and WI N city emplo yees. The WIA partners 9 integrate and coordinate prog ram a ctivi ties. Tr aining ser vices ar e outsour ced thr ough Individual Training Account voucher s to training pr ovider s cer tified by the Te nn essee Higher Education Commission and approved ac cordi ng to local c riteria by the WIB s Performance and Accounta bility Commit tee. The overall unemployment rate in Shelby County is below 6 per cent. In ar eas designated as Renewal Co mmunities by the U.S. Dep artment of Housing and Ur ban Develop ment the unemployment r ate is 18.6 per cent an d 79.06 per cent of households are de signated as low income. The median household income in these communities is 16 297 compar ed to 39 593 for all of Shelby County U.S. Census 2000 . For the Memphis initiative the TLC par tner s including the WI B and City Mayor s Office decided t o make the inner-city neighbor hoods of Memphis the pr ime focus for engaging FBCOs. Challenges Opportunities For those int ending to cre ate new FBCO and wor kfor ce system par tner ships the challenge is to pr ovide oppor tunities for faith-based and com munity organizations to part icipate in the servi ce delive ry while adeq uately respon ding to other stakeholders concer ned about shar ing resources an d funding new par tner s. In government-dr iven sy stems like Mem phis it is not readily apparent how finan cial par tner ships with gr assroots or ganizations can be foster ed si nce contractors outside of the WIB s ad mini strat ive st ruc ture of the city gove rnment ar e not used for ser vice delivery. In or der to establish financial par tner ships with FBCOs the system would have to be flexible enough to contr act out par ticular ser vices through a competitive process. This does not mean the governme nt-based str uctu re itself has to change but it does r equir e the ability to realloc ate funds. Existing sta keholders both inside and outside go vernment need reassu rance that the proposed reallocati on s are incremental and that the benefits to the local sy stem outweigh potential cost s. Memphis R esearch Sampling Befor e for mal planning activities began th e TLC Pr oject Team suppor ted the WIB s effor t to better under stand the options and oppor tunities for FBCO integr ation by con ducting surveys both internally to WIB members themselve s and externall y to a targeted component of FBCOs. After Memphis was selecte d as a pilo t si te the WIB e xecutive dire ctor sponsored and conducted an informal survey with board member s. Out of fifty-five 55 members thirty- seven 37 r esponded to a wr itten questionnair e desi gned to give greater in sigh t into board members aw areness of th e President s and the U.S. Depar tment of Labor s faith-based and community in itiative s and t heir perception of th e pot ential for partner ships with faith-based and communi ty-based o rganizations. The assessment gauged the potential for colla boration betwee n th e WIB and FBCOs in a number of progra m area s including tec hnical and hard skills t raini ng employabi lity skil ls l ife 10 skills mentoring job placement and referral youth employment a nd training c hildca re and housing. The executive director found that there was a st rong inte rest am ong WIB board membe rs in developing par tner ships with faith-based an d community-based gr oups on both a financial and non-financial basis. 6 In Memphis the TLC initia tive was conducted in par tner ship with the Mayor s Office for Faith-Base d Initiatives. Th e Mayor s Office in conjunction with the Memphis WIB sponsore d and conducted a brief survey an d program matic invento ry and receiv ed responses fr om 210 FBCO s. This pr ovided the WIB with insight into FBCOs knowledge of an d in terest i n workforce develop men t issu es as well as their pote ntial interest in par tner ing with Car eer Center s in offer ing workforce develop men t servi ces in the Memp his area. The major co nclusion reached from this asse ssment was that Afri can-Amer ica n congr egations and other community- and faith- based gr oups to a slightly lesser degr ee constituted a lar ge untapped wor kfor ce development r esource in the Memphis ar ea. Leaders had the commitment to workforce develo pment but lacked access to par tner ships relationships with the current system a nd need ed to develop their own capacity to deliver servi ces. Their kn owledge level reg ardin g wo rkforce deve lopment at the time of the survey was low and the reso urces they were able to commi t limite d but their interest in and the importance they attached to workforce de velopment issues was high as was t heir willingness to partner with Memphis Area Career Center. The TLC Memphis Strategy With the survey data in hand the executive director of th e WIB formed a task force to under take strategic planning for the pilot pr oject. This working g roup consiste d of a representative from the Mayor s Office for Fa ith-base d Initiatives and a sma ll group of WIB board me mbers re comme nded by the e xecutive dire ctor. Eventually the taskforce was expanded to include faith and community leader s and soon evolve d into a coal ition-building process involving 30-40 community or faith leader s a nd workforce syste m leade rs. Meeting s became the means to rea ch out to new partne rs to facilitate rela tionship building and networ king. The pr oject team used a consensus-building ac tion model to engage task force members inviting local participants t o take respo nsib ility for t he development and implementation of objectives an d task s ag reed upon in meetings. The action group s representatives worked collaborativel y to respond to specific needs identified in the community and to formulate strate gies for implementation. 6 The WIB sampli ng was suppl emented with open -ended inte rviews to solicit boa rd member and staff ideas on the process and strategy for impl ementation of th e initiative . 11 The action teams were driven by the pa ssion of leaders who dedicated their time to creating a community-wide vision. The needs of the inner city wer e par ticular ly impor tant and the TLC project focused its attenti on on engaging leaders wi thin the African-Ameri can chur ch. Specific proposal s include d st rategies f or in tegra ting FBCOs in the Board s dec ision-m aking process as w ell as how to engage FBCOs in di rect workforce dev elopment services. Dur ing this consensus-building pr ocess the project team offered t echnical assistance outreach and facilitati on. The TLC project team al so assume d re sponsibility fo r tra cking and evaluatin g the progress of the actio n groups. During the later phase of the project the Memphis TLC project team leade r wo rked with the chair of the Board to prepare a st rategic plan which was fur ther refined and adopted at the WIB s annual str ategic planning session in July 20 03. Despite a number of issues and concer ns that ar ose out of str uctural constr aints the board adopted for the first time in the history of its WIA adul t servi ce deli very a comp etitive process by issuing a Request for Propo sals RFP for intermedia ries to provide te ch nical assi stanc e and to sub-grant se rvice s to faith-based and gr assr oots pr oviders. Memphis TLC Action Plans Members of the task force including workforc e and F BCO leaders developed a wide range of implementation plans including The development of neigh bor hood r esour ce centers to pr ovide infor mation on WIB resources an d services fo r job placement and trainin g RFPs for emp loyability skill s or soft skil ls tra ining and for an intermedia ry to e ngage smal l- to mi d-size d FBCOs and Customized tr aining in partne rship with Memphis employer s. NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCE CE NTERS. Tas k force members from T rinity and Golden Gate Develo pment Corporations of the Mt. Ver non Baptist Chur ch Westwood and the Gol den Gate Fu ll Gosp el B aptist Ch urch de veloped the concept of cr eating community resource center s in neighbor hoods with th e highest percentages of unemployment and pover ty levels. Neighbor hood Resour ce Center s NRCs pr ovide extensions of ser vices offered at Career Centers. The NRCs connect and service jobsee kers wh o ar e mor e comfor table in neighbor hood locations that utilize the physic al space o f FB COs and leverage the tr usting rel ationships their leaders hold with the community. Thes e mini-centers offe r kiosk s with Internet connections for custo mers to access the servi ces offe red by the Career Centers. The staff or volunteer s of the faith-b ased or communit y-based organization are tra ined by the WIB staffing agenc y that will sha re some of it s staff to pa rticipate in assi sted se rvi ces at these locations. 