July/August 1997

In this issue . . . This issue is devoted to employment, family self-sufficiency and welfare reform efforts being undertaken in rural Virginia. Community Development programs, specifically CDBG and the Appalachian Regional Commission programs used in conjunction with public housing initiatives and human services programs provide a continuum of services for lower income persons, which are designed to move them from dependency to self-sufficiency. The "If I Had a Hammer" program of the Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Wise County, Virginia could serve as a model for state and county agencies that wish to use existing programs and services providers to implement job training and placement, family self-sufficiency and welfare reform initiatives for persons receiving public assistance.

Community Development, Family Self-Sufficiency and Welfare Reform Efforts in Rural Virginia: The “If I Had a Hammer” Program

As states move further along in their implementation of welfare reform, practitioners are seeking new and more creative ways to use existing programs. With little or no new federal funding available to assist in this effort, governors and state community development agency staff must look to existing programs with activities that can meet the conditions of welfare reform legislation; specifically, getting people into jobs and off the “welfare rolls,” as well as providing job training and, supportive services such as child care, transportation and remedial education. There are many programs that can and are currently filling these needs, however, they were and are not directed specifically toward welfare reform efforts. They will be. These programs include the following; JTPA, SBA programs, CDBG economic development/job creation and supportive services such as child care, and a whole host of state sponsored new business finance, micro lending, and vocational and technical training programs.

As evidenced by the number of programs available in most states — which the above list highlights only a few —fragmentation, duplication of effort and a lack of coordination of resources and services available to practitioners and welfare recipients will make it difficult for states to succeed in reforming welfare. Welfare reform means getting people off assistance and into a situation that provides them a job with good benefits, and a livable wage with some opportunity for advancement. Success will come from a coordinated effort among and between the agencies, programs, and staff that habitually work with people on public assistance. Ideally, welfare case workers should assess individuals to determine their needs for adequate housing, child care, education, transportation, etc. that have prevented them from getting and maintaining viable employment.

An information resource bank should be available to help the case worker fill the needs of the individual so that services can be provided to get the person on the road to, or into a job that gets and keeps them off public assistance. The assessment is the key component in determining the needs of the individual and subsequently directing the individual to the services they need to become self-sufficient. This type of coordination, data gathering and use of resources is a long way off for most states, particularly when one considers that most case work is done at the county or local level. States as a whole do not require or encourage welfare services to be available in a coordinated manner. However, to assist people who have been consistently receiving public assistance, in some form, coordination must take place.

There are reasons people are on public assistance other than an unwillingness to work. Those reasons must be addressed and a determination made to assess the level of ability to work. The most common reasons for not working are lack of training for work available, lack of adequate child care, lack of transportation — public or private — to get to and from work, and a lack available jobs.

In its effort to provide solutions to the impact of welfare reform in Virginia which is among the most strict in the nation, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development is working to become more entrepreneurial in its assessment of innovative community development approaches. In conjunction with its CDBG program, the state has funded a project in Wise County, through the Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (WCRHA) called the “If I Had a Hammer” Housing Construction and Rehabilitation Training Program. The basic premise of the program is to train unemployed and other low-and moderate-income persons who want to acquire construction skills and provide them with jobs. This pilot program was funded with $40,000 in Appalachian Regional Council funds and $40,000 from a state education program, the Virginia Community for Opportunity fund. This funding will be used to pay for the instructor’s salary, safety equipment, uniforms, boots, tools, and participants’ wages during the on-the-job training phase of the training component. Once the participants have successfully learned the construction trade, entrepreneurship training, for those interested, will be provided to enable them to start their own businesses. The WCRHA will hire those participants who are not yet ready to operate their own businesses to assist with the rehabilitation of houses owned by the Housing Authority. Area construction companies who have contracts with the WCRHA have agreed to hire some participants as full-time workers. After the initial phase, WCRHA plans to sustain the program from proceeds from the sale of rehabilitated homes.

As mentioned above, much of the aid to people on public assistance is received at the county level. Practitioners, whether in the same programs or different programs, know each other because their work is similar and they serve the same clientele. As is often the case, staffs consult each other about work, and the conditions that make their work difficult. In this case, staff often spoke about the area’s lack of qualified workers to undertake construction, specifically residential rehabilitation construction. The Wise County Housing Authority needed qualified contractors and workers to maintain their properties.

Charles McConnell, Executive Director of the Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and James Price of the Wise Skills Center had an idea that they hoped would solve a few problems. Because the Housing Authority maintains client files, staffs are familiar with their residents, many of whom is unskilled and lack proper training to hold jobs that offer a living wage. The “If I Had a Hammer” project would include the following:

• Hiring a highly skilled trainer to provide classroom and on
the-job instruction for students. The students would be residents of the Housing
Authority or other income eligible persons. The class size would be up to five students.

