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Issue Statement
   The 1990 U.S. Census reported a 16.3 percent unemployment rate for the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, while the City of St. Louis rate is considerably lower at between four and six percent. The statistic does not account for individuals failing to file for unemployment or non-reported employment. Thus, the unemployment rate for FPSE may be understated. The median family income was $15,737 and the average family household size was 2.67 persons.

   Neighborhood Connection serves as an outreach and clearinghouse for human service agencies in the FPSE neighborhood. Neighborhood Connection is a cost effective, 24 hour a day, 365 days a year, telephone service that helps individuals and families improve their quality of life by bridging the gap between clients who need services and existing social service agencies and their programs. In 1998 Neighborhood Connection conducted a study in FPSE which reported 38% of residents in FPSE in full time employment and approximately 21% unemployed. The data is consistent with information from 1990 Census data. Their report shows:

   Similar to other communities with high unemployment rates, FPSE is plagued with barriers such as transportation, quality day care, day care during non-traditional working hours, education, life skills, self-esteem, mental health issues, substance abuse and misperception. In addition, individuals living day to day and paycheck to paycheck may not see the incentive to leaving work for further job training or taking a job that pays less with benefits over a job that may pay more, but without benefits. Such challenges make finding successful employment difficult for individuals without a strong support network within the community. Many stable jobs have left the City to the suburbs and many support services are two bus rides away. By strengthening programs within the community, the individual has an increased chance of getting need support services to finding successful employment.

   Another indicator of the need to address unemployment and underemployment in FPSE is reflected in the 1997 Project Respond data indicating that over 50 percent of the children in the 63110 zip code, which includes FPSE, received TANF/AFDC in 1996. While we have no doubt that most households are struggling to provide a health nurturing environment for their children it is also clear that many are not succeeding. If one of our goals is to maintain the diversity of income, race and age which has been the hallmark of FPSE, then efforts to assist and support neighborhood residents in this struggle to overcome the myriad of obstacles to adequate housing, successful employment and health care is paramount.

   In FPSE, the strategy for parents working in FPSE addresses the barriers to employment and addresses the need for support even after gaining successful employment. Our strategy attempts to provide the support services an individual' needs to retain employment with adequate wages and benefits. FPSE looks at successful employment as one that addresses a household's economic needs, physical needs, mental needs and health needs over the long term.

Benchmarks

• Reduce the number of children receiving TANF
  
• Increase the average earnings for individuals
  
• Reduce the unemployment rates for adults
  
• Increase the retention rates of individuals achieving successful employment

Baseline Analysis
   Data in above tables show that individuals in FPSE are having serious difficulties finding and retaining gainful employment. The FPSE Employment Referral Service Center, an outgrowth of the HUD grant, reported in 1998, that out of 133 neighborhood residents who came to the center, 29 did not graduate from high school and 84 participants completed high school or obtained a GED. While we do not know if this representative of the educational achievement of unemployed residents of FPSE we do know that this group named child care and transportation as the most significant obstacles to employment, not education. This suggests that efforts to focus on stronger links to support services and maintaining those links are crucial to parents working.

   Employment data regarding employment in this proposal points to the use of a "place 0based employment support". The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) reported to the Rockefeller Foundation in A Concept Paper for Place-Based Employment Initiative (1998) that,

If communities are to be assisted out of poverty, it will be necessary to cross service, funding and bureaucratic disciplines and to integrate resources on the neighborhood level. We reaffirmed for ourselves that the case management model of integrating resources for people (i.e. providing services) is an effective way for programs to develop trusting, long-term relationships with community residents in order to help them, and that case management service models are most easily and effectively implemented at the community level.

   In November 1997, CSH began a research effort to identify strategies for increasing employment within disadvantaged neighborhoods. Their model is drawn largely from research into best practices and thinking on employment-driven, neighborhood focused and anti-poverty strategies. CSH's report is also based on a three-year program that attempted to raise the rate of employment among formerly homeless tenants of 21 supportive housing providers in three cities.

   Our strategy for parents working is based on the notion that holistic employment services delivered on a community based level provides a stronger support for achieving successful employment. It is self-evident that an unemployment rate of 16.3% is not only problematic for the individual who is unemployed, but her/his family and, by extension, the larger community.

