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Barriers
Skill Deficiencies
Affordable Child Care
Dependable & Accessible Transportation
Others
The thriving economy and the social disparity in Austin contribute to a dynamic workforce environment. The current demand for workers is balanced by the pressing need for certain disadvantaged segments of the population to find full-time employment that allows self-sufficiency. If barriers to employment can be removed for this segment of workers, Austin businesseswill benefit. It is a rare opportunity to meet both the needs of employers and the needs of workers simultaneously.
Travis County business leaders, service providers, educators, and state and local researchers have identified several barriers that often prevent the under-utilized workforce from achieving self-sufficient employment. The three most critical barriers are lack of job skills and experience, lack of affordable, quality child care, and lack of dependable and accessible transportation.
Additionally, personal factors such as physical disabilities, mental health issues, or substance abuse and situational factors such as domestic violence, homelessness or immigrations status make it even more difficult for individuals to overcome the educational, training, and logistical "getting to work" barriers described above. Since these barriers are issue areas to themselves, they will not be addressed in depth at this time. This is not to minimize their importance in any way, rather this is done to maintain a focus on those issues which were identified most often in the workforce development research.
This mix of multiple obstacles for some individuals can lessen the probability that they will find employment that allows self-sufficiency (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Dec 1998). While overcoming these barriers is a necessary step towards self-sufficiency, the wage level at which individuals are employed ultimately determines whether or not one will reach self-sufficiency.
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A. Skill Deficiencies
Basic skills
English as Second Language
Job specific and computer skills
Work experience
As identified by both Austin employers and social service providers in separate Workforce Development focus groups, the three main training needs of the emerging, unemployed, and underemployed workforce in Travis County are basic skills, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and literacy classes, and technical skills.
The fundamental issues across all areas of training are accessibility and affordability. Providers stated that one of the major barriers to workers receiving the training they need is funding. Funding is needed both to expand available training programs and to support participants while they attend training sessions. Providers described how financially difficult it is for low-income individuals to take one to several weeks off work to attend training sessions. Often, workers must stop attending the training and return to a low-paying job just to earn enough money to feed/house themselves and their families for the month. Other reasons for not completing training programs are (in addition to child care and transportation) housing crises, family crises, lack of continued case management, low self-esteem, relocation, and health.
Basic skills. Basic skills include, but are not limited to literacy, interviewing, job search, job coaching/mentoring, confidence building, and appropriate behavior on-the-job. During focus groups, both providers and employers agreed that many emerging and un/underemployed workers need a significant amount of basic skills training before they could be prepared for technical training such as computer basics. Employers also mentioned that many new workers lack sufficient math skills.
ESL. In a focus group of education and training service providers, one participant succinctly captured the need for ESL classes in our community: "we can fill any slots that open up." In fiscal year 1997, Austin Community College expanded its capacity and the number of students they served grew from 1,721 to 4,101 in FY1998. Not being able to obtain ESL training can be a critical barrier for many individuals who need to obtain technical or other basic skills training. Employers cited a growing demand for not only ESL for Spanish-speaking, but also ESL classes for Asian workers from various countries.
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Job specific and computer skills. During the Workforce Development focus group, providers cited that the main way to improve the workforce system is to enhance the link between employer needs and worker skills. In addition to providing workers with basic literacy, math, computer, and behavioral skills at work, the system also needs to develop technically competent, skilled workers. Large and small employers have indicated a need for more skilled workers in a variety of industries including high tech, retail and restaurant services, construction, and the small business community (Sharp, Aug 1998; Fiscal Notes, Nov/Dec 1998; Austin Business Journal, Feb/Mar 1999).
Work experience. A national survey of small businesses was conducted to determine how many business owners had hired former welfare recipients since the new welfare law took effect (Levin-Waldman & McCarthy, 1998). Although it was found that only 16% had hired former welfare recipients, it was also found that small business owners were more interested in a potential employees general experience than whether or not the individual was a former welfare recipient. At the state level, the Texas Comptroller reported that employers are more likely to hire applicants who have solid work experience along with demonstrated skills (Sharp, Dec 1996).
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For the emerging workforce (mostly youth preparing to enter the workforce for the first time) significant efforts are underway to address the need for gaining relevant work experience. Schools, local government, and multiple service providers are working together to provide students with opportunities to gain experience before formally entering the workforce.
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B. Child Care
Accessibility
Affordability
Quality of care
Employers
System measurement
Social service providers who participated in Workforce Development focus groups indicated that lack of affordable child care is a major barrier preventing workers from completing job training or maintaining full employment. The availability of accessible and affordable quality child care is also the most frequently cited barrier to successful implementation of welfare-to-work programs
Accessibility. Even when care is subsidized, finding care that is reasonably close to ones home or place of employment, that has slots available for the age of ones children, and is open during the hours that the parent is working is a challenge. Because many low-income workers use non-licensed child care, it is not possible to show the location of care and proximity to the familys residence or the parents place of work. It is possible to locate licensed care in ones neighborhood via the web site of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. Licensed care facilities, both child care centers and licensed family homes can be accessed by zip code. Basic information about the facility is provided as well as number of slots available. Typically, waiting lists are found for centers that are accredited. Openings for infant care, for extended hours care, and for care for children with special needs are most difficult to find. Finding care to meet the demands of shift work is an increasing challenge.