• The students would be trained to a skills level that will allow them to be productive construction workers. They would receive classroom training from the Wise Skills Center and Regional Adult Education Office and on-the- job training at the Coeburn Meadow Street Rehabilitation Project and Stone Mountain Water Project. They will be encouraged to remain as workers with the Housing Authority or as new employees for contractors who are performing work at other construction projects in the area.

• The students will receive needed job skills training, pre- employment skills training, transportation and other supportive services which may be needed to enable them to be- come permanently employed in the home construction renovation trades.

The duration of the training for each student in the program will vary depending on their skills level and learning ability. It was projected that between 8-10 students will receive training and work on area projects within the first six months of the program. Actual numbers were closer to six participants, due to the lack of participants dropping out of the program.

The program will help fill a demand for skilled construction workers in the area, and increase employment in a distressed county where unemployment is 15.4 percent and rising. Wise County is located in extreme western Virginia on the Kentucky boarder. It has been severely impacted by closure of Westmoreland Coal Company. Only two of the area’s qualified contractors regularly bid on WCRHA projects. Local contractors in the region reported the same conditions for residents seeking work; they are unskilled and need training on how to be good employees. The “If I Had a Hammer” program would address these needs.

The program goals are to train 15 workers in the first year, and increase their family incomes by 40 percent once be-coming fully employed. Participants will develop a family self-sufficiency plan that includes a target date to eliminate their reliance upon welfare, housing assistance, and all other forms of public aid.

How It Was Accomplished

In 1995, after recognizing a need to centralize services for low-income persons, county officials, two regional planning commissions and several non-profit service providers agreed to support a grant application of $900,000 to HUD through its Division of Public Housing, under the Family Self-Sufficiency program to create three Family Investment Centers (FICs) in Wise County. These FICs, operated and managed by the Wise County Redevelopment Housing Authority, can be likened to a social services mall, which contain public and non-profit services providers that assist lower income persons with obtaining everything from housing, health and mental health services, child care, and jobs skills training and placement. The $900,000 grant provided funding for facility rehabilitation as well as operations and maintenance funds.

With three FICs in the area, there is excellent data on the employment, skills level, need for child care and transportation on each person residing in a housing authority unit. For many social services programs, this information must be maintained. Promoting the theme of family self-sufficiency, and filling the need of a lack of workers for housing rehabilitation projects, Charles McConnell came up with the idea of training residents and other low-income persons wanting to acquire construction skills. And, because the service providers were in centrally located areas, and involved in the lives of housing authority residents, there could not be a better fit. A broad-based management team has been assembled to implement this program. The following is the group of services providers that have become involved in the “If I Had a Hammer” program.

Public Services Providers

• The Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (WCRHA), provides program organization and has primary responsibility for program implementation. WCRHA proves staff for beneficiary field training, identifying potential beneficiaries and ongoing beneficiary assessment. This staff person also identifies housing units for field training and investigates avenues for additional funding.

• The Wise County Skills Center (WCSC), provides beneficiary intake assistance. WCSC also provides counseling, supportive services, job development services, and entrepreneurial training to beneficiaries, and coordinates classroom training and is supported by the Wise County School Board.

• The Regional Adult Education Office, provides assessments of beneficiary education levels and identifies aptitudes or disabilities. It also provides customized instruction and/or standard adult basic education.

• Mountain Empire Community College, provides certification courses in various construction trades, as well as computer training and small business management training.

• People, Inc. provides micro-enterprise loan opportunities and general program support.

• Big Stone Gap Redevelopment and Housing Authority provides ongoing support of efforts of WCRHA. It identifies potential program beneficiaries and housing units for field training.

• Local Contractors provide job opportunities to successful program participants.

• The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and others provide program over- sight, evaluation and ongoing program support.

In addition to skills development, job training, and job placement, this program will provide transportation and day care services to beneficiaries.

Once the idea was conceived, thought out, and the management team was formed, an announcement was made to Housing Authority residents that the program was to be implemented. Over 60 applications were received. The Housing Authority Rehabilitation Specialist was involved in the selection process. Of the 60 applications received, the top 25 were reviewed, ten were selected for interviews and five were selected as participants. According to Steve Garret, Housing Authority staff, the desire for training was so strong that many of those not selected would drive by the construction site, waiting for a participant to drop out, so they could reapply for the position. The Wise County Skills Center completed the testing on all applicants, to determine what remedial classes participants would need to become fully functional in all aspects of the construction trades. These included, improve reading and comprehension, and basic math skills, particularly those related to the construction trades. Other course work included basic plumbing, carpentry, roofing, masonry, and wiring.

