Presentation Title · •Presentation Title • Month #, 2017 • Margaret Schultze, VDSS Commissioner 11 1. More intentional processes upfront 2. Going above and beyond the basic

• Presentation Title

• Month #, 2017

• Margaret Schultze, VDSS Commissioner

VIEW Roundtable DiscussionVirginia Department of Social Services

Spring 2019 BPRO Conference


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2Introductions


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3Mark Golden, TANF/VIEW Program

Manager

The Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare program is reframing the direction of our program. Effective July 1st, 2019, we will become “The Virginia Initiative for Education and Work” program. This roundtable workshop will begin the dialogue for identifying strategies, tools and measures that will best assist our customer’s in their journey to self-sufficiency. We will also introduce the United Way ALICE Project which provides a framework, language and tools to measure and understand the struggles of the growing number of households in our communities that do not earn enough to afford basic necessities.


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4The United Way ALICE Project

ALICE, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, is a new way of defining and understanding the struggles of households that earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford a bare-bones household budget.

For far too many families, the cost of living outpaces what they earn. These households struggle to manage even their most basic needs - housing, food, transportation, child care, health care, and necessary technology.

When funds run short, cash-strapped households are forced to make impossible choices, such as deciding between quality child care or paying the rent, filling a prescription or fixing the car. These short-term decisions have long-term consequences not only for ALICE families, but for all of us.


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5The United Way ALICE Project, continued

• Every one of us knows ALICE; maybe we are ALICE – child care providers, home health aides, mechanics, retail workers, service providers, store clerks, or office assistants. ALICE can be a new graduate just starting out in life, a young family, or a retiree. Some households become ALICE due to an unforeseen life event: a life altering health diagnosis, job loss, or family crisis such as a death or divorce.

• Until now, ALICE has been a hidden population. ALICE households often don’t qualify for governmental aid or social service programs, so they are virtually invisible to the system, their struggle unseen and unknown. Yet this Report clearly shows us who ALICE is, where ALICE lives, and how ALICE struggles in the state of Virginia.


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continued

ALICE MEASURES

The ALICE research team developed new measures to identify and assess financial hardship at a local level and to enhance existing local, state, and national poverty measures.

Household Survival Budget is an estimate of the total cost of household essentials – housing, child care, food, transportation, technology, and health care, plus taxes and a 10 percent contingency. It is calculated separately for each county, and for six different household types.

The ALICE Threshold represents the minimum income level necessary based on the Household Survival Budget. Households below the Threshold include both ALICE households and those living in poverty.

The ALICE Income Assessment measures:1. The income households need to reach the ALICE Threshold2. The income they actually earn3. How much public and nonprofit assistance is provided4. The Unfilled Gap – how much more money is needed to reach the ALICE Threshold despite

both income and assistance


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continued


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continued


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10

With a reframed focus in the

way we service our VIEW

clients, please define how you

see your role changing as an

Employment Services

Worker?

Question # 1


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111. More intentional processes upfront

2. Going above and beyond the basic initial assessment

3. Planned and organized pathways for the client

4. Work with parents and children to break generational cycles

5. The need for more transitional services

6. The development of more relationships with community partners

7. Provide more wrap-around services

8. Set goals – Smart, realistic and time sensitive

9. It is important to meet the client where they are

10. Make sure clients are ready to participate in VIEW

11. It is important to encourage and inform the client of all the valuable resources that exist

12. It is important to address the causes of barriers

13. More investment in the training of workers

14. Career coaching versus caseload management

Question # 1 Responses


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12

What are some of the

processes, tools and resources

that your agency utilizes to

promote the movement of a

VIEW participant towards a

living wage?

Question # 2


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131. Financial literacy classes

2. Workforce development certifications

3. Partnerships with WIOA

4. Specialized services based on the exact needs of the client

5. Utilization of online educational opportunities

6. Have outside resources perform in-house training at the local agency

7. Southampton partners with a medical transport company to provide transportation for VIEW clients due to the lack of public transportation

8. RSVP – Rehabilitative Services and Vocational Placement



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14

Please describe what you feel

are some of the opportunities

and obstacles with the VIEW

program?

Question # 3


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151. New workers lack skills training with accessing resources, and grant writing to

obtain access to more resources/funding

2. Vocational education 12-month limitation

3. GED – Non-core activity

4. Need for an increase in educational activities that are offered

5. Rural areas – Lack of job opportunities, Wi-Fi access and transportation

6. Lack of awareness about the community resources that are available

7. Duplication of community services

8. Need access to better data to be able to perform proper analysis of the communities served

9. The need for more mental health services

10. Motivating clients is a challenge

11. One agency has clients that made a way out of poverty share their testimonies so that they can provide motivation and hope for current clients

12. The expectations of each locality should not be the same since the demographics do not mirror each other



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16

What changes would you like

to see with the way the VIEW

program is operated?

Question # 4


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171. Focus more on specific county/city level issues based on the demographics of

the population they serve

2. Can the required forms be automated?

3. A change in the time constraints with each component

4. The 24-month and 60-month time limits need to be extended. Is this enough time for someone to become self-sufficient?

5. There should be phases to the VIEW program that result in graduation at each phase

6. How effective are sanctions? Can this area be re-visited?

7. Crisis stabilization before becoming fully engaged in the VIEW program

8. Reports that provide data regarding barriers



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18• Amaka Akiwande and her two children Ragna, age 7 and Walid,

age 10, recently moved from Africa to Radford, Virginia as Refugees. Amaka was approved for TANF, SNAP and Medical Assistance for her family. She will be required to participate in the VIEW program because she did not meet an exemption. With Farsi being their first language, Amaka and the children have limited English proficiency. Amaka has never held a FT job, and her main source of income was selling homemade Injera bread back at home, making on average $100 per month. Amaka does not have a license or transportation.

Describe some of the steps you would take to promote the movement of Amaka achieving a living wage.

Case Study


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19Thank You


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20

Michele Atkinson

Sr. Economic and Employment

Consultant, TANF/VIEW

[email protected]

804-726-7929

Contact Information

Documents

Presentation Title · •Presentation Title • Month #, 2017 • Margaret Schultze, VDSS Commissioner 11 1. More intentional processes upfront 2. Going above and beyond the basic