12 As part of th e TLC communication strategy www.MemphisFBO.org was create d to facilitate lear ning and networ king among nonpr ofits and conn ect FBCOs and customer s to the local workforce system. The website will eventua lly link all neighborhood mini- centers and serve to m obilize a vo lunteer assist ance network. It will also p rov ide a dat abank for local ser vice pr ovider s and r ecruit new leader s to co llabo rate with the WIB and its staffing agency on various p rograms. 7 EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS. The leaders of Golden Ga te Corporati on and Community Development Council of G reater Memp his developed in conjunction with the WIB Consortium partners a Request for Proposal RFP for the devel opment of employability skills. A large segment of jobseekers need to acqui re basic life management skills employability skills and re adiness skill s before they can en ter the j ob market or even benefit from the services offered by One-Stop Career Center s. The aforemention ed survey of Memphis FBCOs showed that a number of faith institutio ns h ave both formal and informal prog rams in the soft skills life skill s a rea that could be more closely connected with the menu of services provided by the Memp his workforce s ystem .8 Thr ough the action group deliber ation s the WIB determined that local employe rs would benefit from addit ional em ployability ski lls se rvi ces fo r potential employees. 9 The WIB has an opportunity to establi sh ne w partnerships to meet this crit ical need by utilizing and leveraging FB CO capacity i n this ar ea of employability skills develo pment. This type of collaborat ion combines the ta ngible asse ts of FBCOs and congreg ations physical spac e and relatio nships with inta ngible asse ts ethics val ues knowledge connections moral emotional support etc. to offer e mployability skills and readiness mentoring progra ms that maximize FB COs contrib utions. INTERMEDIARY OR GANIZATIONS. The WIB staffing agency also use d these action plan s to create a R equest for Pr op osals R FP for in termed iarie s10 to engage faith-based and gra ssroot s organization s in workforce development related acti viti es. The RFP outlined the following activitie s for funding Help WIN staff suppor t and develop addition al Neighbor hood Resour ce Center s within the service area Memphis Shelby or Fayette Counti es to be oper ated by staff of faith- 7 The Departmen t of Labor inv ested 17.5 milli on dolla rs in 2002 to strengthen th e One-Stop Career Syste m by creating active and committed faith-based and community organization partners. A number of grantees and sub- grantees created access models and case studies on two of th ese grantees are avai lable in CFBCI s Bridging the Gap Meeting th e Challenge o f Universal Access t hrough Faith-Bas ed and Commun ity Partnerships. 8 The s urvey o f the Mayor s Offic e showed that sevent y-three 73 faith-based organ izations currently provide employ ment enh ancement skills or life skills train ing and some programs also incl ude job place ment and referral. 9 Employers are s eeking entry-lev el emplo yees wh o are moti vated understand appropriate behavio rs for the workplace can balance their family resp onsibili ties with work o bligations and ar e reliable and on time. The development of employ ment enh ancement skills and competenc ies include c omm unication thin king and cognitive abilitie s con flict resolu tion anger mana gement interper sonal and teamw ork skills habits of punctua lity and regular attendance physica l appearance and dress and a strong work ethic. 10 U.S. Departmen t of Labor ETA ODEP has published Intermediary SGAs . While the Departmen t is not interested in cre ating an additional administrative burden it is e ssential. 13 based and ot her communi ty organi zatio ns. The Neighbor hood Resour ce Center s shall serve a s a re source for p rovidin g WIA c ore and intensive se rvi ces to a wide-range of adult clients including but not limited t o se nior citizens unemployed adults an d adults engaged in basic educat ion ESL GED co mple tions an d o r post- sec ondary degre e or certific ate co mpletion . Ass ist in ove rseeing activit ies conducted at selected fait h-based community-based NRCs within the local community by 1 keepin g the faith-based provide rs updated on workforce de velopment progra ms and activitie s as w ell as polic ies and procedu res and 2 convening them to offer or ientatio n a nd technical a ssi stance to a ddress accountability evaluate pro gram out com es and incorp orate best practices. Increase the number of FBCOs serv ing as com mitted and active partners in the Career Center deliver y system by conducting outr each activities or neighbor hood job fair s creating a catalog of faith-b ased community-b ased provider s developing neighb or hood business and employment guides and esta blishing continuum of car e ser vice provider s. Plan and implement effecti ve ways to streng then linkages with fait h-based organizations and increa se viable resou rces in area s o f grea test need to ensure t hat resident s facing unique bar riers to education and or employ men t have access t o workforce serv ices. Funding would cover the cost of br ochu res and resou rces on the Memphis Are a Career Center website as well as spec ial meetings conferences etc . .11 CUSTOMIZED TRAINING . The leader of Uptown Alliance a fai th-based grassroot s g roup developed a par tner ship with the Me mphis Marrio tt Downtown to provide c ustomize d hospitality sector t raining to improve lo w-income r esidents access to employment opportunities with potenti al for ca reer advanc ement. Uptown Alliance identified a number of key partners inc luding t he Klemmons Wils on School and The Skills Ta sks and Results Tr aining Progr am START developed by th e Americ an Hotel L odging Educa tional Institute and designed specificall y to se rve targ eted clients such as at-ri sk youth welfare-to- wor k populations dislocated wor kers or ex-offender s. Under WIA l ocal WIBs can design cust omized tr aining pr ogr ams thr ough ar rangements with employer s and thir d-par ty tr ainers. WIA funds cover up to 50 per cent of out-of- pocket tr aining expe nses instr uctor salar ies tr aining mater ials etc and a single employer or group of employers mu st provide the remaini ng tr aining costs and commit to hir ing the trainees. Customized Tr aining provides the oppor tunity for a faith-based or community or ganization to collabo rat e with local employers the WIB and ot her stakeholders to a ssist a nd qualify workers fo r industry -speci fic employme nt. Once the Me mphis WIB designates cu stomized training dollar s for this pur pose a number of FBCOs ma y be interested in participat ing in ser ving special populations with training and 11 Quoted from Request for Proposals for Faith-Based Intermediary Services co urtesy o f the Workforce Invest ment Net work Memphis. 