Unemployment
Pettis County
Caring Communities Partnership
Core Result: Parents working
Benchmark: Unemployment Rate
February 2002
Objectives
Short term objective: To maintain a 5.4% unemployment rate from July 2001 to July 2002.
Long term objective: To maintain an average unemployment rate in Pettis County of 4.6% over the next three years, 2001 – 2004.
Strategies
Pettis County Community Partnership realizes that it is very difficult to address the unemployment rate in Pettis County when it is tied directly to economic issues. Rather than throwing in the towel and saying we can’t do anything about the unemployment rate, the site councils and the partnership implemented these strategies to address unemployment:
Job Shop – On-the-spot interviews at the job fair will give participants the opportunity to interact with potential employers as well as learn about different careers.
Apprenticeship Program – working through the University of Missouri we will offer apprenticeship jobs to Pettis County residents.
Computer Classes – will provide adults an opportunity to learn computer skills that they can use on the job.
Career Closet – will provide clothing to Putting Families First participants and other low-income families who are interviewing for jobs.
Family Literacy Center – will help adults attain their GED.
Putting Families First, sponsored by Pettis County Community Partnership helps families transition from public assistance to work through a faith-based mentoring program.
Successes:
Working in collaboration with public agencies, such as DFS and private organizations, such as the local Workforce Development Investment Board, Putting Families First designed and implemented a unique partnership between these groups for the purpose of reducing welfare dependency. The intent of this mentoring program is to provide time, advice, encouragement, and technical assistance.
Mentoring teams from area churches help parents find employment, engage in conversations about work ethics and motivation, and investigate job training opportunities in the community. The team also provides assistance in helping the family succeed at goals they have set for themselves, for example obtaining more schooling may be a long term goal, but getting and keeping a job may be a short term necessity.
Currently there are 21 church mentoring teams which encompass 77 volunteer mentors who have been trained. These teams are working with 26 families, including 62 children. Of the 34 participants currently enrolled in the program 24 of them are employed.
Thirteen families have spent a full year in the program and are well on their way to self-sufficiency.
Business partners and many concerned citizens have made in-kind donations of over $9500.
These donations include: 8 cars, new tires, $3000 in auto repairs, furniture, appliances, and electrical work.
Challenges:
Information permitting the measurement of whether low-skill workers are being negatively impacted by labor market conditions is not directly available.
We do know that Missouri’s economy mirrors the national economy closely and its shows that the unemployment rates are higher than average for teenagers and for women who maintain families. The national trend shows that unemployment rates for individuals with less than a high school diploma are higher than for those with more education. Finding and keeping jobs is constantly a challenge for families on public assistance.
A report from the Missouri Economic Research & Information Center tells us that continued weakness in the economy will possibly lead to the increasing selectiveness of employers who are hiring which translates to fewer job opportunities for low-skilled workers.
Observations/Actions:
As a result of working with families in the Putting Families First program the community became aware of the need for transitional housing and public transportation. The Partnership has been a leader in getting businesses to back a public transportation system known as the Community Transportation Partnership.
A new coalition has formed this year to take action on starting a new transitional housing unit for Pettis County. Four Partnership staff are actively involved in getting the coalition “Putting Roofs Over People” (PROP) started and the project underway.
Results
From July 2001 to Nov 2001 the unemployment rate in Pettis County increased dramatically. Many factors such as local plant closings and company bankruptcies played into the rise of unemployment.
Continued weakness in the economy will only make this picture worse. That is why programs like Putting Families First are needed so that families who might otherwise “fall through the cracks” have a place to turn for support.
Funding/Return on Investment
For every Caring Communities dollar we receive for the core result Parents Working we are able to leverage $23.78.
$1200 of Caring Communities funds go towards transportation for those enrolled in the Apprenticeship Classes. The employer is funding 10 apprenticeships valued at $7,000 each for a total investment of $70,000, which is a return on Caring Communities dollars of $58.33.
Caring Communities provides the space for the Career Closet and has received in-kind donations valued at $3500 to date.
Caring Communities partners with the Sedalia Housing Authority in offering beginning computer classes. The Housing Authority provides the computers and class space and Caring Communities provides the teacher and volunteer help for a return on our investment of $3.83 per Caring Communities dollar.
We provide space and volunteers for the family literacy center and State Fair Community College provides the teacher and materials. SFCC has $60,000 invested in our literacy center.
We have received a $78,000 grant from the state for the Putting Families First program. The Division of Family Services has dedicated a caseworker two days per week for an investment to the program of $12,000. Workforce Investment Board provides Workplace Readiness classes for an in-kind donation worth $16,718. Other in-kind donations for this program total over $34,000. With this program we are able to leverage funds at $23.53 for every Caring Communities dollar received.
Noteworthy
The Pettis County Division of Family Services caseworkers inform all families receiving public assistance, regardless of what type of assistance, of the opportunity to participate in the Putting Families First program.
Our local DFS office has appointed a dedicated caseworker to this program. Traditionally, this caseworker works in the PFF office at the Partnership on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The caseworker and the family explore the advantages of being involved in Putting Families First.
As the community became more aware of the needs of families that are trying to transition from public assistance, donations began trickling in. Now the program is even receiving donated cars to help families with reliable transportations so that they can maintain their employment. Eight cars have been received to date.
Barriers
The DFS caseworker assigned to the Putting Families First program has worked in the Partnership office two days per week since the inception of the program in November 1999. The lack of funding for the current fiscal year leaves the local DFS office without enough staff coverage so the Putting Families First caseworker will only be in the Partnership office one day per week at least through March of 2002.
Once transportation was identified as a barrier to employment a committee went to work on implementing a fixed route bus system. Finding enough funds to keep this public transportation running has been difficult. The system is financed through a 50/50 community match grant with MODOT. The community match came from business and organization donations, advertising on the bus and from a venture grant to begin the operation from the Sedalia/Pettis County United Way.
Since that time, CTP has returned to the United Way requesting agency status, which would give CTP community assistance with funding the bus system. The overwhelming response from the local United Way has been that the City of Sedalia should be supporting the system, not the United Way. The city was approached about the additional dollars needed to keep the bus system operating and turned down CTP’s request for funding. The city says the tax dollars they receive are for infrastructure such as streets, drainage systems, sanitary sewer pipes and treatment plants.
CTP is still looking for approximately $10,000 additional dollars each year to keep the much needed bus route running.
