In the spring of 2007, the Racine County Workforce Development Board (RCWDB) recognized the need to assemble leaders from across the county to develop a workforce development strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to create a community-wide consensus about how county businesses and citizens can prepare to adapt to a changing economy.
United Way of Racine County has been charged with leading one of the six core challenges that Racine County leaders have articulated to ensure that the County prepares a world-class competitive workforce that will fill available jobs and reduce unemployment and poverty. Challenge 2 of “Higher Expectations: A Workforce Development Strategy for Racine County” has United Way convening leaders from private, public and non-profit sectors, and the faith-based community to create and implement a plan of action based on the following proposals:
VISION OF SUCCESS
Racine County residents, especially those in the City of Racine, will access additional education, skill-building, and family support opportunities so that they are successful in strengthening their families and increasing their financial stability. This will help increase the number of reliable and productive workers for Racine County employers.OUR STRATEGY
Through an intensive case management process, by the end of 2010, no fewer than 100 families will have measurably increased their financial and family stability. All families will have heads of households who are employed. The intent is that, with careful project implementation, evaluation and documentation of successes, these two-year cycles are repeated over a 10-year period.METRICS OF PARTICIPANT SUCCESS
- Reduced unemployment of participating individuals
- More tax dollars returned to community (EITC, VITA)
- Improved credit ratings; more families “banked”
- Reduced number of households in poverty; increased number earning family-sustaining incomes
- Increase in index of well-being for children (reduced child abuse, teen pregnancy, foster care, juvenile crime)
- Evidence of stable families
To schedule a presentation on AFA for your group or organization, contact Kimberly Payne, AFA Project Facilitator, at 262-456-4701 or kpayne@afaracine.org.
Faith-based organizations that are interested in creating supor teams for AFA families should contact Marie Hargrove, Community Initiatives Administrator, at 262-898-2244 or at mhargrove@unitedwayracine.org.
