GETTING TO WORK: PROJECT ACHIEVE

In many places, programs and partnerships are driven almost exclusively by available funding, and promising partnerships often succumb when funding sources change or disappear. Project ACHIEVE has defied this trend. Started in 1989, this partnership between JCPSAE and the Metro Louisville Community Action Partnership (CAP) has endured, keeping its focus clearly on community needs, adapting to changing demands, and shifting funding sources as necessary to continue its work.

The Community Action Partnership, a local government agency with a nonprofit arm, provides direct services to the poor, including job-readiness training and job placement, emergency assistance with utility bills, and a food bank. The partnership began when CAP lost federal funding for its instructors and turned to JCPSAE for help. It has evolved over the years into Project ACHIEVE. ACHIEVE offers a seven-week, skills-based job-readiness class, with an emphasis on office technology and the goal of placing students in jobs with growth potential. JCPSAE provides the instructors, computer lab, and software, and CAP provides the funding, recruitment, job placement, case management, and follow-up. CAP staff transport participants to job interviews and make home visits, if necessary, to help overcome barriers to participation or employment. Computers remain available to participants even after they have completed the program, so they can continue to develop their skills.

Project ACHIEVE serves low-income adults who need to acquire marketable employment skills. Applicants must show a commitment to improving their lives, and they must be able to read at the 8th-grade level and have a GED or high school diploma. They take the TABE, and if their academic skills are inadequate, they are referred to JCPS Adult Education. Once they have their GED diploma, they can enroll in ACHIEVE.

Program staff were emphatic about trying to avoid placing ACHIEVE graduates in "dead-end" jobs. They seek placements that encourage employees to pursue higher education, for example, organizations with tuition reimbursement plans. The average wage for ACHIEVE graduates is well above minimum, between $8.50 and $9 an hour.

Project ACHIEVE maintains strong relationships with area employers both to find good job placements and to keep abreast of changing labor needs. In response to employer suggestions, for example, ACHIEVE added training in Microsoft Excel to its computer software instruction. Local companies are represented on the CAP Advisory Council, and staff gather information from KentuckianaWorks on local labor needs. They also participate in the Recruiters Club, a quarterly meeting of the human resources staff of more than 150 local employers.

According to the partners, their biggest challenges are follow-up and job placement. Project ACHIEVE continues to work with participants until they are employed, but follow-up is difficult when participants move and cannot be located. Job placements are an ongoing challenge. One staff member commented, "We get in their [employers'] face...make a nuisance of ourselves" in search of good placements.

A memorandum of understanding between JCPSAE and CAP governs the partnership, and both have served as the fiscal agent for Project ACHIEVE over time. The partners agree that they "don't care who gets the money" as long as funds are available to continue the program. This enduring partnership has also been supported over time by funds from Community Development Block Grants, the state Cabinet for Families and Children, and the Kentucky Department for Adult Education and Literacy.