• The Human Services Agency is required to provide workforce development programs and services to certain individuals receiving public assistance benefits, including food stamps and cash aid. Additionally, as a partner in the City's One-Stop system, the Agency must provide workforce development services to other eligible San Francisco job seekers.

• The Human Services Agency provides workforce development services both in-house and through contractual services. The FY 2006-2007 budget of $10.2 million for direct workforce development services included $3.5 million for services provided in-house and $6.7 million for contractual services.

• Most Human Services Agency clientele served by in-house workforce development programs interact with the One-Stop Centers for job search and placement services, as well as other services. Approximately 2,045 individuals were placed into jobs in FY 2006-2007 through the One-Stop Centers, at an average cost of $1,614 per placement. According to the Human Services Agency, "placement" indicates only that a client was placed into post-training employment.

• The Human Services Agency tracks One Stop Center placement data through the OASYS system, although the Agency has had some difficulty ensuring the quality of the data. Based on the information reported to SF Stat by the Human Services Agency, the One Stop Centers failed to meet their performance targets in FY 2006-2007 to place 45 percent of One-Stop Center clients receiving intensive services into jobs, especially jobs that pay 125 percent or more of the San Francisco minimum wage. Only one-third of the One-Stop Centers general clients and 36 percent of the CalWORKS and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients met that goal.

• The Human Services Agency contracts with community-based organizations to provide training and employment services to clients served by the Human Services Agency, including transitional work experience as well as job-readiness, language, and other vocational and job training. Community-based organizations achieve job placement at a higher cost than in-house programs. The estimated cost per job placement in FY 2006-2007, based on the budgeted contract amount for the community-based organizations, was $6,106.

• Of an estimated 1,400 clients participating in programs provided by community-based organizations in FY 2006-2007 for which job placement was the desired outcome, only approximately 504 or 36.0 percent were placed into jobs. However, placement rates for clients who successfully completed a training program administered by a community-based organization were relatively high. For example, in FY 2006-2007 of the estimated 114 clients referred to receive CityBuild Academy preparation training, only 18 or 15.8% actually enrolled. However of the 18 clients who enrolled, 15 or 83.3 percent were placed in post-training employment. Similarly, of the approximately 73 clients served by the CHEFS program in FY 2006-2007, 31 or 42.5 percent completed the program. Of those who completed the program, 24 or 77.4 percent were placed in post-training employment.

• Many community-based organizations failed to meet their contractual client enrollment, completion, and placement targets. Of eight community-based organizations providing contracted workforce development services, six failed to meet their client enrollment targets and seven failed to meet their client completion and placements targets.

The Human Services Agency's Adult Workforce Development Programs

As the county designated agency for the administration of social services, the Human Services Agency is currently responsible for administering public social services.¹ For certain federal, state, and local public assistance programs, including CalWORKs, the County Adult Assistance Programs, and Food Stamps, this charge additionally requires the provision of workforce development activities, programs, and services to specified individuals as a condition of receiving aid. Unlike other City departments that provide workforce development programs based on the Department's own initiative, the Human Services Agency's decision to do so is based on legislative mandate.

Administration of San Francisco's Welfare to Work Program

CalWORKs, California's implementation of the federal cash aid program for low-income families, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), has a federally mandated employment service component called Welfare-to-Work. After an initial orientation to the CalWORKs program and an appraisal of their education and employment background, CalWORKs clients may be assigned to participate in specified education, employment, and training programs to meet Welfare-to-Work participation requirements. Unless exempt, due to age or disability, all CalWORKs clients are required to participate in Welfare-to-Work employment activities as a condition of receiving aid.

Federal performance measures for TANF primarily consist of federal work participation rates required for each state for all parent and two parent families.² To count towards a state's federal work participation rate, TANF participants must spend a minimum number of hours per week engaged in federally allowable work activities, of which there are currently 12.³ Federal law requires that at least 20 hours per week of participation come from 93core94 activities. Hours spent engaged in 93non-core94 activities will only count towards allowable work activity hours after an individual has engaged in at least 20 hours per week of 93core94 activities.

Table 4.1
TANF 93Core94 and 93Non-Core94 Activities

While each state is able to prescribe which Welfare-to-Work activities may be offered within their respective TANF programs, only federally allowable work activities will count towards a state's federal work participation rate. Therefore, the breadth of workforce development activities that the Human Services Agency can offer to CalWORKs participants is limited by federally allowed, state sanctioned work activities in which participants must engage in order to remain eligible for aid.