14 placement service s. The Uptown Alliance is sta rtin g its pro gram with funding from the loca l Assisi Foundation. TLC IN M ILWAUKEE As mentioned pr eviously the TLC project team too k a decided ly different approach in its work with the Milwaukee PIC. The PIC already had some pre-existing relation ships with a number of larger FBCOs b oth in the ar eas of adult an d youth ser vices. Also unlike Memphis the PIC already had contra cti ng me chanisms in place fo r engaging no nprofits including FBC Os as pa rtners in the deliv ery of workforce development services. The challenge for the Milwaukee project in partic ula r wa s to help the PIC engage some of the smal l-to- medi um-size d FB COs with str ong communi ty connections and rel ation ships to improve the reach of the PIC. Milwaukee is the only Workforce Development Ar ea WDA in Wisconsin that consists of one county. In 2001 Milwaukee Count y accounted for 16 percent of the state s labor force and 18 percent of the state s population. The WIB within the Milwaukee County WDA is the Private In dustry Council PIC of Milwaukee County Inc. The PIC is a nonpr ofit or ganization with 37 boar d member s and appr oximately 125 personnel as part of its bo ard-staffing a gency with a budget of 28 million. Under the Milwaukee model the Pre sident CEO of the PIC is accountable to the board. In Milwaukee the vast majority of work forc e se rvice s are provide d under contracts awar ded on a competitive basis through Reque st for Propo sals or Request for Service s RFS . Case management servi ces a re provi ded by o rganization s that contra ct with the PIC and serve as designated WIA agents. The contr acted WIA agents or operator s of Job Center s pr ovide the cor e or basic adult servi ces withi n their faciliti es. The Job Cent er operators inc lude for-profit org anizations such as MAX IMUS and nonprofit organi zations such as the YWCA. Clients ca n obtain intensive ser vices with a voucher at or ganization s that contr act with the Job Ce nter s. Case managers ref er clients to provid ers pr e-appr oved by the PIC. As in Memphis sta te-cert ified provi ders offer vocati onal training a nd case mana gers direc t clients to Individual Training Account I TA providers. In addition to its WIA responsibilit ies the PIC functions also a s a loc al moni toring body f or welfare reform initiatives W -2 and TANF funds were used to est abli sh the facilitie s that now house the contr actors for the Job Ce nter s . The Wisconsin Departme nt of Workforce Develop ment reports Milwaukee s unemployment at 7.9 per cent December 2003 . 12 Fur ther mor e a 2003 Univer sity of Wisconsin at Milwaukee UWM report stated th at the most rece nt U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data 2001 ranked the Milwaukee area hi ghest nationally in both its African- Amer ican unemployment r ate 17.4 and the gap between black and white unemployment 12 www.dwd.state.wi.us lmi laus vi ew current.htm M 15 rates 13.3 . 13 In response the Milwaukee TLC proj ect team focused on Adult Intensive Service s in the inner city of Milwaukee. Milwaukee Research Sampling The Milwaukee PIC staff also sponso red and conducted an infor mal sur vey of boar d members to gauge their a warene ss and interest in the TLC init iative. Seventeen of the 37 member s responded to a wr itten questionnair e r egarding their awareness and perception of the federal fai th-based and community in itiative a s we ll as their sense of potential for collaboration s with FBCOs in a number of pr og ram areas either dire ctly o r indi rectly related to wo rkforce de vel opmen t. The PIC President discove red that alth ough PIC members awa reness of the national initiative was very low the re was a high re cognition of the importance of FBCOs. There was al so ver y positive sent iment expresse d reg arding the potential for coll abora tion between t he PIC and FBCOs working in this area. The PIC staff also sponsored and conducted an assessment with a smal l sa mpling of 31 faith-based o rganization s in the Milwaukee Me tropolitan region. The purpose of this asse ssment was not to rep resent the experien ce and interest of all FBCOs in Milwaukee but to provide some initial insights into the knowledge interest an d com mitme nt of these organi zations to workforc e developm ent needs in their communities. In comparison to the Mem phis asse ssment th e Milwaukee sample was specifically targeted towards faith -based o rgani zations an d c ongregat ion s that were known to be active in providing soc ial economi c and workforce de velopment r elated pr ogr ams which explains the significant ly higher perc entages of re spondents with wor kfor ce development pr ogr am experience in compari son to the Memphis sample. Part icipating f aith-based o rganization s demonstrat ed a very high le vel of familia rity with the PIC overall but were not as famili ar wit h any of the a ctual Job Centers themselves. 14 Both interest and i mportance of job placement and trainin g wer e ver y high among respondents as well as the interest in both financial an d non-financial par tners hips to pr ovide better access to employment and tr aining se rvices to the co mmunity. There was also a high level of resources cur rently being committed by these 31 FBCO respondents to the issue of workforce d evelo pment which was fur ther evidenced by the percentage of faith-based o rganizations with fo rmal o r inform al progra ms mini stries in the areas of soft skills mento ring 68 technical hard sk ills t raining 5 5 and job asse ssment placement 48 . 13 www.uwm.edu Dept CED publi cations steal th depression803.p df 14 Surprisingly the faith-based orga nizations were e ven le ss aware o f what pe er organizations were doing which points to the ne ed for greater coordination and communi cation. This is a strong indicator for the need of an intermediary organization t o facilitate both v ertica l i.e . the PIC an d the Job Cent ers and horizontal i.e. among other FBCOs c ommunicat ion. This c ommun ication need is furt her underscored by the n ear una nimous desire to learn more a bout the Job Ce nter Network 94 saying it wo uld be valuable or slightly valuabl e . 16 Opportunities and Challenges In a nonpr ofit administer ed str uctur e wor kfor ce system leaders face th e challenge of finding access points to the syste m. At first glance this mo del would se em to provi de significant oppor tunities for faith-based and grassroots or ganiza tions to parti cipate in the workforce system by taking par t in the competitive bid process. The challenge is that in mo st competiti ve system s the large r mo re sophisticate d nonpr ofits for -profits have al ready estab lished track reco rds and r elationships with workforce in vestment authorities. The ca se manager s under contr act often h ave pr e- existing notions of the type of services and serv ice pr ovide rs best able to serve their clients. In a competitive syste m the inclusion of new pa rtners also means that current stakeholders can lose fundi ng as dol lars are real locate d to new provider s who ar e successful i n the bidding pr ocess. The PIC chose to not form a task force but inst ead suggested the identification of specific opportunities within the existing syste m to encour age collaboration betwee n t he PIC and members of t he community. The project team lead er worked jo intly with a PIC staff person assigned to t his initiative b y the PIC presiden t to iden tify such opportunities. In addit ion while identifying specific co ntracting opport unities for FBCOs the team also developed relationships with a numbe r of intermediarie s one in particula r tha t serve s Afri can- Ameri can gra ssroot s faith- based organizations. The TLC Milwaukee Strategy As noted in contr ast to Memphis the vast majority of workforc e develop men t service s in Milwaukee are provided u nder co ntracts awarded on a competit ive basis throu gh a RFP or a RFS process. The PIC staff and project t eam jo intly c onducted an analysi s of co ntracting oppor tunities that might be available to FBCO s. After consider ing a number of differ ent contr acting oppor tunities the team focused on th ree in particular and identified a fourth oppor tunity for futur e planning. The first initiative repre sents a creative effort to partner existing pr ovider s with new non- traditional FBCO par tner s and their unique assets an d soc ial capit al as a means of increasing the reach of workforce de velop men t service s par ticular ly among har d-to-r each populations including ex-offenders. These FBCO partners we re smaller or ganizations run by r esidents of targeted communities. The second represents an effor t to include new non-tr aditional FBCOs in the direct p rovision of services. The third opportunity seeks ways to build relationships between FBCOs an d the wor kfor ce system thr ough a better under standing of the referral p rocess. The fourth focuses on fu tur e op por tunities to expand FBC Os options in the case management process. Below is a br ief descr iption of these four in itiatives de veloped by the TLC project in collaboration with the PIC adult intensive services staff Welfar e-to-Wor k Developing new pa rtner ships to suppor t employment tr aining and job placement for ex-offenders 17 Adult Intensive Service s Including FBCOs in the provision of a dult intensive service s thr ough capacity building and other effor ts Case Manager Outr each and Educations Impr oving the communication link between FBCOs and Milwaukee Job Centers and raising awareness about the ability of FBCOs