Streamline Training & Documentation: Helping the Working Poor in Colorado

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Helping the Working Poor in Colorado

Today's New York Times brought a report of another effort aimed at helping poor people stick with jobs in the face of various challenges, such as the need for childcare and transportation.

Somewhat like programs in Cincinnati and Michigan described in previous posts, America's Family, a Colorado non-profit, aims to help people achieve financial security. To quote the organization's website, "America's Family provides hard-working people access to resources they need to handle the unexpected and create a secure life for themselves and their families."

The services provided to members — employees of companies partnering with America's Family — are less comprehensive than in the Cincinnati Works model. Also, the population served is more tractable. It's the working poor, not unemployed or spottily employed people struggling to find a stable job. In fact, to access America's Family services, an employee must have satisfactorily completed at least 90 days of work at one of the partner employers (generally, service firms such as cleaning companies, fast food restaurants, and staffing agencies).

America's Family offers a menu of benefits to employees of its partners:

Help with buying a reliable used car on credit.

Up to $500 in a rotating line of credit, to meet short-term needs like paying rent, covering a car repair bill, or buying a computer.

Referral to community resources, such as a local community health center or a sliding-scale day care provider.

Guidance on educational options, such as earning a GED, acquiring computer skills, building financial literacy, and getting financial aid for college.

Help with accessing government programs and resources, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and children's health insurance.

The loan services America's Family offers are designed to do more than just tide an employee over when cash is short. The loans are a low-cost alternative to expensive payday loans and a step toward establishing a credit history. They are also tied to financial counseling and training in financial literacy.

A trio of researchers at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs found that during the first two years of participation in America's Family by 12 McDonalds restaurants, employee turnover went down 93%, while profits rose 11%. These promising results indicate good progress toward the goal of retaining workers and sparing them worries so they can concentrate on serving customers well. What I will be looking for is follow-up research on how America's Family affects employees' ability to advance from low-paying jobs as they gain work experience.

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Labels: Employee development

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