Failure to meet federal work participation rate requirements can result in significant fiscal penalties to the state, including a reduction in a state's TANF block grant and higher maintenance of effort requirements. According to the California Department of Social Services' Federal Data Reporting and Analysis Bureau, each county is expected to meet the federal work participation rate requirements and could assume a portion of the state's fiscal penalty for not doing so.⁴

Table 4.2 below lists the TANF work participation rates for all families, as reported by the nine Bay Area counties and compiled by the state, for July, August, and September of 2006, the only months for which information was available. As can been seen from the table, San Francisco's TANF work participation rates are comparable to statewide rates and to those of the other Bay Area Counties.⁵ However, county TANF work participation rates only measure how many people receiving welfare benefits are engaged in federally recognized work activities for the minimum time required. Accordingly, they do not reflect the effectiveness of the Human Services Agency's workforce development programs in helping CalWORKs clients to secure jobs which allow them to transition to self-sufficiency. Indeed, there is no federal requirement or expectation that this should occur - time-limited federal cash assistance under the CalWORKs program ends regardless of client outcome.

Table 4.2
Comparison of San Francisco's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Work Participation Rates to Other California Counties
July, August, and September 2006

Source: California Department of Social Services

* The statewide work participation rate shown is weighted using county caseload share to the total statewide caseload. Without caseload share weights, statewide work participation rates are 35.1%, 36.2%, and 35.9% for July, August, and September, respectively. Work participation rates are reported for all families.

Post-program earnings data compiled by the California Department of Social Services, provides some means to evaluate the effectiveness of workforce development programming provided to CalWORKs clients. According to the California Department of Social Services, in 2005, the most recent year for which information was available, 57.5 percent of San Francisco's CalWORKs cases earned income three months after leaving the program, compared to 55.4 percent of CalWORKs cases statewide. However, of those individuals who earned income, only 28.1 percent had earnings equal to or above San Francisco's Higher Earnings Threshold of $5,110 or $20,440 annually.⁶

While this figure is comparable to surrounding counties and well above the statewide average of 17.8 percent, this suggests that the majority of San Francisco's CalWORKs clients will continue to live in poverty despite participating in workforce development activities provided the Human Services Agency. Table 4.3 below provides a comparison of San Francisco's CalWORKs clients' post-program earnings to those of the other nine Bay Area Counties in calendar year 2005.

Table 4.3
Comparison of San Francisco's CalWORKs Clients' Post-Program Earnings to Other California Counties
Calendar Year 2005

Source: California Department of Social Services

The County Adult Assistance Programs

The County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP) are an umbrella of cash assistance programs designed to serve low-income adult residents without dependents and consist of four programs: Cash Assistance Linked to Medi-Cal (CALM), Supplemental Security Income Pending (SSIP), General Assistance (GA), and Personal Assisted Employment Services (PAES).⁷ The General Assistance and Personal Assisted Employment Services programs both have mandatory work participation requirements, while Cash Assistance Linked to Medi-Cal and Supplemental Security Income Pending do not.

• Cash Assistance Linked to Medi-Cal provides financial assistance to low-income seniors and people with permanent disabilities who receive Medi-Cal benefits but who do not currently qualify for Supplemental Security Income due to their immigration status.

• Supplemental Security Income Pending provides financial assistance to individuals believed to have a long-term disability. Supplemental Security Income Pending participants receive Supplemental Security Income application assistance and may also qualify for other supportive services.

• General Assistance provides a cash grant to indigent persons who lack any other personal or public means of support, as required by state law. Able-bodied individuals who receive General Assistance are required to participate in workfare activities as a condition of receiving cash-aid.

• The Personal Assisted Employment Services program serves as the City's Welfare-to-Work program for low-income individuals without children. The program provides a cash stipend to employable adults who agree to develop an employment plan, in consultation with program staff, and participate in specified education, training, and employment activities to minimize barriers to employment. Ancillary and supportive services are also provided to participants, as needed, consistent with their employment plans.

The purpose of the Personal Assisted Employment Services program is to provide participants with supportive services and activities necessary to assist them in obtaining paid employment.⁸ However unlike the CalWORKs program, whose Welfare-to-Work activities are largely constrained by federal and state law, as a county-funded program, the Human Services Agency has much more flexibility to determine the breadth and scope of workforce development programs and services provided to the Personal Assisted Employment Services program population.

To this end, wraparound supportive services provided by the Human Services Agency to Personal Assisted Employment Services participants are comprehensive - ranging from dental and vision care to mental health and substance abuse services. These services are primarily designed to address immediate pre-employment issues that serve as significant barriers to employment.

While the Human Services Agency has chosen to leverage the inherent flexibility of the Personal Assisted Employment Services program with respect to the provision of wraparound supportive services, Welfare-to-Work job training activities are largely limited to those offered within the limited CalWORKs framework. As a result, workforce development employment and training services provided to CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services program participants are nearly identical. This approach may unduly limit the Human Services Agency from exploring workforce development training activities that may be better suited to meet the unique workforce development needs of the Personal Assisted Employment Services population.