to provide work force develop ment services Case Management Developing new par tne rships to pr ovide options for case management. WELFARE-TO-WOR K. The PIC refers to it s Welf are-to-W ork progra m a s W illing to Work. The PIC manages this DOL funding stream i n addition to WIA funding. The Welfare-to- W ork prog ram is impleme nted in collaboration with the Milwaukee County Depar tment of Child Supp or t Enfor cement the Wisconsin Depar tment of Cor rections and other agencies to prov ide eligible non-custodia l par ents access to employment tr aining and suppor tive ser vices to pr epar e them to become pr oductive citizens. The opportunity here was to develop strategie s to work with existing cont ractors to develop sub-contract ing relationsh ips with unconve ntional par tner s. The New Hope Holy Redeemer an d Wor dof Hope Collabor ation The PIC selected the New Hope Pr oject Inc. a nonpr ofit comm unity-based or ganization to pr ovide job placement re tention and retention support se rvice s for the PIC s Willing-to-W ork progr am for the 20 03-04 progr am year . The New H ope Pr oject was selected thr ough a competitive Request for Proposa ls pro cess foll owing the PIC s sta ndard ope rati ng procedur es. The New Hope Project which is wide ly reco gnized at national as well as international levels for i ts work in helping low incom e ad ults get o ut of poverty through work has a history of building and m aintain ing relati onships with variou s other community organi zations in delivering service s. Under the TLC initiative the le aders of two faith-based o rganization s Holy Redeemer COGIC Social Service s and Wo rd of Hope devel oped relation ships with The New Hope Project to provide services requir ed under its con tract with the PIC. To the extent that funding is ava ilable these two organizations Holy Redeemer COGIC Social Service s and Wo rd of Hope wil l sub-contr act to The Ne w Hope Pr oject and provide ser vices to the ex-offender population based on their past exper ience. Cur rently Wor d of Hope pr ovides employment traini ng and job development to male and f emale offender s who ar e under the super vision of th e Wisconsin Depar tment of Cor rections. These service s include job development activitie s such as contacting employer s on behalf of offender s monitor ing offender s job contac ts an d referrin g offen ders to oth er servi ce agencies. C OGIC Social Service s offer s simila r se rvi ces through c ounselors an d soc ial workers that provide c ounseling mento ring an d pr eventive pr ogr ams encompassing a br oad range of issues including w orkforce rea diness train ing. WIA TITLE I ADULT INTENSIVE SERV ICES . Adult Intensive Serv ice Providers are pre- approved by the PIC and may offer services related to comprehensive and spe ciali zed asse ssments development of individual employ ment plans group and indivi dual counseling and caree r planning case management short-te rm p re-voc ational servi ces ba sic skill s GED 18 services an d provision of or referrals for s upportive services. U nique to Milw aukee is the fact that the PIC contract s out intensive servi ces. Q ualified WIA participants are empowered to choose from the list of eligible provi ders t o recei ve servi ces. One of the c hallenges to integrating FBCOs in th is a rea is the si mple fact that smaller o r newer organi zations wil l need to demo nstrate a track record com parable to larger or more traditional se rvice provide rs. A t the sa me ti me it i s important for case manage rs who refer clients to g roups on the Intensive Servic e list to rec ognize the uni que capabilities that these service providers have to offer to targe t po pulations. WIA is abo ut the importance of partnerships that utilize partners specia l capa bilities and access to customers ra ther than about the specific breadth of one organization. By in cluding a mo re diverse ran ge of servi ce provide rs on the official provide r list cu stomers can better meet their own par ticular training and or employmen t needs. Thus the op por tunity her e was to develop str ategie s to promote the inclusion of FBCOs in the PIC s Intensive Service Provide r Ne twork using the exis ting RFS pr ocess. THE OPPORTUNITIES INDU STRIALIZATIO N CENTER AN D FAIT H PARTNERS HIP NETWORK COLLABORATION. Faith Par tnership Networ k FPN is an or ganization that provide s intermedi ary services to a ssist FBCOs in developing and demonst ratin g their capacity to p rovide workfo rce developm ent serv ices. Faith Par tnership Network exists to transfo rm li ves of indivi duals by buildin g organi zatio nal capacity a nd collabo rati ve relationships among partn ers. Within t he confin es of the TLC project FPN s mission is to answer the need in the Milwaukee community for new or increase d acce ss to capacity building oppor tunities and resources for gr assr oot s t o mid- size fai th-based or ganizations. 15 Concurrent with the TLC initiative FPN deve loped a relation ship with the Opportunities Industrialization Center OIC of Greater Milwaukee to build the capacity of select FBCOs in Milwaukee. The FPN OIC collaborative is currently participatin g in a pilot project suppor ted by the local Helen Bader Foundatio n Inc. thr ough which gr assr oots FBCO participants receive vari ous level of tec hnical as sist ance designed to build their capacity to provide services. These efforts were leverag ed th rou gh addition al funding pr ovided by the Emplo yment and Tr aining Administr ation of the U.S. Depar tme nt of Labor . FPN has used the DOL funding to make an accelerate d effort to pro vide tec hnical assist ance to a select group of FBCOs that provide workforce de velopment service s. A s a result a number of FBCOs were able to meet the requirements under the RF S for the provision of inte nsive service s issued by the PIC. The se application s are cu rrently under revie w by the PIC. The initial outcome of this effort will be th at a greate r selecti on of FBCOs will qualify for the Intensive Service Prov ider li st and b e eligib le to provi de servic es to WIA participants. Concurrent to these efforts the TLC project has also collaborated with the PIC to better understand t he means by which its cas eworkers kn ow and refer clients to qualified Intensiv e Service providers. 15 FPN defines a g rassroots organi zation as one that is oper ating with an annual bu dget of 300 00 0 or less and a mid-size organization as one that is operating wit h an annual budg et of 300 001 t o 1.5 mill ion. 19 CASE MANAGER OUTRE AC H AND EDUC ATION. The TLC project team an d the PIC both agr eed that having qu alified FBCOs includ ed on Intensive Serv ice Pro vide rs list wa s an important ste p towards lev eling the playing field. Ho wever if they were not in a position to receive client referra ls the overall goal of FB CO integration woul d not be fulfil led. The issue of referral s in turn relates to whet her and how casewor kers under stand the wor k of these FBCOs particularly in terms of th eir presence and relation ship in low-income neighbor hoods thr oughou t the city. Therefore the complementary step to the OI C FPN collaboration desc ribed ab ove is the establishment information sharing and comm unicatio n linkages between some of the selected FBC Os and one or more of the seven Milwaukee Job Centers. The initial focus for this linkage will be to track clients referred to the Job Centers fro m these FBCOs in orde r to demonstrate access to a wider number of jobseekers particularly among disadvantage d har d-to-r each populations. However refe rrals are u nlikely to be made unless case managers co mprise d of existing contra ctors in the workforce system are aw are of the natur e value and r ole that FBCO pr ovider s can play for cer tain clients. As a first step in that effort the PIC deve loped a survey for WIB case mana gers to gauge their p ercep tion s of FBCOs in gen eral a nd th e h istor y of referr als they h ave made to FBCOs both in their cur rent capacity and in pr evious position s. Although based on only a limited sampli ng 9 out of 24 possible resp ondents to date the informat ion collected suggest s st rat egies to build relati onships between the PIC and FBCOs. Among the questions posed to these casewor kers w as whether various approaches would be helpful to them in increasing awa reness and exposure of FBCOs. Almo st all of the respondents expressed po sitive opinion s to ward to improved co mmunication and the possibilit y of access to additional inform ation for clie nts. All but one of the caseworker responde nts for example considered informational presentations at conferences and or di rect contact by FBCOs in i ndividual meetings to be either some what or very helpful as a means of becoming more fa milia r with their prog ram s and services. These encou raging results in tur n suppor t fu tur e effor ts for those FBCOs that qualify as Intensive Service Providers to educate casework ers ab ou t th eir p rog ram s an d servi ces. T his finding further reinforces the theme of rela tionship building that emerged thro ugh TLC project work in Milwaukee and Memphis. WIA TITLE I CASE M ANAGEMENT. Within the c urrent contr acting pr ocess and given the capacity of l arger c ommun ity-based org anization s tha t have successfully bid for contract s it will be difficult for the PIC to contract w ith grassroots FBCOs for c ase managem ent ser vices. In its long-r ange planning the PIC is considering the desi gnation of a prime contracto r th at can sub-co ntract se rvi ces to a g rassro ots FBCO o n a pilot basis to develop a case m anag ement option. 