Skillsource Group, Inc.

Program: SkillSource – Fairfax County Sheriff Employment Center

Program Description:

 The new SkillSource – Fairfax County Sheriff Employment Center opened within the Fairfax County Pre-Release Center in May 2008, the first of its kind in a local Virginia jail. All employment services and information currently available at a SkillSource Center are offered within the SkillSource – Fairfax County Sheriff Employment Center. Employment services are provided while the offenders are still in prison and up to three months after their release. This Center maximizes access to the SkillSource One-Stop system by reaching offenders even before they are released from jail and introduces them to employment resources before they will be able to utilize even after they are reintegrated into the community. The Center is administered by a Center Assistant and one full-time Job Developer that links Fairfax County employers with offender job seekers. Year One of Center operations were funded by grants from the Governor’s Office for Workforce Development and the Virginia Workforce Council, the Wachovia Foundation and the Gannett Foundation.

Program Long-Term Success:

SkillSource’s overall goal is to help offenders being released into the Northern Virginia community attain long-term, meaningful employment and self-sufficiency, thereby reducing the potential of criminal recidivism.

Program Short-Term Success:

Program Success Monitored by:

The outcomes of this program are monitored by the SkillSource President and CEO, as well as by the SkillSource Board of Directors.

Program Success Examples:

Program: Virginia Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Initiative (VASAVOR)

Program Description:

To support recently released offenders address multiple barriers, SkillSource has been part of the regional community network that has excelled in managing the Virginia Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Initiative (VASAVOR) in Fairfax County, which supported the transition of long-term incarcerated adults into the community. The Fairfax County VASAVOR initiative provided selected offenders with requisite skills and support to reduce recidivism and successfully reintegrate them back into the community. Supportive services include substance abuse treatment, mental health services, and case management, training, workshops, assistance with food, shelter, utility, counseling, and medical services. Because of this program success, the Virginia General Assembly approved that State funding be utilized to continue the VASAVOR program in FY 2008 and FY 2009, after Federal funding ended.

Program Long-Term Success:

Against a national violent offender recidivism rate of 35%, and a Virginia violent offender recidivism rate of 14%, the VASAVOR recidivism rate has been estimated at approximately 3%. To date, VASAVOR offenders have remained employed with good wages and benefits and had secure housing opportunities. 

Program Short-Term Success:

Program Success Monitored by:

The outcomes of this program are monitored by the SkillSource President and CEO, as well as by the SkillSource Board of Directors.

Program Success Examples:

Three years ago, VASAVOR served a client with an Information Technology background that had been unsuccessful finding employment due to the criminal charge he had. The VASAVOR program assisted him with a job as a laborer at Trainor's Glass construction company and provided him with a training opportunity to upgrade his IT skills (MCSE). He has continued to work with this company for about a year and half and has also managed to move to the IT Department, where he now he makes about $75,000 annually with benefits.
 
Another client was placed with Shirley's Contracting, Inc as a laborer at $10/hr, while also receiving training to acquire his Commercial Driving License (CDL). The VASAVOR program managed to procure him a job with the Washingtion Metropolitan Area Transit Authority as a bus driver, making about $40,000 annually with benefits.

Program: Northern Virginia Growing America Through Entrepreneurship Project (NOVA GATE)

Program Description:

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Workforce Development Services, in partnership with the SkillSource Group, Inc. (SkillSource), received funding from the Department of Labor for its Northern Virginia Growing America Through Entrepreneurship Project (NOVA GATE). This collaborative effort focuses on services to dislocated workers age 45 and over that are eligible for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) services, designed to assess up to 225 dislocated workers and to enable 188 eligible candidates to obtain information, classroom training, one-on-one technical assistance, counseling, guidance and financial assistance (low-interest loans) so they can establish new businesses, as well as start and sustain successful self-employment.

Program Long-Term Success:

 Dislocated workers that are 45 years of age or beyond may become frustrated when traditional avenues of achievement, steady advancement, and affluence fail to help them gain employment, especially if they have enjoyed job security rooted in high skills and advanced education. NOVA GATE will provide an invaluable alternative for older dislocated workers throughout Northern Virginia by providing them with the necessary skills, business expertise and financial assistance to assist in surmounting obstacles to self-entrepreneurship and a new career that may turn out to be even more rewarding than their past lives.

Program Short-Term Success:

 Since its inception in February 2009, 77 individuals have been referred and assessed for the program; 25 have been approved to participate in the program and are currently attending Business Training courses.

Program Success Monitored by:

The outcomes of this program are monitored by the SkillSource President and CEO, as well as by the SkillSource Board of Directors.

Program Success Examples:

In April 2009 a local home decorating business closed its doors, laying off over 100 employees. Included in those let go was an interior designer with over 20 years of experience and an extensive clientele list. With her future unclear and a fear of re-entering the job market, the promising entrepreneur discovered the NOVAGATE initiative. She was able to team her knowledge of the market and interior design skills with those of the small businesses development counselor’s. Through intensive, one-on-one training, specialized assessments, and assistance in creating a strategic business and marketing plan, the NOVAGATE participant has acquired multiple contracts and successfully opened her own small business.

Program: Northern Virginia Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Initiative

Program Description:

 SkillSource, in conjunction with the Arlington/Alexandria Workforce Investment Board, continued work on the $4.9 million grant awarded from the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Emergency Grant program to help respond to the workforce impact in the Northern Virginia region created by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. SkillSource and the Arlington/Alexandria WIB have been working with their counterparts in the District of Columbia and Maryland to create a coordinated regional consortium of WIBs, whose role is to respond to BRAC-related workforce issues by offering potential education, workforce development, and related economic development solutions in a comprehensive way that reflects the planned relocation patterns across the Washington metropolitan area.

Program Long-Term Success:

 The Northern Virginia BRAC initiative has two priorities: 1) To support workforce and economic development officials to respond to worker and employer needs resulting from BRAC transitions and 2) To support the continued transformation of workforce and economic development strategies within the Northern Virginia community, as part of the Greater Washington regional economy.

Program Short-Term Success:

 Since the grant started in March 2008, 667 participants have been served with 297 in intensive services and 233 in training.

Program Success Monitored by:

The outcomes of this program are monitored by the SkillSource President and CEO, as well as by the SkillSource Board of Directors.

Program Success Examples:

Program: Northern Virginia Educating Youth through Employment (EYE) Program

Program Description:

 SkillSource’s Educating Youth through Employment (EYE) Program continued its success in 2009. This non-federally funded program collaborates with local schools, businesses and other community partners to support meaningful and relevant summer work experiences for young adults in Northern Virginia. Young adults between the ages of 16-21 are hired or sponsored by local employers for a summer work experience within their industry sector, while also required to attend job readiness workshops throughout the course of their employment. SkillSource, in coordination with Fairfax County’s Youth Employment and Training Services, has successfully implemented this employer-driven, summer employment initiative since 2006.

Program Long-Term Success:

EYE is a summer youth employment program that helps a diverse population of teens and young adults gain the skills, confidence, and experience necessary to obtain meaningful employment opportunities. A summer employment experience provides supervised time, educational learning, and professional role models that may encourage participants to pursue higher education or enhanced career pathways. Earning income not only assists in them gaining personal and economic independence for themselves and their families, but will also help these youth grow toward becoming responsible adults.

Program Short-Term Success:

Program Success Monitored by:

The outcomes of this program are monitored by the SkillSource President and CEO, as well as by the SkillSource Board of Directors.

Program Success Examples: