The National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) Workforce Development Program seeks to ensure the Latino community’s ability to contribute to and share in the nation’s economic opportunities.
OVERVIEW
NCLR’s Career Pathways Initiativesfocuses on working with NCLR Affiliates to link the nation’s future workforce—the growing Hispanic population—with jobs in high-wage, high-demand industries through education and training. Data demonstrate that a lack of or limited education and training combined with language barriers present significant challenges for large segments of the Latino workforce and their employment mobility. NCLR and its Affiliates work together to create innovative and replicable program models that will help prepare, retain, and advance Latino workers in quality careers. Currently, NCLR is focusing on three industries to create unique program models. These industries are health care, customer service and retail, and green jobs. While NCLR is a veteran in creating and successfully implementing programs in the health care and customer service and retail industries, the green jobs field is new to NCLR and programming under this initiative will begin in spring 2010.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
The NCLR Escalera Program: Taking Steps to Success: Funded by the PepsiCo Foundation, the NCLR Escalera Program is designed to promote economic mobility for Latino youth by increasing educational attainment, career planning, and access to information about well-paying careers. NCLR Affiliate partners include AltaMed Health Services Corporation in Los Angeles. California; Instituto del Progreso Latino in Chicago, Illinois; Promesa Systems, Inc. in New York, New York; Guadalupe Centers, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri; American YouthWorks in Austin, Texas; Knowledge is Power Program in Houston, Texas; and HELP - New Mexico, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The NCLR Health Care Career Pathways Initiative provides education and training to low-income, low-skilled Latinos in allied health care professions to help them move up the economic ladder. NCLR Affiliates implement programs that offer integrated training, a contextualized curriculum, and an established career pathway for participant growth. Currently, the program is being implemented in eight cities throughout the country: Calexico, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Chicago, Illinois; Des Moines, Waterloo, and Ottumwa, Iowa; Roxbury, Massachusetts; and Washington, DC.
The NCLR Customer Service and Retail Initiative focuses on providing education and training to individuals who are interested in customer service and retail careers. Customer service and retail industry is the largest employer of Latino workers (12% customer service and 14% retail); yet Latinos make the lowest wages in these industries because they predominantly occupy the bottom of the career and wage ladder. NCLR and its Affiliates, with the help of the National Retail Federation Foundation (NRFF), are implementing NRFF’s standardized curriculum to provide program participants with certified training in customer service and retail and opportunities to move up an established career path in this industry.
Research and Demonstration Programs: Through its research, demonstration programs, Affiliate peer exchanges, and capacity-building technical assistance, WFD strengthens community-based organizations’ ability to become effective labor market intermediaries and better serve the Latino community and industries in demand of a skilled workforce.
HIGHLIGHTS
In 2009, nearly 400 participants were enrolled in various allied health care training programs to be trained as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, patient care technicians, and other allied health professionals. Participants graduating from advanced levels of training increased their wages by 150%.
NCLR Affiliates operating training programs in the customer service and retail industry trained and graduated nearly 200 participants in 2009.
Through three peer exchanges in 2009, NCLR’s Workforce Development team provided 15 Affiliates with technical assistance and an opportunity to engage with other Affiliates. Besides peer exchanges, through site visits on-site technical assistance was provided to 20 Affiliates in 2009.
To date, 96% of program participants have completed the Escalera Program and graduated from high school, and 94% of those graduating seniors have been accepted into post-secondary institutions. The NCLR Escalera Program’s holistic approach to after-school programming, effective case management, positive peer influences, access to broader educational and career networks, and development of 21st century applied skills for academic and career access have contributed to the program’s tremendous success.
NCLR is testing and documenting career pathway strategies to help incumbent Latino workers acquire training in allied health care careers to attain economic self-sufficiency.
The NCLR Escalera Program encourages Latino high school students to graduate from high school, prepare for college, and explore and take advantage of career opportunities in fields in demand.
NCLR and Sodexho announced the release of a resource guide to document Latino diversity groups within Corporate America. The guide is one of the first to provide a glimpse into these groups across many of America’s industry sectors and aims to connect corporations and employees with one another as well as Hispanic community groups working to improve the quality of life for Hispanics.
AmeriCorps strengthens communities through projects that address education, public safety, the environment, and other unmet human needs. NCLR AmeriCorps members serve at local nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based organizations, helping to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility. Through their service, members gain valuable job skills and experience and earn an education award to pursue a college education or pay back student loans.
Latinos have endured one year of double-digit unemployment and the largest increase in underemployment of any group since the recession began in December 2007. Widening disparities in economic well-being have left many Latinos with little confidence in the government’s ability to stop the steady unraveling of economic security.
WIA is the major source of federal funding for most employment and training programs, including job training, adult basic education, and English-as-a-Second-Language classes. As such, WIA-funded programs are essential, providing opportunities for Latinos to increase their language fluency and skill sets, enabling them to move up the economic ladder.
Given the importance of the federal budget for America’s communities, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) recognizes that it is essential for Latinos to be engaged in the dialogue, which shapes national budget priorities.
Congress is currently working to reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21). TEA-21 guides federal spending on transportation programs, services, and projects, and includes job training measures to increase career opportunities in the transportation industry.
In 2018, it is projected that Social Security will begin to pay out more than it will generate in tax revenues. Several proposals have been developed for bringing Social Security into long-term balance. A major change to the current system’s structure could have serious implications for Latino retirees.
Retirement security is important because the strength of a worker’s retirement wealth portfolio dictates his/her economic well-being, and that of the workers’ family during retirement years.