20 N EXT S TEPS P ILOT P ROJECT IMPLEMENTATION In both pilot sites several leaders emerged as engage d change age nts who developed specific action-o riented proposals to implement the colla boration between entities of the workforce syste m and F BCOs. The TLC initiative has been a pl anning and capacity buildin g pr ogram to ass ist wo rkforce sy stem le ader s to col laborate with each other and develop the infr astr uctur e to suppor t their new plan s. Ov er the next year the wor kfor ce boar d in each pilot site will work with community leaders to i mplement these pl ans. Not all suc cesses are go ing to be immediatel y quanti fiable but quantifiable results will emerge as th e progra ms b egin and prog ress. It is the intent of this initiative that the new relationships and alliance s formed wi ll re sult not only in improved workforce pe rformance measur es but also in benefits for th e la rger commu nity. 21 Section 3. A PRACTICAL GUIDE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE FIELD SECTION 3. A PRACTICAL GUIDE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE FIELD This section presents r ecommendations fo r workforce system leaders based on the exper iences fr om the Touching Lives an d Communities pilot sites in Memphis and Milwaukee. It is intended for workforce syste m leade rs who are se eking to launch a collaborative initiative that engages FBC Os16 in resou rce sharing an d service del ivery to improve the effectiveness of th e local workforce system. There is no cookie-cutter approach for deve loping a collaboration pr ocess. Ever y community and system has unique r elationship dyna mics and req uires so lutions determined by local a rea stakeholders. While the stra tegic plann ing wor k don e in Memphis and Milwaukee to build new relationships between th e w orkforce system an d FBCOs still is in an early implementation stage th e basi c model s for relationship b uilding can be replicated by WIBs that se ek to work more clo sely with FBCO s. In addition the experiences in Memphis and Milwaukee strongly suggest that FBCOs can be valuable untapped service partners and training providers in meeting the diverse needs of customer s and l ocal business es. The oppor tunity for change within any par ticul ar workforce syste m is continge nt on the willingness of key players t o truthfully evalua te and a ddress the ga ps in workforce syste m servi ces to c ustomer s and businesses. When the change is driven by real com munity business and job-seeker needs much can be accomplished. The preliminary indicato rs for succe ss f or pursu ing these non-tr aditional par tner ships as par t of a WIB s wor kfor ce development effor ts could include the following Expand the c over age of th e WIB into lo w-income har d-to-r each populations and communities which due to geogr aphic cult ural or oth er bar riers have not been effectively utilizing WIB s career resources to date In ar eas exper iencing r apid economic growth serve a s an effective bridge to lo cal business labor needs and p reviously un-tapped labor pools e.g . ex- offender welfare-to- wor k populations thr ough par tner ships with FBCOs that emphasis employment enhancement skills or soft skills and Fulfill the legislati ve intent for WIBs to be come true community le aders and brokers by direct ly linkin g businesses FBCOs and o ther par tner s thr ough pr ovision of customized training ser vices. There is no specific formula for achievin g collabor ation betwee n WIBs and FBCOs. However so me general recommendati ons can be drawn from the initial experiences in Memphis and Milwaukee. 16 A d efinition of FBCO s is given in Section 1. 22 Begin the Initiative with a Small Work ing Gr oup that Can Grow as the Project Develops. This was don e by the executive directors in both the Memphis and Milwaukee pi lot projects. The collaboration and alli ance building proces s ma y evolve to inclu de a large number of multi-sect or stakeholders as in Memphis or a smaller number of r epresentatives as in Milwaukee. The goal is to bring together key players d epending on both WIB structure an d targeted needs to design the FBCO integration project and assess the oppor tunities an d participati on of the major players. When choosing leaders t o ide ntify integrati on oppor tunities it is impor tant to include r epresentativ es from busin ess and smal l gra ssroot s community and faith-based or ganizations. The collaborative group may seek to accomplish dramat ic change or increme ntal change. Initial goal s a nd objectives evolve over time as stakeholders wo rk together. Some stakeholders might drop out of the process an d new ones can fill i n the gap and step up to the challenge. The over all pur pose of the collaborative gr oup is to develop an action plan for the initiative that engages new grassroo ts FBCOs no t part of the workforce system previou sly in the delivery of se rvice s and achievement of WIA perf ormance standards. It is crucial that the collaboration use as its star ting point a r eal tang ible and measurable community need both from the stan dpoint of job seekers needs as well as those of area businesses. One important point that may seem ob vious but cannot be over looked is that the faith community is not monolithic . There isn t one faith community ther e ar e many faith communities. And even within the same denomi nation differ ent chur ches or temples have individua l mi ssions and pla ns. Members of a diverse collaborative group operat e with differ ent cultur al nor ms and should take the time to understand one another s mi ssion and target cust omers client s. A cro ss-secti on of faiths denominations ethnicities and differ ent types and si zes of organi zations and co ng regations e nriches the collaborat ion. Every Workforce System Faces Uniqu e Challenges. Every workfo rce sy stem h as a d ifferent structure with stakeholders accountable to different institutions w ithin the workforce sy ste m. Workforce system leaders need to be a ware th at including new pa rtner s e.g. as tr aining provider s is often per ceived as pr oviding funding at the exp ense of cur rent wor kfor ce stakeholders. These perceptions particularly in the context of limited resou rce s on the part of the local WIBs often require in the near term creat ive a nd inclusive strategie s that build par tnerships between the tr aditio nal pr ovider s and the new par tner s. It is cruc ial to define the mission and obj ectiv es of the FBCO integration effort early on and proactivel y a ddress conce rns of the WIB staff and existing par tners. To be successful all par ticipants n eed to under stand the oppor tuni ty the Faith-Base d and Community Initiative represents an d suppor t it within their community. 