Center for Urban Families, Inc.
The mission of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) is to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic succes. STRIVE Baltimore, the cornerstone of CFUF’s programming, emphasizes attitudinal training, job placement, and post-placement support, with a strict, demanding, three-week workshop that focuses on workplace behavior, appearance, and attitude. Upon completion of training, STRIVE graduates are placed in jobs, and are followed by STRIVE staff for two years. Last year,180 participants graduated from STRIVE Baltimore, with 93 graduates (or 52%) being placed into jobs; 104 graduates of other CFUF programs and 138 former graduates were also placed into jobs, bringing the total number of job placements to 335. STRIVE graduates placed in employment earned an average of $12.20 per hour, and 74% remained employed for at least six months.
BUILD
Turnaround Tuesdays is a BUILD jobs initiative in which residents meet at Zion Baptist Church on Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 11 am to receive help in finding employment. Over 125 people participate in Turnaround Tuesdays each week, completing a 10-week leadership training curriculum that focuses the skills needed to sustain employment. The jobs movement is working: last year, 202 people were placed into jobs, earning an average wage of $14.50 per hour. According to BUILD, 74% of those placed have remained employed at least a year. Retention is higher (84%) at anchor institutions such as Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System. BUILD is establishing an employment pipeline to “good paying jobs” at these and other long-standing large, anchor institution employers, encouraging them to hire people with criminal records.
Year Up Baltimore, Inc.
Year Up Baltimore provides low-income Baltimore high school graduates and GED recipients, ages 18 to 24, with a year of information technology (IT) training, leading to technical careers with starting salaries of $30,000 or higher. During the first six months of the program, participants co-enroll into Baltimore City Community College and Year Up, and are paid weekly stipends to attend IT classes at BCCC’s Liberty Campus. During the second six months of the program, students are placed in paid internships with local partner companies to gain work experience in IT. At the completion of the training, Year Up students earn a BCCC IT Basic Skills Certificate, worth 16 college credits. Approximately 85 percent of graduates are placed into employment and/or continue their education. Over the next year, Year Up plans to increase the number of students served from 153 to 240.
The Work First Foundation
With funding from the Abell Foundation, in 2009, America Works (through its nonprofit Work First Foundation) launched the Baltimore Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Program. The program provides a two-week-long job-readiness workshop for cohorts of six to seven ex-offenders. The program targets ex-offenders under 40 years of age, and those who have been recently released from prison or jail. To date,1,123 ex-offenders have graduated from the two-week training course, with 663 being placed into jobs (a 59 percent job placement rate). Participants earned an average of $9.39 at placement, with 87 percent remaining employed for 30 days, 75 percent remaining employed for 90 days and 65 percent remaining employed for six months or more. Since June 2017, the Baltimore City court system has been referring low-income individuals to the program as they await trial, rather than jailing them because they cannot afford to pay bail. To date, 184 pretrial defendants have enrolled into the program. Of those, 156 have gone to trial, with 82 percent experiencing a positive outcome (they received an acquittal, nolle prosequi, or stet), and 76 being placed into employment.
Rose Street Community Center
Since February 2000, with support from the Abell Foundation, the Rose Street Community Center (Rose Street) has offered small weekly stipends (no more than $10 a day) to community residents in exchange for participation in daily community cleanups or gang mediation meetings. Last year, Rose Street served more than 120 people per week. Over 20 percent of those served each week (approximately 25 people) reside in Rose Street’s six transitional houses. Those residing in the houses participate daily in community cleanups. Once they have secured employment, Rose Street staff assists them in obtaining permanent housing. Almost half of those served each week (approximately 60 people) are high-risk youth ages 15 to 24. Rose Street holds morning meetings with the youth were the youth identify and de-escalate disputes. Rose Street also connects the youth to programs and services available in the community.