A January 2003 analysis of Personal Assisted Employment Services participants enrolled in the program from January 1999 through December 2000 provides some insight into the employment outcomes of Personal Assisted Employment Services participants. The study found that of the 1,849 clients who left the program, 960 or 51.9 percent achieved a favorable outcome.⁹ Of those who achieved a favorable outcome, 681 or 70.9 percent did so through employment while 279 or 29.1 percent did so through enrollment in Supplemental Security Income.

Food Stamp Employment and Training Services

The Human Services Agency administers the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program (FSET) for all non-exempted individuals who receive food stamps, but who do not receive monthly cash assistance under the CalWORKs program. All non-exempted Food Stamps clients - including employable, non-exempt Personal Assisted Employment Services and General Assistance clients - are required to participate in (a) workfare operated through memoranda of understanding with various City departments and contracts with community-based organizations or (b) another authorized employment or training activity for at least 20 hours per week, as condition of receiving food stamp benefits.

The Food Stamp Employment and Training program provides the means for these participants to maintain receipt of Food Stamps by meeting their participation requirement and to obtain unsubsidized employment. Under state waiver, Food Stamps-only clients are not required to participate in a work activity and the Human Services Agency has no ability to compel their participation.

Because individuals who are eligible for food stamps are often eligible for other need-based assistance programs, work participation requirements for Food Stamp Employment and Training participants are often met through work participation requirements established by other programs. Table 4.4 below indicates how different Food Stamp Employment and Training clients generally meet their work participation requirements.

Likewise, because Food Stamp Employment and Training funds are connected to the individual receiving food stamp benefits, independent of other public assistance provided to a client, Food Stamp Employment and Training funds may additionally be used to enhance employment, training, and supportive services provided to County Adult Assistance Program participants and former CalWORKs clients.

Table 4.4
Food Stamp Employment and Training Clients' Work Participation

Minimum work participation hours established by the Food Stamp Employment and Training program are simply a federal requirement in order for individuals to maintain food stamp benefits. There are no federally imposed job placement outcomes attached to Food Stamp Employment and Training program funding. However, according to the Human Services Agency, all employment and training contracts awarded by the Agency have program completion, and if appropriate, job placement outcome expectations attached to them.

Food Stamp Employment and Training program clients who are on an employment track (i.e., those clients who are also in the Personal Assisted Employment Services program, CalWORKs, and former foster youth) receive workforce development services through the Human Services Agency. Because the remaining Food Stamp Employment and Training program clients are not on an employment track (i.e., General Assistance clients who receive food stamps) or cannot be required to participate in workforce development services (i.e, Food Stamps-only clients), the Human Services Agency does not target workforce development resources to these clients.

Structure and Effectiveness of the Human Services Agency's Workforce Development Programs

The Human Services Agency provides workforce development services to clients both directly (in-house) and indirectly through contracts with community-based organizations.

In-House Workforce Development Programs

In-house workforce development services and programs are primarily housed within and administered by the Workforce Development Division. Workforce development services provided by the Division are primarily evaluative in nature and seek to assess participant employability by examining client education levels, work experience, and interpersonal skills. These services include targeted vocational assessments, job readiness appraisals, job skill testing, and career counseling sessions.

In addition to evaluative services, Division staff also provide in-house job retention/career advancement services to CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients who exit public assistance due to excess earned income. According to the Human Services Agency, these services, which include financial literacy training and continued educational opportunities, are intended to help individuals stabilize in their employment, advance in their careers, and ultimately obtain better-paying jobs. As of June 2007, there were 414 clients receiving job retention/career advancement services through the Division including (a) 282 CalWORKs clients and (b) 132 Personal Assisted Employment Services clients.

The Human Services Agency began tracking retention caseload data in February of 2007. Information from the June 2007 Retention Services Report indicates that the data currently being collected is very limited in scope and as a result, provides very little information to evaluate the effectiveness of the services provided as evidenced by the progress of the participants.¹⁰ Specifically, the report does not include information regarding which job retention/career advancement services are being utilized or how those services have helped participants retain their current jobs or move into more meaningful employment.

In addition to evaluative services, the Division also administers seven in-house workforce development programs which generally provide participants with employment preparation services (job readiness/life skills training), job search/referral/placement assistance, or some combination of both. These programs include: One Stop Centers, Refugee Employment Services, Connect by 25, Group Employment Preparation Services, Job Club, First Source Hiring/Workforce Solutions Employment Referral, and the Supportive Housing Employment Outreach Team and Project Connect.

One Stop Centers

The Human Services Agency participates in a consortium of state and local government and community agencies that provide workforce services at three locations - One Stop Centers - in San Francisco. Two of these One Stop Centers are operated by the Human Services Agency through the Division. The One Stop Centers are discussed in Section 2 of this report. However, broadly, One Stop Centers, in compliance with the federal Workforce Investment Act, are required to provide (a) 93core94 job search services and employment information to all job seekers, (b) 93intensive94 one-on-one employment services to all eligible job seekers, and (c) training services to individuals eligible for intensive services, but who have not be able to obtain or keep employment.

Refugee Employment Services

The Refugee Employment Services program provides a variety of job assessment, training, referral, and placement services to adults without children who have official status as a refugee. The Refugee Employment Services program was transferred to the Human Services Agency from the Private Industry Council in FY 2005-2006 and provides the employment services component of the Refugee Cash Assistance program.

Connect by 25

Connect by 25 provides job readiness training, vocational assessments, and job placement services to current and former foster youth aged 16 to 24. According to the Human Services Agency, individuals served by Connect 25 are considered very job ready and for the last two years all participants have been placed in to jobs.

Group Employment Preparation Services

Group Employment Preparation Services provide Human Services Agency clients with job readiness and life skills training prior to their enrollment in the Personal Assisted Employment Services Program. This program is not specifically intended to produce job placements, but rather to provide participants with the skills necessary to secure and sustain employment.

Job Club

The Division administers two Job Club programs, Compass and Gateway, which provide structured and intensive job preparation, search, and placement services to CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients who have completed various evaluative activities and assessments which deem them ready to engage in such activities. Job Club activities are conducted by Division staff at the Human Services Agency administered Express to Success Center located at 50 Van Ness.

First Source Hiring /Workforce Solutions Employment Referral Program

The First Source Hiring Program, which is discussed in Section 5 of this report, links economically-disadvantaged City residents with entry-level jobs provided by City contractors. Employers who are subject to the First Source Hiring ordinance must post entry level positions and give low-income residents the first right of referral.

Under the Workforce Solutions program, One-Stop Center staff work with private employers, some but not all of whom participate in the First Source Hiring Program, to identify available jobs and refer One-Stop Center clients.

Supportive Housing Employment Outreach Team and Project Connect

These services target homeless persons who are supportive housing residents or Project Homeless Connect participants. The program is not intended to produce immediate job placements, but rather seeks to link these individuals to resources that promote stabilization as a means to facilitate participant employability.

Table 4.5 below lists the program budget, number of clients served, and the budget per client for each of the Human Services Agency's in-house workforce development programs for FY 2006-2007.¹¹

Table 4.5
In-House Workforce Development Programs
Budget per Client
FY 2006-2007

* Unduplicated

As can be seen in the table, in FY 2006-2007, the Human Services Agency's budget for in-house workforce development programs provided by the Division totaled $3,315,051 excluding costs associated with the Supportive Housing Employment Outreach Team and Project Connect. In FY 2006-2007, these programs served an estimated 13,157 clients at a cost of $252 per client.

Because most Human Services Agency clientele served by in-house workforce development programs must interact with the One Stop Centers for job search, placement and other services, all in-house workforce development client tracking occurs at the level of the One Stop Center. In this way, the One Stop Centers serve as the core of the Human Services Agency's in-house workforce development network - with each in-house program 93feeding94 clients into the One Stops. However, different Agency clients have different workforce development needs and as such, access the One Stop Centers for a wide range of services - each of which involve varying degrees of interaction with Human Services Agency staff.

For example, the 13,157 clients served through in-house workforce development programs, as recorded by the Human Services Agency at the One Stop Centers, is inclusive of:

(a) Non-program affiliated San Francisco job seekers who may access the One Stop Centers to conduct self-directed job searches, use the copy machine, or send employment-related electronic correspondence;

(b) Individuals whose in-house workforce development program includes a job placement or referral component such as Job Club or Refugee Employment Services. These individuals receive more structured, staff-directed workforce development services, and;

(c) Other individuals who may come to the One Stop Centers to visit one of the agencies co-located at the Center for reasons completely unrelated to employment services.

Of the 13,157 unduplicated One-Stop Center clients in FY 2006-2007, 2,054¹² received job placements, or 15.6 percent, representing an average cost per placement of $1,614. According to the Human Services Agency, "placement" simply indicates that a client was placed into post-training employment. However, because this definition does not (a) indicate whether the client was able to successfully maintain employment for any specified length of time or (b) assess whether the position was one that would enable the client to achieve self-sufficiency or advance to other meaningful job opportunities, it is a limited indicator of client and program success.

The Human Services Agency does track One-Stop Center placement data through the OASYS system, although the Agency has had some difficulty ensuring the quality of the data. Based on the information reported to SF Stat by the Human Services Agency, the One Stop Centers did not meet all of their performance targets in FY 2006-2007.

Table 4.6
The One Stop Centers' Target and Actual Performance Measures
FY 2006-2007

Source: Human Services Agency

The Human Services Agency performance measures track the number of individuals placed into jobs at or above 125 percent of the San Francisco minimum wage, although according to the Agency, the Agency does not currently have the means to track a client after the initial job placement, nor has the State Employment Development Department provided follow-up retention, wage, and wage progression data.