23 Another key factor for success is identifying other su pportive wor kforce sy ste m leader s. These leaders may include the chair of the WIB the executive director or the president of the WIB staffing agency the head of the st affing agency the dire ctor for c omm unity outreach and representatives of the WIB and its boa rd co mmittee s. Frequently the executive committee is th e r ight place to star t looking for support. Winning the suppor t in advance of as many board member s and officer s as possible makes it easier to carry fo rwa rd t he initiative particul arly if it requires th e realloca tion or sha ring of resour ces with new stakeholders. B oard officers and comm ittee chairs a re volunteers with limited t ime to devot e to board duties . Some members m ay choose to l eave the board if other demands ar e pr essing in their lives. A pr oject that r elies too heavily on the suppor t of one or two board me mbers can be bogged down by changes in board staffing and governance. For board m embers the a ppeal of greater FBCO integr ation can or iginate fr om a number of source s. Man y board mem bers are a lrea dy working w ith FBCOs and have st rong relationships with them. They may be acti ve in their own faith community or c ivic organi zation and see the potential within the co ntext of the WIB s efforts. For others the initiative r epresents a new innovative appr oa ch to lon g-standing challenges reg arding the availabil ity of a quality workforce. By i den tifying these sometimes hidden connection points in advance th e initiative is likely to gar ner br oader suppor t among boar d member s. Every sy stem has a va riety of factors that can positively and negatively influence planning and implementati on of an initiative that engages FB COs. These conditions signal the degree to which workforce system stakeholders are willing to make changes in policy progra m oper ations b usiness conduct and service delivery. The following list contain s key operating condit ions that can if developed and implemented effectively m ake it easier t o engage new pa rtners and training prov iders in work force development. Workforce leaders can rate th e succ ess facto rs below as st ron g medium or weak in their area s. The list of qualifiers can also help in the process of determining whether a sufficient numbe r of success factors ar e in place. 17 The E xecutive Leader ship is suppor tive th e Mayor County Exec utive or WIA Local Elected Official LEO are committe d to im plementing a faith-based and community initiative The faith-based and community initiative has bi-par tisan suppor t among elected local and state officia ls engaged in workforce poli cy WIB members that operat e workforce de velopment pr ogr ams are open to new par tner s 17 The quali fiers were co mpiled using the follo wing sources fie ld experience in M emphis and Milw aukee during 2003 DOL gran t reports and ou treach materials provid ed by DOL-CFBCI and N ational Associati on of Workf orce Board NAW B boar d assess ment ma terials. 24 The chair of the WIB the executive director of the WIB staff an d the LEO agree to create an operating environment open t o the participation of FBCOs in workfo rce development servi ce delive ry Requir ed WIA par tner s pr ivate sector bo ard me mbers WIB staff and One-Stop operators are open to changing their policie s and conduct of business to include FBCOs in servi ce deli very The WIB is willing to incl ude small grassroot s FBC Os in its st rat egic planning process and encourage their collab oration with WI A man dat ory p artner a gen cies an d s ervice provider s The WIB is willing to cre ate a commu nication plan to market se rvice s and ac tivities to the community implementing marketing strategi es joi ntly with grassroot s o rgani zations The WIB has syste matic customer feed back mechanisms for continuous impr ovement of the workforce development system e spe cially for customers jobseekers and employers in disa dvanta ged com munities The local WIB has a positi ve relationshi p with its stat e workforce agency and is able to influence the certific ation process in order to levera ge the strengths of new eligible training pr ovider s The WIB has a manageme nt process th at establishes accountabilit y for the acti vities of board me mbers boa rd sta ff WIA par tner s and service pr ovider s The WIB and its One-Stop operators achieve state and local perfo rmance measu res and analyze data t o asse ss the overall perfo rman ce of the local syste m making adju stments to the objectives of the loc al WIA plan to improve satisfaction of customers The WIB stri ves to exami ne and if approp riate ado pt best prac tices from o ther wor kfor ce in vestment ar eas in order to benchmar k its own wor k and WIB One-Stop leadership has identifie d curr ent resource sharing referral mec hanisms and is co mmitted to expanding these networks. Develop an Action Plan that Supports the Mi ssion Goals and Objectives of the Local WIA Strategic Plan. The over all pur pose of the collaborative gr oup is to develop an action plan for the initiative with strategie s and propo sals to include FBCO s in decision- making proces ses an d delive ry of workforce de velop men t service s. T he p lan needs to state prog ram goal s obje ctives activitie s out comes and ev aluation stan da rds. It needs to define the roles and responsibilit ies of the stakehol ders an d be designed t o fulf ill the mission of the l ocal WIB and the objectives of the lo cal WIA plan. Workforce system leaders in Memphis created an advisor y council consisting of faith-based and industry l eaders and this new council will be come part of the existing st ruct ure. The 25 vice chai r of the WIB serves as cha ir of the advisory council and ensures feedback is returned to t he WIB and its Consort ium whic h is t he program decision-m aking body of mandato ry WIA members in Memphi s. The chai r of the Consortium al so i s a member of the adviso ry council and selected mem bers of the council attend Consor tium meetings. The WIB staffing agency has a ssigned an em ploy ee to facilitate communication between these variou s entities. The coordinator also is re sponsible for community outreach events and fields inquir ies by FBCOs on par tner ship oppor tunities. As part of th e implementation plan the task force o r collaborative group may w ant to develop a pri nted and or web-based di recto ry of all servi ce org anizations inclu sive of new par tner s and provider s th at can be used by One-Stop Career Centers and oth er workforce partners. Th e survey efforts of the Memphi s WIB and Milwaukee PIC were a useful vehicle for outreach to local FBC Os and provided detail s on types of pr ogr am and ministr y offerings to populate just such a database. Local workforce system le aders can also consid er helping FBCOs to become st ate-certifie d and local WIB-appr oved tr aining pr ovider s that can a ccept Individual Training Account ITA vouchers. This ma y require action at the state level a nd involveme nt of elected officials and depends on state r equir ements for qualifications an d certifi catio ns. In Tennessee for example the Higher Education Commission define s t raining as vo cational an d fashions crite ria favo ring educational institutions as applicants which makes it too challe nging for gra ssroot s organization s to apply for co nsidera tion. The Ability to Identify an d Leverage Key Players and Networks of Associations Can Make or Break the Program Initiative. While it is im portant to identify and work with the change agents and the make it happen people who a re dir ectly connected with the pr oject it is equally im portant to identify and get the suppo rt of the leader ship of other gr oups an d individuals that ar e not dir ectly involved beca use they still have the potential to affect the overall i nitiative. There are ma ny tools and strate gies use d in the cor por ate world that public an d nonpr ofit organi zations are now utilizing. Conduc ting a so cial network analy sis o r mappin g of asset s can be helpf ul to under stan d the r elation ships among people assess indivi dual a nd organi zationa l asset s and i dentify key players wi thin those soci al a nd political n etworks. This involves examining both formal and infor mal networ ks and ensur ing that ever yone has access to the direct fl ow of information. Often the political and fa ith community n etworks and relationships are so c losel y intertwined that any succe ss o r mi stake in on e network will affect relationships in other networks. The ability to c ultivate relat ionships at all levels i s critic al for suc cess and can prevent futur e pr oblems and misunderstandings. As one national faith-based pr actitioner said These are the kind of peo ple that probably won t do anything to help you achieve your goal but they could be in a position from a po litical standpo int to undo your efforts if they feel they hav e not bee n aff orded the right degree of attention. 