Workforce Connections Largely Missing The Mark

By Dana Gentry, Nevada Current

March 28, 2022

Hope for Prisoners, the reentry program lauded by former Pres. Donald Trump, is spending just under $38,000 on workforce training for each person it places in a job. That’s almost four times as much as the per capita spending at Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow (FIT), Southern Nevada’s other prison reentry program that receives federal funds.

That high cost of training at Hope isn’t translating into higher paying jobs either. Its trainees earned $15.69 an hour, the lowest average wage produced by the five agencies contracted by Workforce Connections (WC) to help prepare adults for work.

WC is one of about 550 local workforce development boards across the country that sets priorities for money distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WC selects Southern Nevada agencies to receive a cut of $20 million annually in job training funds – $13,100,000 for adults (including prison reentry), $500,000 for dislocated workers and $6,400,000 for youth.

WC issued deficiency notices to four of the five agencies it contracted for adult training in the current programming year, which began in July 2021, according to an annual report presented to the WC board of directors last week.

Each year, more than half a million people are released from prison in the U.S., according to the federal government. The Prison Policy Initiative says poverty is the greatest indicator of recidivism.

The unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated people is upwards of 27% and a quarter lack a high school diploma, GED, or college degree. Newly released individuals are often required to secure employment as a condition of remaining on parole.

Only FIT warranted “no concerns” from WC’s programming committee, which evaluates providers on an annual basis.

“I’m not trying to throw shade at the other organizations, but I always tell the staff it’s heart work, not hard work,” says Michael Hollis, program director for FIT. “So when you truly have a heart to serve the individuals that are coming to our organization at the lowest point in their lives, we’re able to get them back on the right track. That’s why we’re successful.”

Located in the Historic Westside, FIT placed 83 formerly incarcerated individuals between July 2021 and January 2022 in jobs with an average wage of $18.70 per hour. The per capita cost of the placements was $10,012, according to the report.

“We probably spend $8,000 to $10,000 per client, and that includes everything,” says Hollis. “When they get done with training, and they call us to say, ‘Hey, I need work boots and tools, and I need gas or monthly bus passes,’ we’re able to supply all that and still stay in that range.”

Hope for Prisoners, which has received national acclaim, placed 29 individuals in jobs between July 2021 and January 2022, at a per capita cost of $37,745 per person employed. WC issued Hope “a notice of deficiency due to low enrollments in February 2022,” according to the report.

Hope for Prisoners founder and CEO Jon Ponder did not respond to requests for comment.

WC did not respond to questions about how much the roughly one month-long training programs can spend per individual placed in a job.

Hollis says WC doesn’t establish a maximum threshold. He says FIT determines how many individuals it intends to train per grant and caps per capita spending accordingly.

Equus Workforce Solutions (EWS), a national for-profit corporation formerly known as ResCare, has three facilities in Southern Nevada.

In 2019, over protests from the community and attempted intervention by Gov. Steve Sisolak, Workforce Connections gutted funding for Nevada Partners, Culinary Local 226’s job training agency, and awarded $10 million to EWS.

Today, EWS “is on high-risk status for continued deficiencies in monthly invoices,” for all three locations, according to the WC report. WC also issued notices of deficiency for low enrollments to all EWS locations.

“Months ago, Workforce Connections wrote notices of deficiencies to service providers and has since implemented corrective action plans,” Kathy Topp, a public relations person contracted by WC, said via email. “Workforce Connections is closely monitoring the progress.”

Topp did not respond to inquiries about the nature of EWS’ invoice deficiencies.

Youth providers deficient

WC providers offer job training to youth, including those in the juvenile justice system.

The World Bank reports “only 30% of youth employment programs are successful, with many of those offering only marginal benefit. And most programs have no positive effect at all.”

WC deemed all four providers of job training for youth deficient for failing to meet enrollment.

The agency cited HELP of Southern Nevada for low enrollments and expenditures. HELP placed 53 youth in jobs with an average hourly wage of $12.88. The per capita cost per youth employed was $18,679.

EWS’ South location spent $13,351 per capita to place 37 youth in jobs with an average hourly wage of $12.42. Its Central location spent $11,000 per capita placing 39 youth at an average hourly wage of $13.29.

Both EWS youth training providers are on “high risk status for continued deficiencies in monthly invoices” and low enrollment.

WC also issued a notice of deficiency to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP) for low enrollments and expenditures in December 2021. YAP placed 28 youth in jobs with an average wage of $11.70. The per capita cost of the placements was $15,321.

Nothing to see here

WC’s board members, representing business and government, raised no concerns about the failure of their providers to meet their goals. Without discussion, the board voted unanimously last week to extend contracts to current providers as part of its consent agenda.

Board Chair Jerrie Merritt, community development manager of Bank of Nevada, did not respond to requests for comment on the vote. A consortium of elected officials meets Thursday for final approval.

Job training service providers throughout the country are feeling the effects of the pandemic, according to Topp.

“The massive layoffs, the closure of training facilities, and social distancing mandates translated into expenditure shortages,” she says. “As conditions have changed, we have started to see forward progress and increased expenditures in Southern Nevada and across the nation.”

Workplace training is all the more necessary, experts say, as globalization, technology and the pandemic change the way we work.

“In a dynamic economy workers are expected to adapt, to change not just jobs but sometimes careers, to pick up new skills when necessary. That requires successful training programs, which means we need to know which ones work,” says the Harvard Business Review.

The key to success after prison may depend on training opportunities while incarcerated, experts suggest.

Hollis says he’s working to secure a grant that would allow FIT to collaborate with the Nevada Department of Corrections, the North Las Vegas jail and the Las Vegas jail.

“We can actually go and teach life skills, educational courses, so when they're released, they actually have a training basis,” he says.

Wraparound services in the form of child care assistance or food subsidies can make job training not only worthwhile but possible, especially for single parents. But few programs offer holistic help.

“We know that our specialty is vocational training and employment. So whenever we can’t help with child care, we will refer them to Urban League. There are about 200 churches in our area, there are food banks if they need food. We're going to connect them to everything,” Hollis said of FIT.

“It's like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” he said of the psychological theory espoused by Abraham Maslow that people are motivated by the fulfillment of their needs. “We're not just going to focus on training and employment. We put the pieces together.”

Nevada Current, a nonprofit, online source of political news and commentary, documents the policies, institutions and systems that affect Nevadans’ daily lives. The Current is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.