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AACC WDIJanuary 2010

St. Petersburg, FL

Courses to Employment: Sector Approaches to

Community College/Nonprofit Partnerships

Examples from the Health Care Field

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Introductions

Allison Gerber, Research Associate, The Aspen Institute

3 Case Studies: Carreras en Salud (Careers in Health): Instituto del

Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College, Chicago IL

Partnership in Health Sciences, Capital IDEA & Austin Community College, Austin TX

Training Futures: Northern Virginia Family Service & Northern Virginia Community College, Fairfax VA

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Session ObjectivesLearn about the three partnerships’

collaborative work to help low-income individuals prepare for, gain entry to, and complete college credits in health care – related occupations.

Learn about AspenWSI’s demonstration project, Courses to Employment, which is supporting, researching and documenting collaborative sector strategies between community colleges and nonprofits.

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What’s a Sector Strategy? A systems approach to workforce development typically on behalf of low-income individuals – that:

Targets a specific industry or cluster of occupations;Intervenes through a credible organization, or set of organizations;Supports workers in improving their range of employment-related skills;andCreates lasting changes in the labor market system that are positive for workers and employers.

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Capacities Needed

Strong focus on a defined industry sector and/or set of related occupations to identify employment opportunity and develop appropriate education services

High quality education & training that both meets industry-identified skill needs and is appropriate and accessible to underserved adults

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Capacities Needed (cont.)

Support services (academic & non-academic) that meet special needs of underserved adults to learn successfully and progress to jobs that pay self-sufficiency wages

Shared vision about the need to develop new ways of operating & ability to communicate this effectively to support innovation and institutional changes, as needed

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Courses to Employment

Based on premise that, with rare exception, neither colleges nor non-profits have the resources needed to serve low-income, minority, and under represented adult learners effectively—especially over the long-term.

Inspired by the outcomes and possibilities we’ve seen in collaborative work

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Community College – Non-profit Partnerships

Supportive Services

EducationStrategies

IndustryStrategy

Community & Sector Organizations

College Innovation & Scale

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Courses to Employment

Learning demonstration involving six community college-non-profit program collaborations

Participants were selected competitively—from 89 applications

Substantial learning & research agenda, conducted 2008-2010

Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

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What Questions is CTE Exploring?

What specific services are provided? By which institution? Why? Which ones seem most important?

Outcomes for participants? Compared to?Engagement and role of business in the

initiative? Factors of successful collaboration?

Policies, funding, governing and capacity issues?

What does collaborative service delivery cost? How is it financed?

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Fairfax, VA: Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern Virginia Community College

Austin: Capital IDEA & Austin Community College

Seattle: Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County & Shoreline Community College

Chicago: Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wright College’s Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center

Flint, MI: Mott Community College & Flint STRIVE Los Angeles: Community Career Development,

Inc., Los Angeles Valley College, East Los Angeles College & Los Angeles City College

CTE Partnerships

Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College

Objective: Move low-income Latinos into career path opportunities in nursing and help them advance; develop bi-lingual health care practitioners to serve community.

Students Served: Low-income Latinos, mostly women; comprised of both new immigrants and longer-term residents; wide age range.

IDPL’s Role: Delivers pre-college contextualized curriculum targeted towards several entry points along the health care career ladder (e.g., Pre-CNA and Pre-LPN); pays for tuition, fees, and books; provides career counseling and case management; offers assistance accessing support services.

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Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wilbur Wright College,

cont. Wright College’s Role: Provides dedicated CNA, LPN, & RN slots to Carreras en Salud students meeting entrance requirements; provides flexible scheduling with night and weekend options; delivers specialized tutoring & academic supports.

Partnership Areas & Innovations: Career pathway model provides students with a number of on-ramps and off-ramps for varying skill levels and employment needs; partners work as a team to develop employer relationships and garner employer input; joint fundraising for Carreras program; partnership team meets regularly to discuss student success, coordinate academic and non-academic supports.

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Capital IDEA & Austin Community College

Objective: To prepare students to enter college and earn a degree in the health care field.

Students Served 80% minority; 80% women; average age 30; average 7th grade reading & math at entry; 30% ESL; 66% parents (26% single parents).

Capital IDEA’s Role: pays for tuition, books, fees and childcare; provides case management and career counseling; pre-employment skills development; referrals to additional supportive services; emergency financial assistance.

ACC’s Role: Delivers all education and training, including ESL, GED, College Prep Academy, & Tutorials

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Capital IDEA & Austin Community College,

cont. Partnership Areas & Innovations: Weekend cohorts; , selection of instructors; customized training via College Prep Academy; RN tutor for bilingual students; scholarships/financial aid; progress reports & electronic transfer of grades; joint counseling.

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Northern Virginia Family Services & Northern Virginia Community

College Objective: Prepare students for office/ administrative

positions in health care field; guide students through half of coursework in Business Administration certificate.

Students Served: Low-income adults (avg. $10.55/hr at entry); 57% employed at entry (12% full-time); 2/3 foreign-born/bilingual; 75% women; 30% single parents; median age in 30s (range from 20-50+).

NVFS’s Role: Provide 25 weeks of training (500+ hours) in keyboarding, computers, customer service, filing, & professional development; provide career counseling, case management, coordinate referrals to supportive services; coordinate 3-week internships.

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Northern Virginia, cont.

NOVA’s Role: Validate curriculum; certify instructors as college faculty; provide students with 17 college credits; leverage federal financial aid to support non-profit.

Partnership Innovations: “Imaginal” educational philosophy; approach replicated with two other non-profit partners.

Outcomes: Approximately 200 enrolled 2007-2009; 93% completed program; on average 80% employed full-time w/in 6 months; hourly wage gain at first job (average 25% increase for those employed prior to program).

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The Aspen InstituteOne Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20036(202) 736-1071

E-mail: wsi@aspeninst.org http://www.aspenwsi.org

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