Courses to Employment: Sector Approaches to Community College/Nonprofit Partnerships Examples from the Health Care Fiel

1. Courses to Employment: Sector Approaches to Community College/Nonprofit PartnershipsExamples from the Health Care Field AACC WDI January 2010 St. Petersburg, FL

2. Introductions Allison Gerber, Research Associate, The Aspen Institute 3 Case Studies: Carreras en Salud (Careers in Health): Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College, Chicago IL Partnership in Health Sciences, Capital IDEA & Austin Community College, Austin TX Training Futures: Northern Virginia Family Service & Northern Virginia Community College, Fairfax VA

3. Session Objectives • Learn about the three partnerships’ collaborative work to help low-income individuals prepare for, gain entry to, and complete college credits in health care – related occupations. • Learn about AspenWSI’s demonstration project, Courses to Employment, which is supporting, researching and documenting collaborative sector strategies between community colleges and nonprofits.

4. What’s a Sector Strategy? A systems approach to workforce development typically on behalf of low-income individuals – that: • Targets a specific industry or cluster of occupations; • Intervenes through a credible organization, or set of organizations; • Supports workers in improving their range of employment-related skills;and • Creates lasting changes in the labor market system that are positive for workers and employers.

5. Capacities Needed • Strong focus on a defined industry sector and/or set of related occupations to identify employment opportunity and develop appropriate education services • High quality education & training that both meets industry-identified skill needs and is appropriate and accessible to underserved adults

6. Capacities Needed (cont.) • Support services (academic & non-academic) that meet special needs of underserved adults to learn successfully and progress to jobs that pay self-sufficiency wages • Shared vision about the need to develop new ways of operating & ability to communicate this effectively to support innovation and institutional changes, as needed

7. Courses to Employment • Based on premise that, with rare exception, neither colleges nor non-profits have the resources needed to serve low-income, minority, and under represented adult learners effectively—especially over the long-term. • Inspired by the outcomes and possibilities we’ve seen in collaborative work

8. Community College – Non-profit Partnerships Education Strategies Industry Strategy Supportive Services College Innovation & Scale Community & Sector Organizations

9. Courses to Employment • Learning demonstration involving six community college-non-profit program collaborations • Participants were selected competitively—from 89 applications • Substantial learning & research agenda, conducted 2008-2010 • Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

10. What Questions is CTE Exploring? • What specific services are provided? By which institution? Why? Which ones seem most important? • Outcomesfor participants? Compared to? • Engagement and role of business in the initiative? • Factors of successful collaboration? Policies, funding, governing and capacity issues? • What does collaborative service delivery cost? How is it financed?

11. CTE Partnerships • Fairfax, VA: Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern Virginia Community College • Austin: Capital IDEA & Austin Community College • Seattle: Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County & Shoreline Community College • Chicago: Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wright College’s Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center • Flint, MI: Mott Community College & Flint STRIVE • Los Angeles: Community Career Development, Inc., Los Angeles Valley College, East Los Angeles College & Los Angeles City College

12. Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College • Objective: Move low-income Latinos into career path opportunities in nursing and help them advance; develop bi-lingual health care practitioners to serve community. • Students Served: Low-income Latinos, mostly women; comprised of both new immigrants and longer-term residents; wide age range. • IDPL’s Role: Delivers pre-college contextualized curriculum targeted towards several entry points along the health care career ladder (e.g., Pre-CNA and Pre-LPN); pays for tuition, fees, and books; provides career counseling and case management; offers assistance accessing support services.

13. Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College, cont. • Wright College’s Role: Provides dedicated CNA, LPN, & RN slots to Carreras en Salud students meeting entrance requirements; provides flexible scheduling with night and weekend options; delivers specialized tutoring & academic supports. • Partnership Areas & Innovations: Career pathway model provides students with a number of on-ramps and off-ramps for varying skill levels and employment needs; partners work as a team to develop employer relationships and garner employer input; joint fundraising for Carreras program; partnership team meets regularly to discuss student success, coordinate academic and non-academic supports.

14. Capital IDEA & Austin Community College • Objective: To prepare students to enter college and earn a degree in the health care field. • Students Served 80% minority; 80% women; average age 30; average 7th grade reading & math at entry; 30% ESL; 66% parents (26% single parents). • Capital IDEA’s Role: pays for tuition, books, fees and childcare; provides case management and career counseling; pre-employment skills development; referrals to additional supportive services; emergency financial assistance. • ACC’s Role: Delivers all education and training, including ESL, GED, College Prep Academy, & Tutorials

15. Capital IDEA & Austin Community College, cont. • Partnership Areas & Innovations: Weekend cohorts; , selection of instructors; customized training via College Prep Academy; RN tutor for bilingual students; scholarships/financial aid; progress reports & electronic transfer of grades; joint counseling.

16. Northern Virginia Family Services & Northern Virginia Community College • Objective: Prepare students for office/ administrative positions in health care field; guide students through half of coursework in Business Administration certificate. • Students Served: Low-income adults (avg. $10.55/hr at entry); 57% employed at entry (12% full-time); 2/3 foreign-born/bilingual; 75% women; 30% single parents; median age in 30s (range from 20-50+). • NVFS’s Role: Provide 25 weeks of training (500+ hours) in keyboarding, computers, customer service, filing, & professional development; provide career counseling, case management, coordinate referrals to supportive services; coordinate 3-week internships.

17. Northern Virginia, cont. • NOVA’s Role: Validate curriculum; certify instructors as college faculty; provide students with 17 college credits; leverage federal financial aid to support non-profit. • Partnership Innovations: “Imaginal” educational philosophy; approach replicated with two other non-profit partners. • Outcomes: Approximately200 enrolled 2007-2009; 93% completed program; on average 80% employed full-time w/in 6 months; hourly wage gain at first job (average 25% increase for those employed prior to program).

18. To Learn More The Aspen Institute One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 700 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 736-1071 E-mail: wsi@aspeninst.org http://www.aspenwsi.org