Education and Workforce Development Committee Split
The Roundtable discussed the split of the Education and Workforce Development Committee into two. The Workforce Development Committee meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7pm at 1138 Hollins St. The Roundtable discussed some of the roles of the Workforce Development Committee including providing community input, advocating for issues that affect workforce development job placement, and doing outreach and engagement.
One of the roles of the Committee could be to provide input to providers around what community members would like to see service providers focus on.
State Grant Program
Elizabeth reviewed the state of Maryland neighborhood revitalization grant programs that the SWP is eligible for and asked the Roundtable for input on workforce development projects. Lisa: something that would be great would be money for an internship program. Find employers who might be willing to take on an intern, and would be able to provide a stipend to the community member. Lou: two issues, fall under BRNI money which got cut this year and they want programs that can start right away. Lisa: been working on something that could be ready by the application deadline. Darryl will follow up with something that would be ready to go that would fit with the Southwest Works Program as a whole. The Roundtable will send shovel ready projects to Elizabeth by next Wednesday. Virginia: has a new apprenticeship program that she will send to Elizabeth.
Data Collection and Reporting
The Roundtable meets on a regular basis but really doesn’t collect any data. Southwest Works collaboration comes with the opportunity to do data collection. Can find out how many people we work with, if they’ve been referred to training or if they’ve been hired. Lisa asked the Roundtable what data they’d like:
Age, education level, criminal background, address/neighborhood.
One issue that data collection may indicate may be a lack of weekend GED programs. Virginia is willing to do weekend and evening GED programs.
Everyone will bring the data they have to the next meeting.
Joanne raised the concern that a high school diploma doesn’t always necessarily indicate what someone’s education level is and that many people are not ready for their GED. Maxine agreed, as this is an issue for many training programs. If there’s a need at the hospital, then the Workforce Roundtable can help to address it. We add adult education to the next agenda.
Announcements
James McHenry Career Fair—Thursday 4/27 7:30am at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School.
Virginia will come, as will Year Up.
Jumpstart is starting a new training program so send folks to sign up. MOED has money for training for Casino Impact Area neighborhoods.
YouthRise Youth Summit 4/27 and 5/12 10am to 4pm for opportunity youth at the University of Baltimore.
The Roundtable decided that programs that miss two of the information sharing meetings will no longer be permitted to refer clients to the UMB/UMMC Community Partners program, as not attending the meetings limits the effectiveness of the program.
