Responding to the Demographics of a Community

• Navajo and Apache County Workforce Investment Board, Snowflake, AZ
• Capital Workforce Partners, CT
• Workforce Boards of Metropolitan Chicago, IL
• Rochester Workforce Development Inc., MN

Overview

The Navajo and Apache County Workforce Investment Board’s (WIB) service delivery areas cover 20,000 square miles, a few town centers and a scattered population. Given their limited resources, the WIBs have focused on building strong working partnerships with virtually every social service agency and employer in the county. To meet the dual needs of wage-earning and skill-development for an unusually large low-income population, the WIBs developed approaches that combine compressed education and training cycles, strategic use of stipends, creative transportation arrangements and the regular use of combined training/work experience arrangements. This strategy allows the WIBs to assist customers to begin moving immediately toward self-sufficiency and, often providing some form of compensation. Compensation was critical because of the extraordinarily limited resources of most of the job seekers. It was essential that these workers start earning a salary as soon as possible.

The WIBs created the GED Plus Program that provides a combination of GED instruction, life skills training, and work experience with a local employer. The GED portion of the program is designed to be completed in just six weeks. Students are tested prior to beginning instruction, but all students receive instruction in the five designated GED areas however each student is required to focus on areas where their knowledge was the most limited. , Following the completion of their GED instruction, each student is tested. They are are then offered, tutoring specifically for those sections that they failed. The goal is to continue to offer help so so that the students who did not pass still have a chance to re-test and be successful. This approach boasts a 40% success rate in 6 weeks and a nearly 100 percent success rate within 6 months. The combined elements of the GED Plus program constitutes a full-time thus the WIBs provide a stipend to those who are enrolled in the GED Plus progam. The stipend is paid in increments, based upon customers’ progress and demonstration of specific workplace competencies. The stipend is a critical ingredient to the ability of low-income customers to remain in and successfully complete the six-week program. The WIB found it more cost-effective to pay the stipends rather than have customers drop out part way through the program.

Through close partnerships with most of the major employers in the area, the WIB developed a concentrated clerical training program enabling students to complete the 24-credit program in one semester. Students go to school in the morning and participate in a work experience program in the afternoon including a $100/week stipend. The WIB plans to develop a similar compressed training and work experience program in health care field, with small area hospitals and the community college as key partners. The WIB and its partners also compress their other education and training schedules to help deal with transportation challenges.

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History

The WIB operates under significant budget restraints. Apache County receives just $100,000 for all Workforce Investment Act services. Navajo County is only slightly better funded. Yet, with active partnering and creative approaches to funding the WIB is able to serve twice the number of adults and three times the number of youth than would be possible through WIA funds alone.

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Partners and Funding

The WIB focused on building strong working partnerships with virtually every social service agency and employer in the SDA, as well as neighboring tribal WIBs. They used the resources and talents of all parties while creating meaningful training opportunities and addressing challenges faced by jobseekers.

• Funding and other support for the GED Plus program comes from WIA adult and dislocated worker funds, an association of affiliated Indian centers, and the agency that operates Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamp employment programs. Each agency "sponsors" some students, meaning that agency provided the primary funding for services to that particular student. When possible, students then co-enroll in multiple programs and each entity pays what their funding rules allow.
• The WIB partnered with the community college to develop a compressed GED prep model and the concentrated clerical training program. For successful GED students, the community college provides scholarships in the form of a six-credit voucher for future courses at the college.
• Both counties have land that is reservation land and there is a separate tribal WIB. The Navajo/Apache County WIBs partner with the tribal WIB in providing training opportunities, with shared costs. The urban Native American WIA programs are able to co-enroll and partner in case-management duties.

For employer-sponsored training, the WIB partners with the individual employer to develop customized training and to negotiate the employer contribution. In addition, many area employers partner with the WIB to offer a work experience component as an adjunct to training. Additional employer assistance comes in the form of donated facilities and direct cash contributions.

Challenges

Transportation is a major issue for virtually all customers. In 20,000 square miles, the only public transportation is in the town of Show Low and consists of limited bus routes that run only during the day. Throughout the rest of the area, a few taxis operate in limited locales.

Several attempts were made to address transportation challenges. However, none of the efforts were self-sustaining. The WIB and its partners concluded that any public transportation program that could meet the needs of residents would need to be subsidized, because the actual costs would be prohibitive if supported solely through user fees. Most customers rely on carpooling to get to education or training, and the WIB provides a mileage reimbursement. In addition, the WIB staff sometimes use their county vehicles to transport customers to education or training.

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Keys to Successful Implementation

• Recognizing that personal vehicles are the only viable form of transportation for most customers, the WIBs include car repair and car insurance among their support services. These are available for up to a year after customers complete a WIB-sponsored program.
• The WIB's leadership in developing working partnerships with every available agency and employer has been vital to their success. The WIB director notes that because there are so few resources, no one agency can do everything they need to on their own. Therefore, enlightened self-interest requires building partnerships.
• The co-enrollment "sponsorship" strategy with partner agencies allows the WIB to serve far more customers than would otherwise be possible.
• The partnerships with and resources provided by employers are essential to providing holistic services.
  WIB continue searching for new partnerships, particularly potential training providers (employers or otherwise).
• Stipends during education and training, including in the GED Plus program, add to the success of the program. The availability of stipends frequently means the difference between a customer being able to complete the program, and having to drop out to take a part-time dead-end job to make ends meet.

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