Program Seeks to Employ Poor
By Burton Speakman, Youngstown Vindicator
October 4, 2012
A private and public partnership is doing what it can to put poor Mahoning Valley residents to work in manufacturing and health care.
WorkAdvance receives federal funding, but it pays for the majority of its costs through gifts from private trusts and other entities to help it conduct its work, said Joe Caruso, president & CEO of Compass Family & Community Services, which operates the program. The federal funding comes through the Social Innovation Fund, which requires a significant amount of measurable success and data-backed results to guarantee a return on taxpayer investment.
“This is truly a public- private partnership,” he said. “We get feedback from the employers who hire these individuals.”
The goal is to make sure these potential employees are placed into situations with the potential for career growth, said Diane Dejulio, center for workforce development director for Compass.
Tags: SIF