Strategies

• The Metropolitan Employment and Rehabilitation Service (MERS) was established in 1940, in response to the social, educational and economic needs of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. Since its inception, MERS has expanded to provide services to individuals with serious disabilities, those who are economically or culturally disadvantaged, people in transition to the community following judgement for a criminal offense and those devastated by sudden job loss. MERS, as one of the largest welfare-to-work contracts, provides employment services to individuals having extreme difficulty finding successful employment. Some of their programs and training are public awareness, vocational skill training, psychological support services, supported living and job placement. MERS is planning to place a satellite office in the new Community Development Office in order to provide greater services to FPSE residents.
• The Community Council, existing services and other stakeholders will work with MERS to shape a program specific to the needs of FPSE. Several needs include:
  • Employ an employment supervisor, within the first year.
    • The employment supervisor's responsibilities would include: creating peer-to-peer job clubs facilitated by the organizers, linking residents to job opportunities by developing strong connections to employers and overseeing the case management and follow-up of residents seeking employment.
    • Oversee three organizers responsible for facilitating job clubs, job coaching and following-up with residents seeking employment
    • Given the level of responsibility of the employment supervisor, the qualifications for the position will include a masters level degree and two years of experience in employment activities or an undergraduate degree and a greater number of years of experience.
• Employ three employment organizers, within the first year.
  • The organizers' main responsibilities would include: facilitating peer-to-peer job clubs composed of up to ten residents and providing support to residents seeking employment through case management and follow-up.
  • The case management and follow-up duties includes linking residents to proper support services and, supporting and encouraging residents throughout the employment process.
  • The organizers would work under the guidance of the employment supervisor. We are looking for organizers with a bachelor's level degree or equivalent experience.
• The Community Development Office is currently working with the Department of Social Services to place a self-sufficiency specialist in FPSE. The self-sufficiency specialist will be placed in the Community Development Office and work closely with MERS to engage TANF recipients.
• Neighborhood Connection will act as an outreach and clearinghouse for all of the programs being offered to achieve the six State Core Results -
  • Neighborhood Connection will increase the amount of participants enrolling in neighborhood programs and coach individuals struggling to stay in programs. During the last year the Neighborhood Connection has received the most calls for FPSE residents wanting employment. The case management of these individuals includes overcoming the barriers to work such as finding adequate day care and transportation. There are many job placement, welfare to work, and temporary work programs available and the Neighborhood Connection keeps track of all the options to help the individual choose the most appropriate path back into the workplace and into self-sufficiency.
  • The program seeks to build stronger, healthier working families who are less prone to violence and crime. The service begins with a call by the individual to a special line at Life Crisis Services for the Neighborhood Connection. Then their needs are identified, referrals given, conference calls made and case manager assigned who will continue contact until the individuals needs are met.
  • Services to FPSE will include: 1) adding new FPSE Community Council providers and programs to the database 2) distributing brochures weekly offering services 3) 24 hour telephone social service hotline featuring conference calling 4) follow up case management until goal is achieved or contact is lost 5) monthly statistics, six month and one year summaries 6) one full time employee 7) 100 follow up surveys conducted in fall of 1999 8) end of first year survey statistics with summary reports and possible article
• Existing resources (i.e. health center, GED, substance abuse) in the community will be asked to provide the support services for residents seeking employment.
• Implement an Individual Development Account Program (IDA), giving residents an opportunity to save for future needs. The IDA earnings could potentially fund transportation and tools for employment or pay for unexpected medical expenses.

Performance Measures
   The employment team is responsible for monitoring the employment program through impact assessments and enrollment efforts. Reports from the assessments will be made to the FPSE Community Council and other stakeholders on a quarterly basis. As a result of the outreach, evaluation and support efforts of the employment supervisor and organizers the Human Service Project Manager and the employment team will evaluate the degree of achievement of the benchmarks.

• Increasing the average earnings for individuals
• Reduce the unemployment rates for adults
• Increase the retention rates of individuals achieving successful employment

Budget

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