26 Government and Policy-Speak Can Be In timidating to Grassroots Organizations. Ideally Fede ral State and l ocal gove rnm ent sh ould use plain language when wor king with the pu blic and business to implement pr ogr ams . In reality go vern ment jargon often becomes part of the daily l anguage of governme nt officials and administr ators. It can be intimidat ing to gra ssroot s organi zations when acronyms and program titles vary from agency to agency. WIBs and FBCOs often serve th e same customers job seekers but have a different lang uage derive d from di stinct organiz ation al cultures fo r describing what they do and the servi ces they offer. They need a fa cilitat or o r translato r to establish a common language for stakeholders. To draw st ak eholders to gether from di fferent social sector s wo rkforce sy ste m leader s ca n solic it the assistance of individual s at th e community l evel who are uniquely skilled and conver sant in the language and cultur e of both government agencies and the fait h community. Such individu als can help develop a com mon language and thus enable clearer communication betwee n gover nment agencies and FB COs. Effective cro ss- cult ural communicati on skills beco me very i mportan t to the success of the collabora tion. Facilitat ors ca n serve an im portant medi ating role a mong the vario us denominat ions represented i n the area. For the workforce co llaboration the facilitator can identify key change agents in the com munity to partake in the ta sk force and collaboration building process. The site impleme ntation efforts in Memphis benefited gr eatly fr om the existence of such a facilita tor at the Ma yor s Office. The task forc e members a bility to take action steps with the assistance of this liaison helped to accelerate what could other wise have been a lengthy relati onship- and tr ust-building process. Member s of a collaborative gr oup benefi t fr om establishing an environment of mutual respect that will lead to t rust as work ing rela tion ships develop. T he first worki ng sessi ons should be spent sharing expect ations identifying community needs that could be met in par tner ship with FBCOs ar ticulating attainable goals and objectiv es and settin g a reali stic timefr ame for the planning and implementation phases. By making a commitment to solve problems together stakeholders are more inc lined t o deal with barriers and c hallenges dur ing the cour se of developing new pa rtner ships. Identify and Inventory the Services and Or ganizations that Already Exist in the Community. One of the basic principles of capacity buildin g is to inventory the existing assets in the community and include the type of ser vices and o rganizations that are present i n the neighbor hoods of the local wor kfor ce investment area. Workforce syste m leaders need to understand h ow these exi sting or ganiza tions are a ddressing an array of soc ial service and community n eeds in order to engage FBCOs as no n-mandato ry pa rtners o r eligi ble training provider s. In Memphis and Milwaukee as noted in Sectio n 2 the local WIB and city staff conducted sur veys to gauge the faith community s cur rent level of awareness of the WIB the level of importance a nd commit ment directed t o job training and placeme nt within thei r 27 organi zations and the potential interest in colla borating with the WIB as both par tner s and training pr ovider s. The data collection effort simultaneously serve d as an outreach vehicle. Staff administe red survey s at gat herings of mi nisterial allian ces and then gave a brief o verview of se rvice s offered at local One-Stop Career Centers. The survey findings in Memphis and Milwaukee showed a strong level of commitment and interest by F BCOs to the issue of work force develop ment. While employabilit y skill s life skills t raining and mentorin g were the most com monl y cited pro gram and mini stry a reas others were also well represented including job assessment and placement hard skill s and job tr aining and youth employment. One of the m ost revealing findings from bo th Memphi s and Milwau kee was the low level of awareness of faith-based o rganization s re garding wor kfor ce development pr ogr ams conducted by their peer s. Another common ar ea of misunderstan ding r egarding faith-based organi zations was that they primarily or exclusively serve me mb ers of their own congre gation. The survey findings show ed that congregations and other faith-based organizations pr ovide a wide arr ay of services and do so fo r the benefit of the communities within which they reside not just to those who belong to their faith communities. Intermediary Agencies Can Play a Strong Role. Par tnerships between gov ernment agencies an d faith-based and community or ganizations are often strongest when mediated by institutio ns that pr ovide the administr ative financial legal training and informat ion exchange ser vices that faith-based an d community organi zations need. Intermedia ry o rganization s e specially those that are recognized by faith-based an d com munity organization s as t rusted allies c an prov ide these services. Inter mediar ies equip tr ain and suppor t fr on tline gr assr oots or ganizations to help such organi zations develop and refine their missi on capacit y and infra structure improve the efficiency of their operations and make their commu nity outreach more effecti ve. Some intermedia rie s levera ge ad dition al resou rce s fo r front line organizat ions secu ring donor funds and then re-granting these to smal l gra ssroot s a gencies. Still others help grassroots groups to connect to publ ic par tnerships to expand their reach an d capacity. Inter mediar ies can also be useful in the areas of sub-gr anting or sub-contr actin g. Some of the administrative bur den of pr oviding a ssi stance mo nitoring and evaluating can be shifted when WIB leaders use intermedia ry o rganizatio ns to pr ovide tech nical assistance and sub- grant funding to gra ssroot s provide rs. In the case of a financial collabor ation betw een a local WIB and F BCOs the intermedia ry typically serv es as the con tract conduit thr ough which WIB r esour ces may then be sub- awarde d to smaller and m edium-si zed F BCOs. For n on-financial c ollaborat ions intermediarie s constitute an important source of informati on and communicati on exchanging and transl ating knowledg e between the WIB and local FBCOs. 28 The intermediary should h ave sufficient experience as a serv ice pro vider to give i t credibil ity with FBCOs and provide them with the experi ence base necessa ry for effective progra m monitor ing and evaluation . At the same time the intermediary n eeds to possess the experience a nd knowledge to lead and coordinate a network of smaller grassroots organi zations serving multi ple functions at mult iple sit es. It should also have str ong networ ks with local municipal and other public age ncies so it c an respond to all the financial and prog ram matic co mpli ance demands. Involving leaders of interm edia ry organi zations ea rly i n the collaboration buildin g process also will save workforce sy stem leade rs time an d energy in identify ing and winning the trust of grassroot s networks. 18 One note of caution as a result of the in itiative and t he publicity surrounding it many oppor tunistic or ganization s have mor phed th emselves into intermediaries in orde r to compete for these funds. Workforce system lea ders must reco gnize and coll aborate with local intermediary organizations that ha ve developed long-standing relation ships and credibil ity wit hin the community. Use Creative Approaches to Address Needs. Workforce le aders may wa nt to conduct an analys is of the service delivery g aps i n the local syste m to underst and ho w best to engage inte rmedi ary and gra ssroots F BCOs. Once these gaps are identified workforce system le aders or the collaborative task force can formulate new strategie s to leverage the strengths of FBCOs for specific nee ds of jobseek ers and employers including se rvic es related t o empl oyability skills develo pment job training and post-employ ment servi ces. Workforce system leaders in Memphis and M ilwaukee found that t he development of soft skills com munication busi ness protoc ol dealing with conflict was a definite ga p in the syste m and m ost businesse s consi dered these mo re i mportant tha n technical skills t raining that is often provide d on the job. In Mem phis for ex ample the workshops offe red at One- Stop Career Centers target customers who po ssess some deg ree of motivati on and self- initiative and who feel comfortable in a professiona l office-type environment. Even though One-Stops are designed to pr ovide univ ersal access a large segme nt of jobseekers first need to acquire life management skills employability skills and other job readiness skills befor e they can benefit f rom th e Career Center offering s. This represents a niche market that FBCOs are well posi tioned to ser ve since mo st of their prog ram activitie s are housed in neighborhood in stitut ions fam iliar t o jobsee kers. Not on ly may a local cong reg ation be a more famili ar a nd comfort able place to visit but staff can customize and personalize the care and servic es they provide to the jobseeker. The Milwauk ee PIC pr esented many unique oppo rtunities for inc reased integra tion and collaboration with local fai th-based and co mmunity or ganizations. The Adult Int ensive 18 In the U.S. Dep t of Labor 2003 intermediary grant in termediaries are responsibl e not onl y for su b-granting and building capacity o f smaller g rassroots FBCOs but al so for th e total result s an d outcomes of these sub- grantees in resp onse to a spe cifically delineated communit y need . 29 Ser vices under WIA ar e provided under contr act by multiple servi ce provide rs. Given this opportunity part of the Milwaukee FBCO integr ation strategy was to focus on increasing the number of gr assr oots FBCOs included as e ligible provide rs on the Intensive Service Prov ide rs li st. Likewise leaders of thi s initiative m ay w ant to identify opportunities that dire ctly engage businesses. One way to do this is through in dustry -specific t rain ing for new and incumbent workers. This type of custom ized training is designed to meet the special requirements of an employer or gr oup of employers conducte d with the commitment by the employer s to employ the individual upon succe ssful completion of the tr aining. The employe r must pay half of the tr aining costs and the r est is cover ed by WIA funds. This arrangement is attractive to jobse ekers trainers and empl oyers because it orients the training and expenditur es for the tr ainin g toward the specific outcome of job placement. In Memphis a faith-based or ganization develope d a par tner ship with an employer in the hospitality in dustry. The employer wh ich prev iously exper ienced a high tur nover rate is very in tere sted in th e su pp or t and men toring pro vided by the faith-based organization. Use a Systems Approach to E ngage the Workforce System. Efforts to engage FBCOs in the local workfo rce syste m should not be undertaken in a vacuum and need to be consider ed in the context of other federal state and lo cal initiatives. Workforce system leaders need to clearly co mmunicate the intent of the initiative and select ma rketing strate gies targeting specific audience s. In Milwaukee for example the PIC and FBCOs ar e in volved with multiple programs across several fe deral state and l ocal agencie s and given efforts to levera ge resour ces acro ss progr ams are concer ned about not focusing on U.S. Depar tment of Labor WIA-specific programs in isolation from other relate d prog ram s and initiatives. Ther e ar e a number of differ ent gover nment programs that are focused on improving employment outcomes. T here is also a broa d ran ge of activitie s underway ac ro ss Fede ral agen cies rel ated to fu rth er in tegrating an d involving F BCOs into lo cal se rvice provisi on. Build Evaluation and Feedback Measures Into the Plan From the Beginnin g. WIA per for mance measur es define what success look s like. At the same time e ach local plan is customized to the needs of jobseeker s and employers in the area. The two basic measure s of success in inte gratin g FBCO s are demonstration of 1. Imp roved res ults for th e h ard-to- serve an d 2. Tangible r esults e.g. employment number s and inta ngible results like the building of relationships and alliance s an d the shari ng of resourc es In recent years p rog ram s and solutions im plemented in public sector organizat ions are shifting from an activity-based to a results-ba sed or ientation. The previous activity-dr iven par adigm was based on the desir e to have an abundan ce of pr ogr ams with many activitie s c onsuming all a vailable re sou rces. Even the reporting o f results wa s based 30 primar ily on inputs like the number of p rogr ams operated hour s devoted to the pr oject participants e nrolled an d progra m co sts. Now public sector pr ogr amming is moving to a results-base d par adigm . P rog rams a re only initiated when specific needs are identified an d a variety of processes are used to ensure alignment with other goals success and resu lts in ever y phase of the pr ogr am up to and including rep orting the act ual measurable r esults fr om the contr ibution of the p rogr am. Ever y WIB has to track its pr ogr ess accor ding to the WIA performance standa rds. But how does one me asure a suc cessful col laboration in itiative that improves the workforce system and contributes to the achievemen t of performance measure s In conclusion Workforce system lea ders may want to use the list below to asse ss the success of FBCO integration. Based on the initial experiences in Memphis and Milwaukee these indicators can sugge st whether or not the WIB has succe ssfully remove d barrie rs and built relationships between FBCOs and t he On e-Stop syste m WIB an d oth er wo rkforce syste m ser vice provide rs. By developin g th ese relationships the WIB can leverage the resources an d str engths of new par tner s to meet performance st andards. Not all the indicato rs wi ll ap ply to eac h workforce syste m st ructure b ut th e list rep resen ts a su mma ry of different ways in which positive chan ges ca n be made in the conduct of business policies and service delivery struct ure of the w orkforce system. MOUs between One-Stops and FBCOs for mutu al resource sha ring co-loc atio n and referra ls including case m anagemen t referral s WIB or One-Stop commu nity outreach staff is de sig nated to coo rdinate pro gram activitie s outreach events marketing comm unicatio n technical assi stance and servi ce infrast ructure with FBCOs WIB and One-Stops maint ain updated printed and electronic dire ctory of faith-based and grassroot s providers w ith target populations and specific serv ices Local WIB plan Request f or Pr oposals tec hnical assi stance and training materi als comply with federal law s protecting the re ligiou s iden tity of faith-based pro vide rs FBCOs parta ke in WIB decision- making proc esses an d are represe nted on the board standing and ad-hoc co mm ittees and a dviso ry council bodies Identified FBCOs are representative of neighbor hood diver sity an d demonstr ate the organi zationa l capacity and track re cord to serve me mbers of thei r com munity Local g rassroots interme diaries pro vide tec hnical assist ance and sub-grants to FBCOs for delive ry o f WIA core a nd intensive adult and di slo cated worke r servi ces Existing serv ice provide rs recognize the va lue of gra ssroot s o rgani zations reach to special populations and sub-gr ant dollars to those groups for targeted services WIB contr acts with faith-based and gr assr oot s pro viders that a re l ocated in and serve customers in high unemployment low-in come zip co des 31 32 WIB uses grassroots FBCOs greatest strengths in the development of employment enhancement or soft skills through supplemental services contracts or vouchers Access points are located in FBCOs to provide WIA core unassisted and assisted services and refer jobseekers to One-Stops for next level of services WIB contracts customized training program to intermediaries or FBCOs that partner with industry-specific employers State Commission eligibility criteria as well as local WIB criteria and processes are inclusive of small to medium-sized FBCOs enabling their participation as certified Individual Training Account providers FBCOs are engaged in serving Limited English speaking populations and FBCOs are engaged in WIA funded childcare and transportation services.