Affordability. The cost of child care is the most obvious obstacle to employment. It is useful to examine the cost of child care as a percentage of the familys income. A single mother of one child making $6/hour has an annual income of $12,480. If she pays $350 per month for child care, that amounts to 34% of her income. If she has more than one child requiring child care, the expense is much greater.
Because of the relative cost, few low-wage working mothers pay the market rate for child care (Edin and Lein, 1997). Care is usually either subsidized or provided by relatives or friends at reduced rates or for no cost. To qualify for subsidized care, a parent must fall into one of several eligibilitycategories, most ranging from 150% to 185% of poverty (refer to Table 3), but with some greater flexibility become available recently. Once a parent no longer qualifies for subsidized care, the cost burden can increase dramatically while wages increase only slightly.
Options for child care increase as family income rises, but costs of care continue to be a major budget item. The cost of quality care, especially when there is more than one child needing care, is a burden for the majority of working-parent families. As noted in the Report of the Austin Child Care Council to the Austin City Council (1998), "Families now actually spend more on the early care and education of their children than they contribute to the public university education of those children."
Quality of care. Issues of quality of care address concerns about what is in the best interest of the child. Markers of quality include objective measures such as staff to child ratio, licensure, accreditation, and frequency of staff turnover. Additional indicators include input from parents, cleanliness and appearance, and type and condition of equipment and toys. More subjective indicators are also relevant and include responsiveness to the child and amount and quality of attention and interactions.
Employers. Concerns about child care are also relevant for employers. With the largest segment of the workforce ranging in age from 22-44 (CAWDB, 1999), the period during which most adults begin families and raise children, most employers will have large segments of their workforce composed of parents of dependent children. If you combine this situation with the increase in two-parent working and single parent families, the majority of workers will need child care. Despite the recognition that the access to and cost of child care can reduce productivity and ultimately affect profits, less than one percent of the funding for child care or child development comes from the private sector (Department of the Treasury, 1998).
The Austin Area Employers Collaborative has identified only seven employer-sponsored child care centers currently operating in the Austin area, although others are in the planning stages. The total capacity of these employer-sponsored centers is 677 children (Austin Area Employers Collaborative, Austin Families Inc., 1999).
Some Austin area employers have already implemented family-friendly policies to employees. Such policies include flex-time, paid time off, health insurance, and subsidies for child care and care for elders (Lein, Robinson, Steiner, and Lewis,1998).Some benefits are easier for larger employers to provide than for small businesses and vice-versa. For example, arranging or subsidizing on- or near-site child care is reasonable for larger employers; while smaller employers may be more apt to allow employees to bring children to work on school holidays.
Currently, the Austin Area Employers Collaborative is conducting a survey of Austin area employers to determine the extent to which family-friendly benefits are offered. These results will be included in the assessment update.
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System measurement. Basic data to track actual child care need and capacity are lacking (Child Care Council, 1998). Data regarding subsidized care through the local Child Care Management System (CCMS) managed by the Texas Migrant Council provides some useful information. Currently, CCMS is serving 2684 children in Travis County. Sixteen percent of children eligible for subsidized care are currently receiving it (Child Care Council, 1998). Of those served by CCMS, approximately 289 are children of TANF recipients participating in welfare to work programs.
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C. Transportation
Workforce and welfare reform legislation has forced federal and state agencies to begin addressing the pivotal role played by transportation on the road to self-sufficiency. Although welfare reform provisions require recipients to obtain employment, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, over 90% of welfare recipients do not own a car.
A 1998 study by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services identified 164,458 people in Travis County who are transportation disadvantaged. This population is composed of persons who are 65 and older, persons with disabilities, and persons living at or below the federal poverty level. These groups must rely on public transportation.
The welfare to work session at the Texas Transportation Planning Conference in June, 1998, cited the following employment transportation barriers:
- Geographic mismatch - employers with entry level jobs are not generally located near neighborhoods of welfare recipients or persons with low incomes
- Bad timing many entry-level jobs require shift work, odd hours and evening and weekend hours times when buses run irregularly
- Impractical situations very long trips, many transfers, long walks, compounded by child care needs
- Inadequate public transit especially in the rural areas
- Old, uncoordinated service models -
- Most routes move in and out of downtown efficient but inflexible
- Vans for special populations like the elderly and people with disabilities flexible but inefficient
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These barriers effect the entire transportation disadvantaged population in our community and are not limited to the welfare-to-work population.