As shown in Table 4.6, approximately one-third or more of the One Stop Center clients, including CalWORKS and Personally Assisted Employment Services Clients, are placed into jobs at or above 125 percent of the San Francisco minimum wage. This falls short of the Human Services Agency's target of 45 percent.

Contracted Workforce Development Programs

The Human Services Agency primarily contracts with community-based organizations to provide (a) Welfare-to-Work contracted training and employment services, (b) Individual Referral training contracts, (c) employment services to homeless individuals, and (d) employment services for other targeted populations.

Welfare-to-Work Contracted Training and Employment Services

The following programs largely provide Welfare-to-Work contracted training and employment services to CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services participants. These services generally include transitional employment opportunities, as well as vocational, job, and language training.

Community Jobs Program

The Community Jobs program is a two-tiered employment program for CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services participants administered by Goodwill Industries of San Francisco. Tier One consists of a two-month, paid, situational work readiness assessment during which participants work 20 hours per week in a structured work environment. Tier Two participants are placed in paid, transitional employment positions with community agencies for six months during which time they receive professional development and supportive services from the CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services programs.

City Build Academy Recruitment and Preparation

In FY 2006-2007, the Human Services Agency contracted with six community-based organizations including Asian Neighborhood Design, Charity Cultural Services, Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, Glide, Northern California Services League, and Young Community Developers to provide recruitment and preparation services to CalWORKs, Personal Assisted Employment Services program participants, Food Stamps clients, and former foster youth. These services are intended to help participants qualify for construction pre-apprenticeship training through CityBuild Academy.

Vocational Rehabilitation Services

The Human Services Agency contracts with the California Department of Rehabilitation to provide vocational rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities participating in the CalWORKs and County Adult Assistance Programs. According to information provided by the Human Services Agency, job placement is not considered an outcome for this program. Rather, this contract seeks to ensure that all eligible clients receive referrals to other rehabilitative services as appropriate.

Arriba Juntos' On-the-Job Training Program and MUNI Entry Level Training Program

The Human Services Agency contracts with Arriba Juntos to administer two job training programs for CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients - the On-the-Job Training Program and the MUNI Entry Level Training Program. The On-the-Job Training program is a three-month transitional employment program in which participants work with Arriba Juntos staff to secure permanent employment. Once a participant has been hired, their wages for the first three months of employment are subsidized by 50.0 percent as a means to offset employer training costs. The purpose of the program is to provide participants with practical work experience, on-the-job training, and to facilitate linkages with potential employers.

The MUNI Entry Level Training Program is a six-month paid training program that provides participants with vocational skill training at various MUNI facilities and job readiness instruction via Arriba Juntos. Program participants are provided with forklift certification, Class B permits, general labor certification, and custodial best practices training. The purpose of the program is to provide participants with the skills necessary to obtain long-term employment in the transportation industry.

Vocational Immersion Program

The Vocational Immersion Program provides instruction in vocational English language skills to CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients with limited English proficiency. The Vocational Immersion Program is cooperatively administered by Arriba Juntos, City College of San Francisco, and Catholic Charities.

Individual Referral Training Contracts

The Human Services Agency additionally has relationships with more than 40 community-based organizations to provide additional, specific training opportunities to clients outside of those offered under the contracted group employment training services. The process for referring and enrolling clients into training contracts outside of group employment training contracts is called an Individual Referral.

Employment Services for the Homeless

The following programs provide employment services to homeless individuals and are primarily funded through a federal HUD McKinney grant.

The Homeless Employment Collaborative

The Homeless Employment Collaborative provides education, employment, and case management services to homeless individuals and homeless parents with children. The collaborative is made up of 10 community-based organizations including: Arriba Juntos, Central City Hospitality House, Community Housing Partnership, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, Northern California Services League, Swords to Plowshares, Catholic Charities of Saint Joseph's Village, Toolworks Incorporated, Mission Hiring Hall/South of Market Employment Center, and the Episcopal Community Services Skills Center.

Community Housing Partnership/Supportive Housing Employment Collaborative

The Community Housing Partnership/Supportive Housing Employment Collaborative is a five member agency collaborative that includes: Chinatown Community Development Center, Conard House, Episcopal Community Services, Hamilton Family Center, and Mercy House. Together, these organizations provide vocational training and employment and educational services to formerly homeless individuals residing in member agencies' permanent supportive housing sites.

San Francisco Training Partnership

The San Francisco Training Partnership provides life skills instruction, paid transitional employment, and job placement assistance to homeless adults, ex-offenders, and veterans. The four member collaborative is made up of Swords to Plowshares, Northern California Services League, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, and Urban University.

The Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food Service (CHEFS) Program

The CHEFS program, administered by Episcopal Community Services, is a six-month culinary job training program for homeless adults. The purpose of the program is to provide participants with culinary training and life skills that will enable them to find employment within the food industry.

Homeless People Working for Opportunities, Resources, and Change (HomeWORC)

HomeWORC provides career advancement services to homeless and formerly homeless individuals currently working or volunteering in the homeless service industry. The seventeen-week training includes instruction in computers, basic math, business and grant writing, communication, and operation of office equipment.

SF Clean City Coalition

The Human Services Agency contracts with the SF Clean Coalition to provide transitional employment opportunities to homeless individuals through community improvement projects. Job training activities generally include daily street sweeping, neighborhood planting projects, graffiti removal, and special event clean up and recycling. Program participants earn an hourly wage and work up to 20 hours per week.

Employment Services for Other Targeted Populations

The Human Services Agency additionally contracts with community-based organizations to provide educational and employment services to low-income adults, homeless youth, and transgendered individuals.

In FY 2006-2007, the Human Services Agency contracted with two community-based organizations to provide pre-vocational life skills training (Florence Crittenton Services) and General Education Degree preparation services (Episcopal Community Services) to low-income adults.

In FY 2006-2007, the Human Services Agency established two new programs targeting homeless youth and transgendered individuals - the Homeless Youth Program and the Transgender Employment Initiative. The competitive process for selecting a community-based organization to provide employment services to homeless youth is complete and a contract has recently been awarded. According to the Human Services Agency, the Transgender Employment Initiative is currently in the startup phase and is expected to serve approximately 75 individuals annually.

Table 4.7 below provides the program budget, number of clients served, and the budget per client for each of the Human Services Agency's contracted workforce development programs for FY 2006-2007.¹⁵ In FY 2006-2007, the Human Services Agency's budget for programs provided by community-based organizations totaled $5,956,546. In FY 2006-2007, the programs served an estimated 2,280 clients at a cost of $2,613 per client.

Table 4.7
Contracted Workforce Development Programs
Budget per Client
FY 2006-2007

Source: Human Services Agency

* Annualized based on the number of clients as of April 25, 2007.

Table 4.8 below provides client placement information for all of the Human Services Agency's contracted workforce development programs for which job placement was an objective in FY 2006-2007¹⁶.

Table 4.8
Contracted Workforce Development Programs
Client Placements
FY 2006-2007

Source: Human Services Agency

* Annualized based on the number of clients, completions, and placements as of April 25, 2007.

As can be seen from the table, of the estimated 1,400 clients participating in contracted workforce development programs provided by community-based organizations in FY 2006-2007 for which job placement was a desired outcome, only approximately 504 or 36.0 percent were placed into jobs at an estimated cost of $6,106 per client placement. This results in estimated budgeted cost per placement of $6,106 for programs provided by community-based organizations, exceeding the estimated in-house cost per placement of $1,614.

Contracted workforce development programs provided by community-based organizations do not achieve significant client placement rates, resulting in high costs per placement for certain programs. In FY 2006-2007, nearly six out of every ten clients (64.0 percent) served by a workforce development program administered by a community-based organization failed to be placed in post-training employment.

However, placement rates for those clients who successfully completed a contracted workforce development program administered by a community-based organization were relatively high. For example, in FY 2006-2007 of the estimated 114 clients referred to receive CityBuild Academy preparation training, only 18 or 15.8% actually enrolled. However of the 18 clients who enrolled, 15 or 83.3 percent were placed in post-training employment. Similarly, of the approximately 73 clients served by the CHEFS program in FY 2006-2007, 31 or 42.5 percent completed the program. Of those who completed the program, 24 or 77.4 percent were placed in post-training employment.

Table 4.9 below shows the placement rate for clients who completed a contracted workforce development program administered by a community-based organization for which job placement was the desired outcome. This suggests that while community-based organizations may be highly effective in helping a few clients secure post-training employment opportunities at considerable cost, the majority of clients served by these organizations will not receive the workforce services or training they need to transition to meaningful employment. Further, the relative success of contracted workforce development programs, as measured by the number of client placements, must be viewed in light of the Human Services Agency's limited definition placement as discussed earlier in this section.

Table 4.9
Contracted Workforce Development Programs
Placement Rates for Participants Who Completed the Program
FY 2006-2007

Source: Human Services Agency

* Annualized based on client completions and placements as of April 25, 2007.

Performance Expectations, Oversight, and Accountability

In-House Workforce Development Programs

Performance expectations, oversight, and accountability for the Human Services Agency's in-house workforce development programs primarily occur at the staff level. According to the Human Services Agency, performance expectations for Division staff are established by (a) performance measures and goals specified in the Agency's strategic plan and those established by various funding sources and (b) performance goals linked to the job responsibilities of each classification providing workforce development services to clients. Staff performance is monitored and enforced using the Performance Appraisal Report process and where necessary, the Progressive Discipline process.

