Establish an Achievement Model That Integrates Social Services, Adult Education, and Workforce Training

An overwhelming number of Sharswood residents reported that obtaining employment was a challenge. Residents and stakeholders consistently voiced the need for opportunities to become gainfully employed, concerns about employment prospects for their children, and a strong interest in benefiting from the neighborhood’s revitalization. Residents also asked for informational career workshops for adults and children with professional speakers who reflect the neighborhood’s cultural makeup, and could be positive role models for young men and women in the community. During the People Planning Taskforce meetings with residents, there was a persistently expressed need for supportive services in the in the areas of continuing
education and job training programs.

The strategies for improving economic opportunities for families focus on programs designed to provide support and re-sources to prepare for, find, and retain employment that will foster the long-term stability of households in the neighborhood. The achievement model will integrate community social services into adult education programming and workforce training by going beyond training for employment to encouraging the application of job skills to the upkeep of the home, financial stability, and neighborhood investment.

Strategy 1: Develop a Support Network for the Entire Family

• 1.1 Provide access to services centered around “Vision Planning” to connect families and individuals within the community to resources that will support its execution.
• 1.2 Provide educational advancement programs for low literacy adults and seniors.
• 1.3 Host community events and create a Speakers Bureau to facilitate continuous community engagement in education programs and workforce training programs.

Performance Indicators and Metrics

•  Total number of families in the community (post redevelopment)
•  Percentage of families in community with Vision Plans and benefitting from the plan
•  Total number of community events and participants at each event

Strategy 2: Empower Residents to Overcome Barriers to Employment

• 2.1 Address individual barriers to employment from hard skills (education and training) to life skills and daily challenges (travel, childcare) by providing training programs and identifying funding to provide transportation vouchers for working parents.
• 2.2 Partner with area employers to provide workforce development programs through internships or apprentice opportunities.
• 2.3 Connect residents with financial literacy education programs to improve credit scores.
• 2.4 Provide a listing of Section 3 employment opportunities to residents for employment in the neighborhood’s redevelopment.

Performance Indicators and Metrics

• Community unemployment rate
• Total number of local employers providing internship or apprentice opportunities
• Total number of participants enrolled in job training or other workforce development programs
• Total number of residents employed through Section 3 job placement

Strategy 3: Establish a Youth Apprentice and Training Work Program

• 3.1 Connect neighborhood youth with the Philadelphia Youth Network to encourage youth empowerment, employment, and job training.
• 3.2 Develop after-school programs and activities that emphasize CSTEM training and skills such as application development. There will also be programs that emphasize trade skills training (i.e. woodworking, handyman, electrician, automotive, recreation) for youth that is connected to
• job placement.
• 3.3 Recruit neighborhood and nearby businesses to host internships/vocational training opportunities for youth during the summer and school year to provide hands-on learning experiences.

Strategy 4: Provide Counseling and Support to Youth and Adults Re-entering the Community After Incarceration

• 4.1 Create a partnership with the Mayor’s Office for Reintegration Services (RISE) and a community-based organization that will focus on providing second chance services to adults and youth.
• 4.2 Connect families of returning youth and adults to supportive services.
• 4.3 Partner with area law school Expungement Projects to decrease barriers to employment and help restore parental rights of parents whose children who were put into the foster care system.

Performance Indicators and Metrics

• Total number of returning citizens to the community
• Total number of second chance program participants
• Total number of expungements and restored parental rights

Partners

To develop a model that integrates community social services into Adult Education Programming and workforce training the community of residents identified the following list of partners for this goal moving forward.

• The Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc.
• Philadelphia Youth Network
• The Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services
• Philadelphia Family Court
• Philadelphia Department of Human Services
• JEVS Human Services
• Temple University School of Law
• Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS)
• Philadelphia Works, Incorporated
• Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity
• Philadelphia Public Defenders Association (Juvenile & Adult Divisions)
• Orleans Technical School
• Brewerytown-Sharswood Community and Civic Association
• Philadelphia Housing Authority
• Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS)