The Revolving Door

1
The Revolving Door

• Research Findings on NYCs
• Employment Services and Placement System
• and Its Effectiveness in
• Moving People from Welfare to Work
• A Research Project by Community Voices Heard -
  July 2005

2
Presentation Format

• ESP System Overview
• Research Design
• Research Findings
• Connecting People to Long-term Employment
• Providing Access to Training and Education
• Addressing the Needs of a Diverse Population
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
• Questions Answers

3
What is an ESP?

• Employment Services and Placement
• Contracts that NYCs welfare agency (HRA)
  has with private for-profit and
  not-for-profit entities (1999 - 2005)
• Provide job readiness and job search assistance
  to mandated work-ready welfare recipients

4
Why study the ESP System?

• Federal government is currently debating
  expanding work requirements hours
  (TANF Reauthorization)
• NYC welfare agency is about to establish
  new employment services contracts
  (HRA Works)
• Limited research has been conducted on
  work-first programmatic initiatives

5
HRA-Designed Welfare-to-Work Path for Employable
Welfare Recipients
6
ESP Program Goals

• Job Placement
• Connect Participants with Jobs
• Job Retention
• Help People Retain Jobs
• Case Closure
• Eliminate Peoples Dependence on the Welfare
  System

7
ESP Program Structure
8
ESP System Summary

• 9 vendors hold contracts
• 26 sites operated across city
• 4,100 individuals referred per month
• 50,000 individuals referred per year
• 130 million allocated for 3 years

9
Performance-Based Contracts

• Vendors paid for performance only
• Maximum of 5,500 per client served
• Payment milestones include
• Job Placement
• 13 Week Retention / High Wage
• 26 Week Retention / Case Closed
• Renewal contracts shifted pay
• from original placement
• to 13 week retention high wage

10

• Research Design

11
Data Source Categories

• HRA Documents and Meetings
• Proposals, policy directives, curriculum, RFPs,
  etc.
• Client Surveys
• 600 clients surveyed at 25 different ESP Sites
• Provider Interviews and Material
• 19 interviews conducted representing 8 vendors
• HRA VendorStat Reports
• Monthly performance reports from 2004 reviewed
• Client Interviews
• 12 in-depth interviews conducted

12

• Research Findings

13
Job Placement Retention

• 8 percent of those referred to the ESP System
  are placed in jobs within six months
• Of those placed in jobs
• 35 still hold those jobs six months later
• 29 return to PA
• 36 remain unaccounted for

14
Scope Salary of Placements

• 75 percent of those referred to jobs by their ESP
  Sites were referred to positions that paid 8.00
  or less
• 19 percent of ESP clients were referred to
  part-time positions
• Many of the full-time positions were to temporary
  positions
• 58 percent were uninformed about work-related
  benefits available to them

15
Systemic Problems

1. Conflicts between ESPs and the Work Experience
   Program (WEP)
2. Lack of Strategic Workforce Development for
   Welfare Recipients
3. No Coordination between HRA and the Dept. of
   Small Business Services (SBS)

16
Job Readiness Preparation

• While most clients of the ESP System were exposed
  to workshops that prepared them to get jobs,
  fewer were exposed to workshops that prepared
  them to retain jobs.

17
Knowledge of Education Training Rights

• 1 in 3 ESP clients do not know about their rights
  regarding education and training.
• Clients have different information depending on
  the vendor to which they are assigned.

18
Education Training Access

• 18 percent of ESP clients were able to access
  vocational education and training to better
  prepare them for work.
• Clients at America Works were the least likely to
  be in education and training N-PAC clients were
  the most likely.

19
Systemic Problems

1. Limitations of Individual Training Account (ITA)
   Vouchers
2. Performance-Based Contracts Undermine Education
   and Training

20
Barriers to Employment

• 61 percent of ESP clients identify barriers that
  make it hard for them to get, accept, or keep a
  job.
• While 77 percent of those with barriers say that
  workers at their ESP are aware of the barriers
  they face, only 50 percent feel the ESP program
  is able to help them deal with the barriers.

21
Referred, but Not Served

• 30 percent of those referred to the ESPs each
  month Fail to Report (FTR).
• 14 percent are sent back to HRA each month due to
  wrong initial referral.
• 46 percent end up in receipt of a Failure to
  Comply (FTC).

22
Failure to Comply (FTCs)

• 82 percent of people seen by the ESP System are
  FTCed, rather than placed in a job, by the end of
  six months.
• 55 percent of clients had been to more than one
  job search / job readiness site the average
  number of sites attended was 3.
• Many clients find themselves in an endless cycle
  - a revolving door.

23
Systemic Problems

1. Faulty Referral and Assessment Processes and
   Practices
2. High Propensity to Issue FTCs
3. Performance-Based Contracts Discourage Service
   Provision

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• Conclusion

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Systemic Failure

• NYC lacks a strategic workforce development
  approach for welfare recipients.
• WEP fails to prepare people for work and
  discourages job searching.
• The ITA Voucher System discourages enrollment in
  training.
• Education and training providers are neither
  monitored nor evaluated.

26
Systemic Failure (Cont.)

• HRA fails to refer the right people to the right
  services.
• HRA prioritizes sanctioning of clients over
  addressing their barriers.
• The contracting system does not support working
  with clients with more challenges to employment.

27
Whats Next?

• ESP contracts expire this year
• New contracts set to start Oct. 1, 2005
• HRA Works will
• Combine 3 employment contracts into 1
• Utilize up to 63 million per year
• Serve 12,800 individuals per month
• Some potentially positive program changes
• Collapsing of contracts
• Having ESPs assign WEP sites
• Add incentive pay for reducing numbers of
  sanctioned clients
• More is necessary to address past limitations
  recognized

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• Recommendations

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To meet the goal of connecting more welfare
recipients to long-term employment, city
government should

• Coordinate HRA and SBS in Crafting a Single
  Workforce Development Strategy
• Develop Career-Ladder Programs that Reflect Real
  Labor Market Needs
• Create Industry and/or Occupation Employment
  Services Hubs for Welfare Recipients

30
To facilitate access to education and training
among welfare recipients, city government should

• Eliminate Sanctions and FTCs as Barriers to
  ITA Voucher Applications
• Monitor and Identify Effective Training Programs
• Add Payment Milestones that Encourage Placement
  in Training

31
To more adequately meet the needs of a diverse
population seeking assistance, city government
and HRA should

• Develop an Assessment Process that is Broad in
  Scope
• Establish a Separate Sanction Trouble-Shooting
  Program
• Create Line Item Funds or Additional Milestones
  for Service Provision
• Expand Paid Transitional Jobs into Other City
  Agencies
• Create a Supported Work Program for the
  Hardest-to-Employ

32
To ensure that we can really learn what works in
moving people from welfare-to-work, city
government should

• Contract an Outside Entity to Monitor and
  Evaluate HRA Works

33

• Questions and Answers