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Winning New Jobs:

Winning New Jobs:. A Welfare-to-Work Success Story in Baltimore County, Maryland Max Elsman, Job Network Administrator. Portrait of Baltimore County. Population: 754,000 74.4% white; 20.1% African-American; 1.8% Latino; 3.2% Asian Jobless rate: 4.5%

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Winning New Jobs:

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  1. Winning New Jobs: A Welfare-to-Work Success Story in Baltimore County, Maryland Max Elsman, Job Network Administrator

  2. Portrait of Baltimore County • Population: 754,000 • 74.4% white; 20.1% African-American; 1.8% Latino; 3.2% Asian • Jobless rate: 4.5% • Major industries: Trade, transportation, utilities; professional and business services; education and health care; government • Poverty rate: 4.5%

  3. The Problem in a Nutshell Source: Job Opportunities Task Force, Fall 2003

  4. WNJ: Part of “From the Ground Up” • A $3 million, three-year demonstration project funded by the state but only in Baltimore Co. • Project was two years behind schedule by 1999 • No director • Had lost direction • Project creators had left for other jobs • I was given a blank slate, money to spend, and an impending deadline. Had to act quickly. • These factors allowed us an unusual amount of creative freedom

  5. TANF Welfare-to-Work Strategy • “Work-first” approach (due to low unemployment rate) • Immediate engagement at TANF application • Four weeks of structured, up-front job search • More intensive services thereafter • Special program for the disabled • Full family sanction and quick enforcement for noncompliance

  6. Attractive Features of WNJ • Only such program backed by control group research • Considered a model program by MDRC • Not just another “job search class,” but a sophisticated therapeutic model targeting common mental/emotional problems • Highly structured, therefore replicable • Short-term intervention (though we added three weeks) • Doesn’t require credentialed staff to operate • Positive rather than punitive • Intensive training offered by Umich

  7. Job Network Outcomes: FY2003 • 856 job placements (44% of enrollees) • Starting wage: $8.30 per hour • Average weekly hours: 34 • Percentage of jobs with benefits: 58% • Caseload decline highest in state by a factor of four. Total caseload down 73% since January 1997. • Placement rate and wages have risen for three straight years

  8. WNJ in Action (Theory vs Practice) • Effects on clients are consistent: Participants obviously feel better on Friday than they did on Monday. • However, attrition is high: 30% during first week; about 75% by week four. Many get jobs; more quit. • WNJ principles are a wellspring for staff as well. Morale remains good; turnover low. Strong belief in doing things “the WNJ way.” • WNJ must be tempered by clear expectations and swift consequences for noncompliance. Many clients just don’t want to be there.

  9. WNJ in Action (2) • Initial two weeks of training by Steve Barnaby et al was absolutely crucial. • Co-facilitation is useful, but administratively difficult and somewhat expensive. • WNJ has helped an extremely diverse staff work together well. • Must always battle the tendency to stray from the curriculum and resume old “teaching” behaviors. • Has heightened our awareness of mental health aspects of TANF. Helps explain limited program impacts; reveals sad state of US mental health system.

  10. What Next? • Job search efforts like WNJ may be more difficult under “TANF 2.” • WNJ “graduates” who get jobs mostly remain poor; little evidence of advancement, despite 6 months of retention services by staff. Good-paying jobs for non-college educated people continue to disappear. What to do? • We’re beginning to track the extent to which individual efforts by staff can make a difference.

  11. From Art to Technology • Recently upgraded our “Efforts to Outcomes” (ETO) Internet-based case management software. • Requires staff to identify specific, measurable goals for individual clients, then document staff and client efforts toward their achievement. • Administrators and staff can download reports showing the amount of progress toward each goal over time. • It’s an innovative way to identify and measure “what works.” • See www.socialsolutionsonline.com

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