Contracted Workforce Development Programs

The Human Services Agency only contracts with community-based organizations that have obtained specified educational and vocational training certifications to provide workforce development education and training to Agency clients.¹⁷ These certifications are intended to ensure the quality of services provided and to promote consistency and standardization in curriculum and pedagogy among certified providers.

Performance expectations, as measured by the number of client enrollments, completions, and where appropriate, job placements, are specified in each community-based organization's contract with the Human Services Agency. These expectations vary among community-based organizations depending on the type of services provided and the population served. Table 4.10 below provides the contractual performance benchmarks for eight of the Human Services Agency's fifteen contracted workforce development programs.¹⁸

According to the Human Services Agency, the Agency conducts semi-annual site visits (as needed) and quarterly progress reviews of each community-based organization in order to evaluate the quality of the contracted services provided and to ensure compliance with the contract. Each community-based organization is additionally required to submit monthly attendance and progress reports for all Welfare-to-Work participants, which are subsequently reviewed by Human Services Agency case workers.

Table 4.10
Contracted Workforce Development Programs
Contracted Performance Benchmarks
FY 2006-2007

Source: Human Services Agency

While the Human Services Agency has established reasonable performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of each contracted workforce development program, it is unclear to what extent non-performing community-based organizations are held accountable for failing to meet contractual workforce development enrollment, completion, and placement targets. Table 4.11 below compares contractual enrollment targets to actual client enrollment for specified contracted workforce development programs in FY 2006-2007. As can be seen from the table, of the eight community-based organizations for which information was provided, excluding Florence Crittenton Services, six did not meet their enrollment targets.

Similarly, seven of the eight community-based organizations did not meet their targets for the number of participant completions or placements. Tables 4.12 and 4.13 below compare contractual completion and placement targets to the number of actual completions and placements for contracted workforce development programs in FY 2006-2007.

Table 4.11
Contracted Workforce Development Programs
Client Enrollment: Target vs. Actual
FY 2006-2007

* Annualized based on the number of enrollments as of April 25, 2007.

Table 4.12
Contracted Workforce Development Programs Client Completions: Target vs. Actual FY 2006-2007

* Annualized based on the number of completions as of April 25, 2007.

Table 4.13

Contracted Workforce Development Programs Clients Placements: Target vs. Actual FY 2006-2007

*Annualized based on the number of client placements as of April 25, 2007.

However, community-based organizations did relatively well in placing actual program participants into jobs once the program had been completed. The actual placement rate was greater than the targeted placement rate: on average 76.1 percent of actual participants were placed into jobs compared to the performance target of 66.7 percent. However, although the actual performance rate exceeded the targeted performance rate, the total of number of individuals who were placed into jobs fell short of expectations because both client enrollment in and completion of contracted workforce development programs were less than expected.

Conclusions

As a social service agency and strategic partner in the City's One Stop System, the Human Services Agency has a unique responsibility to provide workforce development programs and services to vulnerable populations with significant barriers to employment and more experienced job seekers who require assistance securing employment or transitioning into new careers.

However, in spite of this broad service mandate, much of the Agency's workforce development programming has been developed as a means to comply with federal and state work participation requirements for CalWORKs participants. By utilizing the "CalWORKs framework" of workforce development for all Agency clientele, the Human Services Agency misses an opportunity to develop more innovative, responsive workforce development programming for the Personal Assisted Employment Services program population.

The Human Services Agency has considerable workforce development staff to administer in-house workforce development programs and additionally contracts with several community-based organizations to provide job training and placement services for Agency clients. In FY 2006-2007, both in-house and contracted programs failed to meet performance targets for client outcomes. Most notably, few community-based organizations were able to meet contractual benchmarks established by the Human Services Agency for satisfactory client enrollment, completion, and job placement. At this point, it is unclear to what extent the Human Services Agency will hold low-performing community-based organizations accountable for failing to meet these benchmarks.

Recommendations

The Director of the Human Services Agency should:

4.1 Evaluate the breadth of workforce development programs and services available to Personal Assisted Employment Services participants. If necessary, the Personal Assisted Employment Services program should be restructured to de-link Welfare-to-Work employment activities associated with the CalWORKs program to ensure that workforce opportunities for Personal Assisted Employment Services clients are not being unnecessarily constrained by the CalWORKs regulatory framework.

4.2 Make retention caseload tracking more robust in order to properly evaluate the effectiveness of job retention/career advancement services provided to former CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services participants. At minimum, the Human Services Agency should track which job retention/career advancement services are being utilized, which industries/sectors post-aid clients are working in, and client career progression during the course of service.

4.3 Develop a comprehensive retention plan in order to increase the number of clients who complete in-house and contracted workforce development programs.