Once the management team was established and each service provider’s role defined, through a facilitated strategic planning session, a list of program expectations was devised.

Program Expectations

1. Get Organized

2. Establish and assist trainees to achieve goals.
-- Become a good construction worker/ employee for WCRHA.  
-- Become a good contractor.

3. Plan program progress.

4. Establish program time table.

5. Develop answers for clients.

6. Select and develop good workers.

7. Meet with other services providers in the program.

8. Consider other housing issues.

9. Establish process for state certified workers and contractors.

10. Include information on how micro-enterprise will play a role.

11. An opportunity to work on new relationships with existing colleagues.

12. Work to create business opportunities.

13. Train for business opportunities.

A second list of program needs was devised to clearly chart the progress of each entity’s contribution to the program and participants.

Program Needs

1. Client/trainee skills, aptitude and academic assessments

2. On-site training opportunities.

3. Trainee selection process.

4. Program evaluation plan.

5. Work opportunities for trainees.

6. Worker based education.

7. Evaluate legal issues and ramifications.

8. Dedicated crew supervisor.

9. Clear organization structure (a reference to liability and insurance concerns).

10. Detailed work plan for trainees to match individuals to houses.

11. Oversight shall include a accountability system for funding and work completed.

12. Catalog of training programs and providers.

13. Certification standard.

14. Identify Skilled Craftsman to act as “Honcho.”

15. Child Care.

16. Transportation to and from training site and Skills Center.

17. Use of micro-to-grow businesses.

18. Ongoing program support to trainees shall include help through obstacles and failures.

19. Detailed list of skills for trainees to master.

20. Counseling for trainees to include budgeting, physical needs, etc.

21. Program credibility: trainees shall receive a certification at successful completion of the program.

22. Garner as much publicity as is appropriate.

23. “Inclusiveness” for applicants.

24. Clear system for financial accountability.

25. Trainee understanding of expectations and commitment.

26. Vision for sustainability beyond year one.

27. Permanent job placement.

28. Clear relationship with hiring contractors.

29. Program outline for goal setting.

30. Training plan.

31. Developing/securing additional on-the-job supervisors.

32. Finding jobs for trainees.

33. Responsive classroom instruction.

34. Giving the program ample time to succeed.

35. A budget that includes needs, sources and a tracking mechanism.

36. Compatibility with future CDBG, ARC and other related programs.

37. A mechanism for management team to communicate.

38. Build in rewards for all parties, and remove disincentives.

39. A team developed, flexible, management plan.

Assessing the Program’s Impact

According to Charles McConnell, the effort to undertake this program was minimal, largely due to the Family Investment Centers that were already operational. With virtually all social and public services for lower income persons coordinated through these centers and the inclusion of the Housing Authority, made sense to everyone (all the services providers) involved. Each entity just continued to do what it does best. The Skills Center staff undertook the assessment of participants, the Housing Authority provided work through housing rehabilitation and incentives for training, local contractors provided jobs to the newly trained residents, and the social services groups provided child care and transportation to and from job sites and lastly case workers tracked individual progress and assisted participants when necessary to complete their training. If there were any glitches in the system, they came from individual case workers who may not have been directly involved in the program and cut off benefits to a participant because their income level increased during the training phase. These small glitches were worked out and the program is working well.

Of the original six participants, all tenants of the housing authority, three are still in the program, one has been promoted to a supervisory position in the program, and the other participant has taken a position within the housing authority. This crew has substantially rebuilt a single family home, which one program participant has purchased and is now occupying.

The participants are very pleased with the program. One participant has completed the training and is currently in the process of becoming a certified contractor. This same participant enrolled in the entrepreneurial portion of the program where he will receive a micro-enterprise loan to start his own company.

The town of Big Stone Gap, also in Wise County, has received a comprehensive CDBG project of $1 million from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. This project includes rehabilitating approximately 34 homes, the installation of water, sewer and storm drains, and limited clearance and demolition activities. Big Stone Gap is well known by the state CDBG staff for its high quality projects and excellent grants administration. Big Stone Gap has high unemployment, with residents who want to work but don’t have the necessary skills, particularly in the construction trades for available jobs. The Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Town of Big Stone Gap have entered into a cooperative agreement to employ students from the “If I Had a Hammer” program on the CDBG project, to provide them with on-the-job training, as well as to implement welfare reform initiatives in Virginia. Students will learn basic rehabilitation construction skills as well as water/sewer line installation.

The following chart outlines how participants are sought, screened, and placed on to the various tracts for training and employment, based on their skills and education levels.

For more information on the “If I Had a Hammer” program contact Charles McConnell at the Wise County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, at (540) 395-6104.