Lessons Learned Presented by Christine Boucher, Program Officer Renetta Boyd, Program Officer Rian Ellis, Program Officer Joseph Gallagher, Assistant to the Director, SCSEP Field Operations Glendale Johnson, Program Officer Janet Parsons, Program Officer & Mohan Singh, Program Officer

Service Level (SL) Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Janet Parsons Program Officer

Service Level Definition: Number of eligible individuals served Compares total number of participants to a grantee’s authorized number of positions, adjusting for differences in minimum wage.

Service Level PY 2007 Service Level Goal: 164%

Service Level Example: Modified Authorized Number of Positions = 100 PY 2007 Goal: 164% 100 x 164% = 164 participants need to be served during program year.

Service Level Example: Modified Authorized Positions = 100 Service level = participants served YTD Participants served YTD = # of participants carried over on July 1 + new enrollees since July 1

Service Level SSAI National Performance How did we do?

Service Level

Lessons Learned: Network has tremendous capacity to enroll  As of 3/31/08, network needed to enroll 1896 participants to meet 164% goal.  By 6/30/08, network had enrolled 2162 participants to reach 168%.

Service Level

Lessons Learned: Service level goal was met, but last quarter enrollment push does not ensure other performance measures will be met, or PWFB budget will be spent.

Service Level

Lessons Learned: Competitions, transitions, and new regulations impact our work but does not stop us.

Service Level

Lessons Learned: Appears to be no difference between urban and rural project service level performance. Appears to be no difference between types of sponsors service level performance.

Service Level Lessons Learned: Service level ‘drives’ your entire program.

Service Level Lessons Learned: Continuous marketing is essential Waiting lists are beneficial if used effectively Need large, diverse group of host agencies

Service Level Lessons Learned: Project staffing Payroll by payroll report is essential tool Complete participant forms in a timely manner

Community Service Hours (CSH) Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Rian Ellis Program Officer

Definition Community Service Hours (CSH) in the aggregate of community service employment, compares the total number of hours of community service provided by each SCSEP grantee to the number of community service hours funded by the grant. Community Service Hours

Formula Total # of community service hours reported YTD funded hours YTD funded hours =273 hours per quarter* (number of quarters* modified slots) Community Service Hours

Example Project XYZ has 45 participants on pay roll and their modified authorized slots is 44. Each participant trained at their assigned host agency for the minimum allotted time of 20 hours per week. The same participants kept working for all four quarters and never had a leave of absence. Community Service Hours Project XYZ 45 participants Pay Roll Hours/wk 20

Example Cont’d At the end of PY 2007, Project #000 had a performance level of 89.9% Community Service Hours Can we do the math? Mr. Service Hours

Formula in Slow Motion 45 participants x 20 hrs x 4 wks x 3 mths = 10,800 hrs/qtr 10,800hrs x 4qtrs = 43,200 hrs/yr 43,200 hrs (total number of community service hours reported) 48,048hrs (YTD funded hours= 273*4*44) = 89.9% Community Service Hours

SSAI YTD Performance PY07 Goal 81% 81.5%

Lessons Learned: 1. Not everyone will have 100% of possible hours to report 2. Exits and mid-month enrollments effect the calculation 3. Leave of Absence’s effect the CSH calculation 4. Training hours are not calculated into the formula 5. Hours are correlated to spending 6. Hours must be entered on the hours tool on time 7. Length of time on the program Community Service Hours

Lessons Learned (cont’d) : 8. Extra hours Not everyone accepts extra hours Effective usage is a challenge Doesn’t always ensure you will spend all $$$ Sends wrong message to participants about SCSEP not being a job. Community Service Hours

Providing Service to Most in Need (MIN) Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by Christine Boucher, Program Officer

Most in Need Participants whose economic and social conditions — as well as employment histories or prospects for employment — are poor. Integral to carrying out the SCSEP missions. Also known as MIN. Definition

Most in Need Represent a participant’s barriers to employment. There are 13, the majority of which cannot be changed once the participant is enrolled. MIN Characteristics

MIN: 13 Characteristics Participants with any of the following characteristics will be positive for MIN: Veteran or spouse Homeless or at-risk Resident of rural area Disabled Limited English-proficient Low literacy skills Most in Need

MIN: 13 Characteristics (cont’d) Low employment prospects Failed to find work after WIA Severely disabled Frail Old enough for SSI but not eligible Severely limited job prospects Age 75 or older Most in Need

The Formula MIN is not a percentage, but an average. To calculate— 1. Add all Most in Need characteristics possessed by all participants served. 2. Divide total characteristics by number of total participants. Most in Need

