Supportive Services

In 1976, Manpower Supportive Services, a new program area within Neighborhood Centers Association (NCA), was formed to develop and implement a comprehensive supportive services model for individuals involved with the City and County Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) programs. CETA was a federal government program to assist economically disadvantaged, unemployed, and underemployed persons. Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) replaced CETA in 1982, and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) replaced JTPA in 1998.

Supportive services are discrete services or needs, such as bus tickets and other transportation assistance, childcare, tools, boots, uniforms, health exams or eyeglasses, that individuals require to complete training, start a job or keep a job.

In 1988, the Manpower Supportive Services program was incorporated as Towards Employment. At the same time, Towards Employment created the “Supportive Services for the Economically Disadvantaged” (SSED) program to assist low-income individuals, who were not served under JTPA, to make a smooth transition into the workforce. In 1992, the SSED program was admitted as a regularly supported program of United Way Services. In 2005, Towards Employment expects to provide supportive services to more than 3,000 individuals.

Job Search, Placement and Retention

Towards Employment has operated a highly successful job search, placement and retention program since 1991 in the Greater Cleveland community. Initially funded through Cleveland’s JTPA program in 1992, Towards Employment’s program provides job readiness and job seeking skills and placement and retention support for low income Greater Cleveland residents. Since 1998, Towards Employment has contracted with Cuyahoga County, funded by Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grants, to provide these services for individuals referred by the County. In 2005, Towards Employment expects to place over 500 individuals.

Individuals who are supported by Towards Employment in finding and retaining employment have among the highest retention rates in the community and the country. Typically, of those individuals who find employment while involved with Towards Employment, 85-90% remain employed for 30 days; 75-80% remain employed for 90 days; and 65-70% remain employed for 180 days.

Retention Services—ACHIEVE

In 2000, believing that traditional job retention services did not satisfactorily incorporate the employer in the retention process, Towards Employment developed a worksite based job retention model, called ACHIEVE, that includes the employer as a partner. The ACHIEVE model utilizes a combination of individual case management, group activities and supervisory training to enhance job retention for entry level workers and lower employer turnover rates.

In 2001, Achieve was successfully piloted at five employer sites in the Greater Cleveland area. In 2002, Achieve became one of 15 innovative programs from across the country to be part of the Employment, Retention and Advancement national demonstration project, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. Over a three-year period, Achieve was implemented at 22 employer sites with MDRC, a national workforce development research organization, evaluating the program and outcomes. Upon the completion of the demonstration project in Spring 2005, Towards Employment has been successfully marketing Achieve services to employers, on a fee for service basis. We continue to work with employers, other community based organizations and the public sector on adapting Achieve across a variety of industries.

Towards Employment has received national recognition as one of the leaders in job retention in the country due in part to the success of the Achieve program.

Re-entry Program and Legal Services Added

In 2004, Towards Employment expanded its services to include specialized programming to meet the needs of individuals with criminal records, as well as a legal services department. Both of these programs had previously been operated by the former Cleveland Works organization. By combining programs, Towards Employment strengthened its ability to meet a growing need in the community—providing employment services for the large numbers of people returning from prison to the area—as well as to expand the range of support services we can offer to all of our clients including legal counsel and representation for issues that impact their ability to get and keep quality jobs.