4.4 Develop a more robust standard for what constitutes a successful client placement. At minimum, placement should have some established standards with respect to job quality, employment duration, and potential for upward mobility in order to properly evaluate and compare the effectiveness of various in-house and contracted workforce development programs in facilitating client self-sufficiency.

4.5 Re-evaluate the continued utility and cost-effectiveness of using community-based organizations to provide workforce development training to Human Services Agency clients. At minimum, the Human Services Agency should reassess each organization's capacity to meet specified performance targets and hold low-performing community-based organizations accountable for failing to meet contractual obligations.

Costs and Benefits

These recommendations are intended to increase the cost-effectiveness of the Human Services Agency's workforce development programs and should be accomplished within existing resources. As discussed in Section 2 of this report, developing adequate tracking and monitoring systems will be significant in evaluating the cost effectiveness and successful outcomes of the City's workforce development programs. Future costs for improved information system capacity may occur depending on the Department of Economic and Workforce Development's evaluation of existing workforce development program systems.

1 San Francisco Municipal Code, Article I, Section 20.1.

2 State Federal work participation rate requirements are 50 percent for all families and 90 percent for two parent families. These rates can be reduced through a caseload reduction credit.

3 State federal work participation rates are calculated based on the combination of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families assistance and families receiving assistance in state-funded separate state programs that count toward the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families maintenance of effort requirement.

4 California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10544

5 Until October 2006, all California counties were required to report monthly to California Department of Social Services, (a) the number of CalWORKs families who met minimum federal work participation requirements and (b) the number of CalWORKs families who were not exempt from participation. These figures were then used to calculate a monthly statewide TANF work participation rate.

6 Figure based on San Francisco's Higher Earnings Threshold as reported by the California Department of Social Services. A county's Higher Earnings Threshold is equal to 250 percent of the median quarterly earnings of active CalWORKs cases. In 2005, San Francisco's median quarterly earnings for active CalWORKs cases totaled $2,044. Thus, $2,044 * 250 percent = $5,110 * four quarters = $20,440.

7 Homeless County Adult Assistance Program clients are offered housing/shelter as a portion of their benefit package pursuant to Care Not Cash (Proposition N).

8 San Francisco Administrative Code, Article IX, Section 20.71.

9 Profile of Personal Assisted Employment Services Recipients and Factors that Influence Personal Assisted Employment Services Outcomes, January 31, 2003, pg. 32. The report defines a favorable outcome as participants who were discontinued because they achieved employment and their wages exceeded the Human Services Agency's eligibility limits to receive cash assistance (Pg. 5).

10 The June 2007 Retention Services Report primarily details the number of CalWORKs and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients receiving retention services, the number of clients whose retention status has been classified as (a) an exit due to time-out, (b) an exit due to return to aid, (c) an individual who lost their job and was re-employed, or (d) an individual who increased their earnings, and specified employment information regarding Refugee Cash Assistance Clients.

11 Program budget and client information for the Supportive Housing Employment Outreach Team and Project Connect have been excluded from this table due to the nature of services provided. In FY 2006-2007, the Supportive Housing Employment Outreach Team and Project Connect budget totaled $193,038 and served 680 clients. Including these figures yields a total in-house workforce development program budget of $3,508,089 and 13,837 clients served at cost of $253 per client,

12 Duplicated job placements.

13 Of the 1,871 who received intensive services and were placed into jobs, the Human Services Agency was able to validate data for 1,044 and excluded data for 827.

14 Of the 454 CalWORKS and Personal Assisted Employment Services clients who received intensive services and were placed into jobs, the Human Services Agency was able to validate data for 354 and excluded data for 100.

15 These costs per client, excluding the Community Jobs Program, are based on the budgeted, rather than the actual costs, and therefore may be higher than per client costs based on actual expenditures. As of the writing of this report, the Agency had not provided year-end contract data. Costs associated with the Transgender Employment Initiative ($300,000) and the Homeless Youth Program ($85,000) have been excluded from this table. Including these costs increases the Human Services Agency's total budget for contracted workforce development programs to $6,341,546.

16 The costs per placement, excluding the Community Jobs Program, are based on the budgeted, rather than the actual costs and therefore may be higher than per placement costs based on actual expenditures. As of the writing of this report, the Agency had not provided year-end contract data. Community-based organization contracts providing CityBuild Academy preparation services and individuals training accounts are not included in this table. Using budgeted rather than actual expenditures for these programs made placement costs excessively high for purposes of meaningful comparison.

17 Human Services Agency approved certifications include: California Employment Development Department Certified Eligible Training Provider Certification, Board of Private Post-Secondary Vocational Education Certification, California Department of Education Certification, and the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges Certification.

18 Florence Crittenton Services performance benchmarks were excluded from this table due to the nature of services provided. Performance measures for the remaining six community-based organizations were not provided to the Budget Analyst. Placement rates are calculated based on the number of client completions.