Workforce Developement

In working closely with families and youth, CH/SFSC regularly encountered the need for workforce development opportunities.

Over the last decade, we have worked to meet this demand by providing job readiness training, job placement and job retention services to youth and adults through out D.C.

In response to the violence experienced during the summer of 2001, CH/SFSC worked with Council member Jim Graham's office to establish Positive Resources and Opportunities (PRO) for Urban Youth. This summer youth employment program engages youth at different work sites and community organizations throughout Ward 1, for six to eight weeks during the summer.

In 2006, CH/SFSC launched the Green Team, a workforce development initiative that supports residents transitioning back into the community. The Green Team provides beautification, safety and ambassadorship services in residential neighborhoods and business corridors throughout the District.

Beginning with only one team of seven individuals, Green Team has expanded to cover 14 different neighborhoods and employ 74 staff in 2010.

From 2008-2010, CH/SFSC also ran a Transitional Employment Program (TEP) with funding from the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES). Over three years, CH/SFSC provided job readiness training, employment placement, and employment retention services to over 200 District residents.

After graduating from job readiness training, CH/SFSC staff placed many of these individuals on the Green Team for 6-12 months to give them an opportunity to build their skill sets, as well as adjust to a professional working environment and schedule, before sending them out into an unsubsidized placement elsewhere.