ServSafe While Serving Time

Who’s in the Room Name What you do Why you came to the session Please share a brief story of time when you questioned food safety whether that be at home, work or community potluck, or at home.

Workshop Description With ever increasing unemployment at all socio-economic levels, the need for post-secondary training for a livable-wage job is extremely high. This need is amplified for those leaving incarceration. This presentation highlights the pilot project undertaken by Duluth ABE, AEOA ABE and the Northeast Regional Corrections Center (NERCC), a member of AEOA’s consortium. Through this project we provided a managed enrollment course in the corrections facility to twelve residents covering ServSafe, customer service, Math for Kitchens, Reading for Kitchens and digital literacy, along with employment related seminars. All twelve completed and were successful in gaining their ServSafe certification.

Presentation Objectives At the end of this session, participants will be able to: Identify steps to establish creative partnerships. Understand implementation of programming in an innovative manner between several ABE partners. Identify strategies for implementing short-term certificates in various facilities. Distinguish program success and areas for program enhancements. Utilize and apply lessons learned from NERCC ServSafe pilot to inform future individual consortium partnerships.

Case Study Mike H.

The Program Why – The Concept Assist population at NERCC in gaining needed skills for employment. Meet the needs of the facility to have skilled workers for kitchen and customized meat processing. Gain additional hours for NERCC Adult Education and engage residents in learning. Who – The Partnership AEOA Adult Education – part of a Community Action Agency. Fiscal agent for NERCC and Duluth for Transitions dollars. Duluth ABE – part of a school district. Regional partner. Northeast Regional Corrections Center – minimum security correctional facility. NERCC is also a “work farm” setting. Subgrantee of AEOA.

Partner Roles - AEOAand Duluth Assist in development of program curriculum. Assist in teaching first pilot. Duluth brought their expertise in digital literacy instruction. Northstar Digital Literacy. Sharing of participant hours for State reporting.

Partner Roles - NERCC Authorize attendance within facility guidelines. Provide facility and main teacher. Provide career counseling and opportunities to engage with employers.

Pilot Structure The ServSafe pilot began on Oct. 27, 2014 with 12 participants identified from the NERCC population. All potential participants were provided the TABE survey in reading and math and the RIASEC model career assessment and interest inventory. The pilot included: Test preparation for the ServSafe exam (22 hours). Contextualized education in reading/writing and math for kitchens ( 4 hours and 16 hours respectively). Computer literacy training (Northstar Digital Literacy 6 hours). Money and credit management (1.5 hours). Job Basics - job skills training (2.5 hours).

Curriculum Pieces Quizlet Flashcards Videos Other

Results All 12 participants completed the pilot. All 12 passed the ServSafe exam. Seven students achieved one level gain; one student achieved two level gains in math. Gained nearly 700 student contact hours. Components of ServSafe curriculum mandatory for any resident working in the kitchen facilities.

What worked Team teaching for the pilot. Reading and PowerPoints were helpful for the learners. Classes were taught in hour blocks. Study groups were facilitated. Re-reading the ServSafe book in class really helped with comprehension and problem-solving. Students enjoyed chapter quizzes and practice exams to gauge personal progress. Cohort model helped students focus on educational and employment goals, build relationships and gain interpersonal skills for the future.

Challenges Fitting the education program within the facility guidelines. Choosing which people are the right fit for the program. No access to online tools for ServSafe or computer training.

What Would We Do Different More outside class time to study is needed, but can’t mandate it. Implement more group study sessions. Add more open ended questions to the curriculum. Online quizzes, games, etc. would be more engaging (if allowed). More structure for the contextualized curriculum, allowing for different levels of learning for those with different skill sets. More employer engagement. – ex. guest speakers.

Wins All 12 students passed the course and the ServSafe test. The math class generated a lot of interest from other individuals in the facility who wanted to attend. Students who attended wanted to continue math after the program and signed-up. Residents reported that the course was an opportunity to gain a certificate that would help them gain employment post release. Most importantly, residents reported that the class gave them “hope” for their future and pride in their abilities.

Replication Would be difficult to replicate in a one-room schoolhouse setting. With modifications can be done on an individual basis. Three hours gets to be overwhelming, even with breaks, but need to make it worth traveling to the site (if not in corrections setting). Registering the agency for providing ServSafe to the public was a convoluted process. How course is delivered – time, career pathways version or extended NERCC vs community.

Questions?

Presenters Tracy Chase Traci Laughlin Beth Peterson Patricia Fleege 218-********

Thank you for attending.