An Example of the Formula You have counted the MIN characteristics for each of your participants for a total of 152. You have served 68 participants total. You divide 152 by 68 to arrive at Your MIN performance measure is 2.2. Most in Need

Do the Math! Participants served: 68 MIN characteristics of all 68 participants: ÷ 68 = 2.2 Most in Need

2007 Performance Measure Goal for PY 2007: 1.6 (average # of characteristics per participant) Established by DOL 14 of 16 states met or exceeded the goal! Most in Need

2007 MIN Rate by State PY07 Goal 1.6 SSAI Final 1.8

What does it mean? Quite frankly… we’re not sure! Most in Need

But we do know this! 2007 was baseline year. DOL set Continuous Improvement Goal of 2.6 for PY is 1st year MIN Goal “counts.” To get full credit toward goal, Participant Forms must be completed properly. Most in Need

Finding Participants Who Most Need SCSEP SSAI helps subgrantees by— Providing local zip codes Developing tools for LEP Encouraging direct outreach Supporting intermediary recruitment Most in Need

SSAI’s Ongoing Objective To better serve those who most need SCSEP.

Entered Employment Rate (EER) or Unsubsidized Placement? Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Glendale Johnson Program Officer

Entered Employment Rate Definition Of those who are not employed at the date of participation: the number of participants who are employed in the first quarter after the exit quarter divided by the number of adult participants who exit during the quarter.

Entered Employment Rate Formula Total number of participants employed in the first quarter after the exit Total number of adult participants who “exit” during the quarter

Entered Employment Rate SSAI PY 2007 Goal = 44%

Entered Employment Example 6 participants exited the program 3 were confirmed for employment in the first quarter after exit Entered Employment Rate = 3 ÷ 6 = 50%

Entered Employment Rate Jul-Sep 07Oct – Dec 07 Exit QuarterQ1 After Exit Participant AEntered Employment Participant BEntered Employment Participant CEntered Employment Total 3 Example

Entered Employment Rate SSAI YTD Performance=54%

Entered Employment Rate What did we learn?

Entered Employment Rate Lessons Learned: The shift to WIA Common Measures did not lead to more participants getting unsubsidized jobs Entered employment percentages were high, the actual number placed was low

Entered Employment Rate PY 2007 EER = 54% 1,465 confirmed jobs PY 2005 Unsub Rate = 33% 2,084 confirmed jobs Lessons Learned: 30% fewer jobs

Entered Employment Rate So… We are putting EER in the pit stop for repairs, and Returning to the track with the old unsubsidized placement measure which is reflected in your sponsor agreement

Why did we go back to the unsubsidized placement rate for PY2008? Entered Employment Rate Unsubsidized Placements

Bottom Line: We need to help as many people as possible to get jobs!! Entered Employment Rate Unsubsidized Placements

Focus on the number to be placed from your Sponsor Agreement Maintain the same follow-up schedule Exit all unsubsidized placements between April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009 Confirm placements by June 30, 2009 Entered Employment Rate Unsubsidized Placements Placement Goal Tips

IMPORTANT NOTE: A confirmed unsubsidized placement is still a participant employed in the first quarter after exit Entered Employment Rate Unsubsidized Placements

Final Note Entered Employment Rate Unsubsidized Placements

PY 2008 Unsubsidized Placement Goal = 2,246 participants PY 2008 Entered Employment Rate Goal = 55% (by March 31, 2009)

Employment Retention Rate (ERR) Basically, Case Management and Follow Up 2 Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Renetta Boyd Program Officer

Employment Retention Rate Definition Retention in Unsubsidized Employment for Six Months. Of those who are employed in the first quarter after the exit quarter: the number of participants who are employed in both the second and third quarters after the exit quarter divided by the number of participants who exit during the quarter. PY 2007 Goal = 71.5%

Employment Retention Rate What?

Employment Retention Rate Of the Participants that confirmed entered employment in Quarter 1 Were they still working 6 months later?

Employment Retention Rate If yes, Still working in Quarter 2 (earned at least $1 in wages) and Still working in Quarter 3 (earned at least $1 in wages) therefore Confirm Employment Retention

Does not include participants who are excluded Job changes count Fine print: Cannot get the credit unless a follow- up is conducted. Employment Retention Rate

9 of 16 states or 56% Successfully matched participants to jobs that they retained 6 months later How did we do?

Employment Retention Rate SSAI YTD=76%

Employment Retention Rate The relationship we build with participants over time contributes to success of this measure. Employment Retention begins with good Individual Employment Plans (IEP). Which leads to good job matches Lessons Learned:

Employment Retention Rate A low percentage could mean follow-up or tickler system did not work well. Therefore complete case management every 30 days as a good practice. Lessons Learned:

Employment Retention Rate Use the webtools to follow up and track what needs to be done, by when: Lessons Learned:

Employment Retention Rate Frequent follow-up and good case management notes leads to success in this measure. Lessons Learned:

Average Earnings (AE) Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Mohan Singh, Program Officer

Average Earnings Definition: Of those participants who are employed in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters after the exit quarter: the total earnings in the second quarter plus the total earnings in the third quarter divided by the number of participants who exited during the quarter.

