Rekindling the Dream

How can you be such an angry young man? Your future looks

quite bright to me!

Angry Young Man, Styx

Future? I don’t even have today, man.

SC High School Drop Out, 2005

Poor people are not taught that they are in charge of their own lives, or that they can change their lives through

the sheer force of their own ambition. Self-reliance and ambition are not

parts of the culture of poverty.Carol Apt

ACC Newsletter, Winter 2007

Quotes from Rapid Response Staff

• “115 have been laid off—none of the employees expressed an interest in going into any type of training at this time.”  

• “Around 75% of X company’s people do not have a high school education or GED. They are not interested in returning to school. Some of them cannot read or write at all but are not willing to admit that. Many of the others are functioning at such low grade levels they would run out of funds before they could finish remedial training, but once again, most of them are too embarrassed to admit it. For that reason, most of them refused to go through WIA assessment.”

Not in Labor Force 997,807

Unemployed 172,483

Employed 1,874,063

Population Over 18 versus Labor Force

Labor Force = 2,046,546 (Employed + Unemployed)

Employed = 1,874,063(Persons ≥16 working at least one hour/wk)

Unemployed = 172,483 (Not employed, available and actively seeking employment)

Not in Labor Force = 497,807 (Persons in population 18 years and older minus the labor

force; based on 2004 Census Data, ≈.5 M over the age of 65)

Recent ETS Report: America’s Perfect Storm

• Data from NAEP reveal that between 1984 and 2004 the average size of the Black-White and the Hispanic-White achievement gaps remained large and stable.

• International surveys of students and adults indicate that while our average performance is no better than mediocre, our degree of inequality (the gap between our best and least proficient) is among the highest in OECD countries.

Perfect Storm (cont.)

• Large numbers of our nation’s adults do not demonstrate sufficient literacy and numeracy skills to fully participate in a competitive work environment

• “We estimate that by 2030 the average levels of literacy and numeracy in the working-age population will have decreased by about 5% while inequity will have increased by about 7%.”

Workforce Gap

• 90 percent of the fastest growing jobs require technical skills training

• 48 of the 50 best paying jobs require a minimum of two years post-secondary education

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Rekindling the Dream—We can help

Workforce Investment Act

• Federal program with dual customer base

–Participants

–Businesses

• South Carolina received $63M for the 06-07 program year

Distribution of Funds

70%

15%

15%

85%

15%

85%

15%

DislocatedWorker

Adult Youth

Programs

State Allotments

StatewideRapid ResponseLocal Area

UnemploymentInsurance (UI)

$$$

Core Services

(Resumes, job Matching and Searches, etc.)

Intensive Services (Assessment,

money for training,money for support

services)

$

UI

↓

$

Wagner-Peyser

↓

$

WorkforceInvestmentAct (WIA)

↓

Other Partners

$TANF

Voc RehabAdult EdVeterans

Etc…

↓

One-Stop

Self Service Opportunities

Beginning Jobs/Emerging WorkersBetter Jobs/Evolving WorkersBest Jobs/Excelling Workers

Different Levels of Jobs and Workers

$3.2M in Competitive Grants

Samples of awards:

OCTech: developing career pathways and providing instruction in nursing assistant, pre-employment manufacturing, patient care technician, and truck driving

First Steps: developing career pathways for child care workers and providing training from the lowest to the highest jobs and skill levels

Lexington/Richland 5: tripling the hours for adult education focusing on closing literacy and numeracy gaps, especially targeting the prison population, and assisting with the transition to the workforce

In 05—06, SC workforce development invested roughly $1900 in each of 10,889 adults seeking

employment.4800 adults are still receiving services.

Results for the other 6,055:84% employment rate

90% employment retention rate Average earnings

gain of $2906.

Sample of WIA Participant Results

Increase Adult Participants

From July to the end of January, WIA has served 20% more adults than during the same period last year.

We will be partnering with CAP agencies in the coming months to discuss more direct referrals, etc.

People of WIA

• Serrenyun Tolden—single mother, used WIA funds for Lander’s Business Administration program, transportation, child care, and textbooks. She graduated with a 3.0, is working at the Department of Revenue, and is pursuing a masters in Accounting.

• Keith Beall—high school drop out, laid off manufacturing worker, used WIA funds to get GED, go to Tri-County Tech for his EPA certification, tuition, books, transportation, and a living stipend. Now stably employed by Total Comfort.

In a global economy, the government cannot give anybody a guaranteed success story, but you can give people the tools to make the most of their own lives.

Philip Bobbitt, Philip Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles: War, The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of HistoryPeace, and the Course of History

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