Currently, public transportation is provided by Capital Metro, the only bus service in Austin, which offers a variety of services, including free rides for the mobility impaired Vanpools for employers, and the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) program for rural Travis County residents. It should be noted, CARTS can only provide basic mobility services due to funding limitations. Despite its limitations, according to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, CARTS is experiencing steadily increasing demands for its services from workforce commuters, local fixed route riders, and the growing elderly population.
The President, Federal Transit Administration and the Texas Governor have all challenged communities to provide transportation services that will enable welfare recipients and low-income persons in rural and urban areas to travel to work. Only one group in Austin/Travis County, the Community Action Networks (CAN) Welfare-to-Work Coalition has a planning process underway to address the needs of all the transportation disadvantaged.
The CAN Welfare-to-Work Coalition (1999) has begun to develop avenues for expansion of transportation options to support employment and training needs. The goal is fuller utilization of existing community resources and assets. Options include: recruitment of volunteers for car pools, private vehicle procurement and maintenance, vanpool development for specific employers, and obtainment of dedicated Capitol Metro buses and/or vans for TANF recipients.
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D. Other Barriers:
Disabilities
Homelessness
Mental illness
Substance abuse
Immigration status
Domestic violence
Disabilities. Americans with disabilities still face major gaps in income earnings and employment. According to the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities (1998), seven out of ten people with disabilities are unemployed and cannot find work. While challenging, these conditions can be addressed with some success. According to the Texas Rehabilitation Commissions Annual Report for FY 1998, vocational rehabilitation services greatly increase a persons earning potential. In Travis County, the average change in weekly income was from $63/week before services to $338/week after services.
Homelessness. Lack of a place to live creates many obstacles for individuals who want to work. Obstacles include: lack of consistent access to showers/bathing facilities, lack of appropriate and clean work attire, lack of consistent and safe places to sleep, pervasive discrimination by employers, lack of phone contact or address when applying for jobs, and other daily trials.
In addition to living without safe and secure shelter, having dependent children, and/or being under the age of 18, many homeless individuals face other barriers. These include mental illness (41% of homeless population), substance abuse (16%), dual diagnoses (22 %), mental retardation/developmental disabilities (unknown %), and physical disabilities (unknown %) (Austin/Travis County Consolidated Application for HUD, 1998).
Mental illness. Among the barriers that persons with mental illnesses face as they attempt to enter or stay in the workforce include:
- Stigma attached to having mental health needs
- Inability to pay for services
- Disparity in insurance coverage for mental illnesses compared to physical illness
- Lack of proactive, prevention, and early intervention services
- Brain/thought disorders for whom rights and choice issues are complicated (ATCMHMR, 1997)
Approximately one out of six Travis County residents report that they are not employed or involved in other community activities due to feelings of depression and/or anxiety (ATCMHMR, 1997).
Substance abuse. Substance abuse and dependence effect the potential workforce in myriad ways and are frequently accompanied by other co-occurring problems or situational barriers. Findings from a study of 6,400 employees using an Employee Assistance Program indicated that persons with alcohol problems were more likely to have attendance problems and accidents on and off the job (34% of persons with alcohol problems had these attendance issues compared to 19% of persons without). (ATCMHMR, 1997)
Recent data indicates that adults who seek treatment for substance abuse problems are either un- or under-employed. In 1997, only 24% of adult treatment recipients of Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA, Sep 1998) services in Travis County were employed.
Immigration status. The vibrant Austin/Travis County economy has attracted many immigrant workers because of the promise of work. Unfortunately, many immigrants in this area live in poverty. Due to the economic difficulties they face, they contribute to the demand for social service and health resources in Travis County. Listed below are various barriers to these individuals obtaining self-sufficiency:
- The accessibility of community education resources (ESL, citizenship classes, academic-related mentoring, and reading and tutoring programs) has become severely limited due to recent demographic and workforce trends.
- The Austin Public Library (APL) does not adequately serve the diverse cultural population of Austin.
- Individuals, businesses, and other organizations need easier access to information about immigration, welfare laws, regulations and services.
- Low-income residents lack the financial resources to obtain legal assistance in acquiring naturalization, asylum and suspension of deportation.
- It is time-intensive and costly to travel to San Antonio for naturalization.
(Austin Task Force on Immigration Issues, 1998).
Domestic violence. Domestic, or partner, violence can have a negative impact on both the worker and the employer. Thirty-seven percent of women involved in partner violence have felt its effects on the workplacereflected in lateness, missed work, difficulty keeping a job, and difficulty advancing their careers (End Partner Violence).
American businesses pay an estimated $3 to $5 billion a year in medical expenses associated with domestic violence. Businesses forfeit an additional $100 million a year in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-productivity (Family Violence Prevention Fund, Oct 1996).
Summary
Rarely do any of these barriers appear in isolation. Successful efforts to promote self-sufficiency through workforce development must recognize the multiple barriers facing each individual. At minimum, our community must move toward collaborative efforts to provide comprehensive services.
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