Average Earnings Definition Continued: This measure only looks at those individuals who are included in the retention measure.

Average Earnings Formula Total earnings in Q2 of participants employed in Q1, Q2 and Q3 after exit, plus total earnings in Q3 Number of participants who exit during the quarter

Average Earnings PY 2007 Goal = $6, You collect Earnings information when you do follow up 2, the same time you are confirming Employment Retention.

Average Earnings You have to wait until third Quarter after exit to collect Earnings data for second Quarter after exit. You have to wait until fourth quarter after exit to collect Earnings data for third quarter after exit.

Average Earnings Is this too long? You bet. SSAI Web tool lets you know when it’s time to do the follow up 2.

Average Earnings Once you obtain the Earnings information, enter it in the web tool and the system keeps track of the data and reports your performance.

Average Earnings How did we do in PY 2007? Actual SSAI performance = $6, Overview 4 of 16 states achieved the goal.

Average Earnings

Lessons Learned: Is this a good measure? We are not sure. This is a baseline year for this measure. There is no prior year data to compare.

Average Earnings Lessons Learned ( cont’d) : This measure does not work well for an aging population. Participants need good jobs but you have no control over the jobs they find.

Average Earnings Lessons Learned (cont’d) : You do have control over follow ups – do them regularly to get credit. Make sure the earnings data is accurate and you can validate it.

Average Earnings Lessons learned Cont’d: Establish good relationships with former participants and employers who hire them.

Spending Lessons Learned PY 2007 Presented by: Joseph Gallagher Assistant to the Director, SCSEP Field Operations

Spending Definition: Expend 100% of Participant Wages budget ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT: EFFICIENTLY UTILIZE ALL OF THE FUNDS THAT YOU HAVE AT YOUR DISPOSAL WITHOUT GOING OVER YOUR BUDGET.

Spending PY 2007 Spending Goal: Spend 100% of Participant Wages ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT: EFFECTIVELY UTILIZE ALL OF THE FUNDS THAT YOU HAVE AT YOUR DISPOSAL WITHOUT GOING OVER YOUR BUDGET.

Spending How is the goal calculated? Identify PWFB dollars: Spend 100%. ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT: EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY UTILIZE ALL OF THE FUNDS THAT YOU HAVE AT YOUR DISPOSAL AND SERVE AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. EVEN IF THAT MEANS GOING OVER YOUR SERVICE LEVEL GOAL.

Spending SSAI National Performance How did we do? $1.2 million unspent in participant wages on June 30.

Spending How did we do? 48 of 81 (or 59%) of projects under spent. 30 of 81 (or 37%) of projects over spent – most, but not all… at SSAI’s request.

Spending Lesson Learned: Project directors need to know what’s going on with their spending… all year long… and they need a good, easy-to-use tool to help them do that.

Spending Lessons Learned: Need to utilize new and improved PY08 Payroll-by-Payroll report with “SPN.” SPN? What’s “SPN?” Try “Supportable Payroll Number”… or, “Supportable Participant Number”…

Spending Lessons Learned Cont’d: If over enrolled at beginning of program year, focus on exiting into unsub until you have funds to enroll. If under enrolled at beginning of program year, focus on recruitment until on track to spend 100% of PWFB while also exiting to unsub.

Spending Lessons Learned: Need to keep eye on wages spending during the entire program year. Wages spending is thoroughly intertwined with service level success and community service hours, and is a goal in itself.

Spending Lessons Learned: Offering extra hours is a last resort strategy and is inadequate solution to under spending. Big enrollment push at end of year is an inadequate solution to under spending.

Spending Lessons Learned: Some project directors do not get the benefit of their own Payroll-by-Payroll reports. Payroll-by-Payroll reports need to be submitted timely to be effective. Required by the sponsor agreement.

Spending Lessons Learned: Project directors are central in effective spending. PY 2007 payroll reports and information led to new and improved model for PY 2008.

Spending First Rule of Holes: If you are in one, stop digging!

Summary As of August 5, 2008

Stay on the Road to High Performance! To All SSAI Sub-recipients Thank you, for your High Level of Performance in PY 2007.

Thank you to all those that contributed to this session: Data & Graphs Kamal Elharam Content Collaboration & Editing Chris Garland Tony Sarmiento Power Point Design & Layout Mindy Luckett