Job Coaching for Working Poor

Program Mission Statement:

(self-reported)

This project's purpose is to increase employment, employment retention, and earnings for female ex-offenders, and underemployed or undereducated women living in poverty. In keeping with the mission of CWJC-Nashville, this project will equip women for long-term self-sufficiency through basic job searching skills training, employment skills training, individual job coaching, and resource networking. The project will address economic, educational, spiritual, and supportive service needs of a woman and her family in need of employment to adequately meet the needs of her family. A Career Development Facilitator will create a bridge for clients to area resources and employers offering gainful employment.

Score Summary

Overall Score:	Excellent
Practice Principles:	Excellent
Faith Related Elements:	Excellent
Outcome Measures:	Excellent
Change Process:	Excellent

Program Facts

• Paid (FTE) Staff Working: 1
• Program Participants Last Year: 37
• Meets about 10 time(s) with each participant per month
• Participants remain in the program for 11 months

Board Activities

Funding Overview

(self-reported)

	This Program	This Organization
Organization Budget: $363,560 Program Budget: $27,622
Foundation Grants	25%	20%
Government Grants/Contracts	0%	1%
Individual Gifts	0%	48%
Business/Corporate Gifts	0%	11%
Congregation/Denominational Gifts	50%	11%
Dues/Fees/Income	0%	0%
Other	25%	9%
	Average Program Funding From All Samaritan Programs	Average Organization Funding From All Samaritan Organizations
The next charts display the average funding sources for all programs currently in the Samaritan Guide for your comparison. Average Organization Budget: $3,817,897 Average Program Budget: $313,091
Foundation Grants	24%	18%
Government Grants/Contracts	4%	8%
Individual Gifts	33%	33%
Business/Corporate Gifts	8%	8%
Congregation/Denominational Gifts	11%	10%
Dues/Fees/Income	7%	9%
Other	10%	11%

It is important to maintain diverse income sources for your programs and for your oganization as a whole. Doing so provides long-term financial stability to your organizations and programs. It is also important to note that government funding often comes with stipulations and restrictions. More information is available in the Raising Resources Toolkit - pdf.

Score Details

Program Focus
Program Mission	Clarity and specificity of the program's mission statement.	Good
Target Population	Clarity and specificity of the programs target clientele.	Excellent
Eligibility Criteria	Clarity and specificity of the program's eligibility criteria.	Excellent
Program Requirements	Well defined requirements for client participation.	Excellent
Referrals From Other Organizations	Do other organizations recommend this program to their clientele.	Good
Referrals to Other Organizations	Does this program recommend other programs to their clients?	Better
Volunteer to Staff Ratio	Are volunteers effectively incorporated into the program?	Excellent
Past Participant Recruiting	Are past program participants recruited as volunteers?	Better
Evaluation and Practice Princples
Practice Principles	How supports and resources are provided to increase outcomes.	Excellent
Outcome Measurement	The ability to measure stated program outcomes.	Excellent
Change Process	Specific and measurable statement of the program's goals.	Excellent
Faith Related Elements	Integration of faith related elements.	Excellent
Measurement Frequency	Frequency of measuring client outcomes.	Excellent
Program Evaluation	Level of the budget allocated to measuring client outcomes.	Excellent
Institutional Stability
Organization Age	A measure of the organization's durability.	Excellent
Board Oversight	How involved in the program are the members of its board?	Excellent
Program Duration	Average duration of a clients participation with a program.	Better
Finances
Budget Diffusion	Diversity of the programs funding sources.	Excellent
Government Funding	Does this program accept little or no government funding?	Excellent

Program Score Details

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Outcomes & Measures:

(self-reported)

Scoring for this section is based on the organizations ability to provide at least three clear and specific outcomes with corresponding measures in which a relationship is shown between outcomes and measures.

Outcome 1: Employment of 95% of unemployed participants within 6 months of entry into job coaching program. Employment will be measured using MS Access at the occurrence of hiring.

Measure Used:
Career Development Facilitator will oversee participant progress, advise job coaches on an ongoing basis, and provide assistance to CWJC Program Director in case management activities.

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Outcome 2: Retention rate of 75% of participants within first year of employment. Retention rate will be measured by recording the hiring and termination dates of employment within the first year of employment using MS Access.

Measure Used:
Career Development Facilitator will oversee participant progress, advise job coaches on an ongoing basis, and provide assistance to CWJC Program Director in case management activities.

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Outcome 3: Increased earnings by 15% within 1 year of entry into job coaching program.

Measure Used:
Participant income will be measured before entrance into program and again measured at 1 year from entrance using MS Access. Career Development Facilitator will oversee participant progress, advise job coaches on an ongoing basis, and provide assistance to CWJC Program Director in case management activities.

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Outcome 4: Resource networking for 100% of participants within 6 months of entry into job coaching program.

Measure Used:
Resource networking will be measured by the occurrence of at least one of the following:

1. Organizational referral to a community agency,
2. Organizational distribution of information regarding a community agency, and
3. Client participation in a community agency program. Career Development Facilitator will oversee participant progress, advise job coaches on an ongoing basis, and provide assistance to CWJC Program Director in case management activities.

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Outcome 5: Long-term self-sufficiency.

Measure Used:
Self-sufficiency will be identified by the occurrence of at least one of the following within a 1-5 year period:

1. decreased dependency from government welfare programs to no more than 10% of income and
2. acquisition of a living wage. Yearly income surveys will measure the dependency on government programs as well as the yearly income as reported on the previous year tax-return. Information will be recorded using MS Access.

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Change Process:

(self-reported)

Scoring for this section is based on the organizations ability to provide clear, measurable, client-focused stages of change based on participant participation.

The purpose of CWJC-Nashville is to equip women for life and employment with basic life skills necessary for self-sufficiency. Less than half, 46.5%, of women in Nashville's Davidson County have economic autonomy. Women are economically disadvantaged in our area and often underemployed. Their salaries typically are 25% less than men in the same jobs. Tennessee also ranks 49 on a scale of 51 as one of the worst states for women to live economically.

We provide each woman with a "hand up, not a hand out." In conjunction with the mission and "hand up" philosophy of CWJC-Nashville, the job coaching program will equip unemployed and underemployed women with little or no formal employment skills to find gainful employment leading to self-sufficiency. With the help of the job coaches that CWJC provides and the networking and job placement coordinated and implemented by the contracted Career Development Facilitator, each participant will formulate career goals, identify lacking employment competencies, and network with CWJC and area community resources to address those lacking skills. The participant will then be guided and equipped to engage in focused job searching, gain skills necessary for gainful employment, and find the resources necessary to remove barriers of gainful employment. Through the holistic program of CWJC, women will receive support and education needed to develop spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and socially. As CWJC-Nashville provides emotional and Christian support during this process, participants are able to continue on the path towards self-sufficiency through healthy decision-making and discipline.

End Notes

Incomplete Applications

Significant decreases in certain scores may indicate failure to comprehensively complete certain sections of the Samaritan Award application. Please be sure to fill out every question in the Samaritan Award application.

Relative Scoring

Total program scores are partially computed against other programs from within the same pool of applications and so are not cumulative.

Additional Reference Material

More information on scoring and methodology may be found on the Samaritan Guide and Award website.

Acton Institute Relationship

The Samaritan Guide and Samaritan Award are projects run by the Acton Institute. Inclusion in the Guide does not signify endorsement by the Acton Institute. More information on why the Acton Institute runs this project is available online.