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Wednesday, January 07, 2009 |
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Skill Up Rhode Island
A Project of United Way of Rhode Island
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Skill Up Rhode Island is a community impact initiative that invests in the development and enhancement of workforce intermediaries, or partnerships, to meet the needs of low-skilled adult Rhode Islanders and the employers who hire them. A project of the United Way of Rhode Island, the initiative supports the development of highly networked public and community partnerships among employers, education, training, and support services providers to facilitate the creation of career opportunities and a stable workforce. Jobs for the Future provides technical assistance to the United Way, the Skill Up Rhode Island steering committee, and prospective grantees on the overall design and implementation of the initiative.
Rationale
Changes in the labor market over the last three decades have made it more difficult for low-wage workers to gain the experience, training, and personal networks on the job that provide opportunities for upward mobility. While the nature of work requires a flexible workforce that responds rapidly to changes in technology and the economy, few employers have the human resource capacity to reconcile the needs of low-skill/low-income individuals with their business’ skilled labor needs. Workforce Partnerships will become the vehicle to engage employers and workforce development providers in working together to build a skilled entry-level workforce that is ready to respond to opportunities for advancement.
Approach
Skill Up Rhode Island encourages the formation and expansion of dual-customer sectoral or regional intermediaries, called Workforce Partnerships, that design long-term interventions that meet the hiring, retention, and advancement needs of employers and of job and skill seekers. Workforce Partnerships are intended to serve both customers by working within industry sectors, or with occupational clusters in regional labor markets, to develop structured education and training pathways that are linked to career advancement for low-income adult residents of Rhode Island.
Workforce Partnerships will engage in three primary areas of work:
- Assist low-income workers to make progress toward economic self-sufficiency;
- Provide services that meet businesses’ workforce development needs; and
- Develop practices that enhance the capacity of the workforce development system to meet the needs of employers and low-income workers.
Skill Up Rhode Island will provide financial support to selected partnerships to seed the development of new workforce intermediaries with an industry sector or regional labor market occupational focus. Funding can support the planning and organization of new partnerships, research into the workforce development needs of industry sectors or regional labor markets, capacity building, program design, and program delivery.
Recipients of initial planning grants in 2006 may be invited to prepare and submit an application for an implementation grant that will include a fully developed business plan. Implementation partnerships will be supported over a three-year period (2007-2009) to provide a continuum of workforce development services that enables low-skilled adults to access the level and intensity of services they need to progress toward economic self-sufficiency. Services provided should help employers meet their needs for a productive workforce and help low-income individuals obtain the skills and credentials to acquire a job with career potential and obtain the supports they need to participate in training and succeed at work.
Desired Outcomes
Skill Up Rhode Island will support Workforce Partnerships that are committed to contributing to achieving of the following key measurable outcomes from 2007 to 2009:
- Job readiness: As a result of this initiative, low-income, un- or underemployed Rhode Island residents will receive pre-employment services that address such areas as: reading, writing, and verbal skills; math literacy; English language proficiency; problem-solving skills; and support service needs (e.g., child care, transportation). Such services should prepare program participants to understand general workplace culture and expectations, as well as to possess the attitudes and behavior integral to competing successfully in the labor market.
- Employment with supporting wages: As a result of this initiative, low-income Rhode Island residents will be employed in good jobs. For the purposes of this initiative, an acceptable job is defined as a job with the following characteristics: income that is at least 150 percent of the state minimum wage; work for a minimum of 30 hours per week; fringe benefits (e.g., health insurance and paid vacation); and retention for at least 6 months and that insures employee success.
- Career opportunities: Program participants will have access to job retention services, career opportunities/tools (e.g., education and training to upgrade employees’ current skills and/or to teach them new skills); and career-coaching services. These opportunities will provide participants access to jobs with a career that offers higher wages linked to increased education, experience, and skills.
- Workforce stabilization: Skill Up Rhode Island aims to foster workforce stabilization for employers by increasing worker quality and productivity and reducing employee turnover. It also aims to support the development of expert knowledge of the workplace culture of specific employers to better bridge the gap between their needs and employee competence. Retention services will be offered to every employer.
- Effective workforce development systems: Workforce partnerships will create workforce development systems that are: more cohesive; better aligned with employer and worker needs; and more proactive in ameliorating the gaps between the labor market and its stakeholders.
Funding
United Way of Rhode Island will provide approximately $500,000 total per year for three years (2007, 2008, 2009) for Skill Up Rhode Island funding. Workforce partnerships are expected to supplement their Skill Up RI grants with contracts and grants from other public, philanthropic and employer sources to achieve their goals, including at least a 50 percent cash match for full implementation.
Project Management
United Way volunteers, with assistance from Jobs for the Future, Abt Associates, and United Way of Rhode Island staff, will make funding decisions at each stage of the process. The United Way intends to foster a collaborative relationship with the initiative’s grantees to support them in redesigning workforce development services in Rhode Island. Throughout the initiative, grantees will meet regularly with Jobs for the Future, Abt Associates, and United Way of Rhode Island staff and volunteers to receive feedback and technical assistance on their program designs.
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| Publications |
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 A Survey of Selected Work Readiness Certificates
Good Things from Small Packages: Finding Common Ground for Workforce Development in Rhode Island
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