The WorkAdvance model includes five key elements: (1) intensive screening before enrollment; (2) preemployment and work-readiness services, including career coaching, supportive services, and labor market information, all tailored to a specific occupational sector; (3) occupational skills training focused on current job openings; (4) job development and placement; and (5) provision of follow-up retention and advancement services in collaboration with employers. It is a versatile model that organizations implement in various ways.
Towards Employment, a community-based organization in northeast Ohio, implemented the WorkAdvance model with an emphasis on the health care and manufacturing sectors. Towards Employment began implementing WorkAdvance by offering a placement-first approach, which included intensive screening and work-readiness services, but which allowed participants who were able to qualify for a job in the targeted sector to skip occupational skills training and seek immediate employment. In fall 2012, Towards Employment switched to a training-first approach in which participants attended training before job placement occurred.
Towards Employment delivered preemployment services in 10 sessions of 6 hours each, and occupational skills training lasted 2 to 17 weeks. Coaches met with participants in groups and one-on-one up to three times per week during the job search process. Supportive services included assistance with transportation and legal issues as well as referrals for assistance with housing, mental health, and substance abuse issues. Towards Employment focused on recruiting people age 18 or older who were legally allowed to work in the United States, had a monthly family income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and earned less than $15 per hour, if employed.
WorkAdvance is a sector-based workforce development model whose design was informed by prior research on sector strategies and career advancement. Towards Employment WorkAdvance was a specific version of the WorkAdvance model. Three other sites implemented the WorkAdvance model as part of the WorkAdvance Demonstration, each with differing length, breadth, and depth of services: Madison Strategies Group in Tulsa, OK; St. Nick’s Alliance in Brooklyn, NY; and Per Scholas in the Bronx, New York City.
The WorkAdvance model aims to meet the needs of less-skilled workers and local employers by providing training and employment services in fields with high local demand.