Income and Jobs Kathryn Henderson, Westat and Nick Codd, Building Changes October Family Homelessness Strategy Convening October 29, 2012
Overview of Presentation Brief Overview of Design and Methods What is the Human Capital of the Families Being Served in the System? What is the Income of the Families Being Served? What are Their Barriers to Employment? Discussion Points and Questions 2
Design and Methods Sample Purpose Baseline cohort of families To be compared to an Intervention cohort of families beginning late 2013 466 families Speak English or Spanish Recruited from 10/10 to: 1/12 King 4/12 Snohomish 7/12 Pierce Data Collection From parent on: self, target child, and family 4 waves of data (B, 6M, 12M, 18 M) Considerations Does not include families who are non-english, non-spanish speaking or who enter domestic violence shelters Data were collected on 78% of those families considered eligible 11% unreachable, 5% declined, 5% not interviewed because recruitment ended 3
What is the Human Capital of Families Being Served in the System? 4
Education (Head of Household) The majority of respondents (70%) have a high school degree/ged or higher A higher percentage of respondents in Snohomish (38%) than King (23%) or Pierce (24%) have not completed high school King has the highest percentage of respondents with a college degree (15%) 38% of respondents have a vocational degree 5
Employment History and Status and Education Tri-County Total (N=466) King County (N=156) Pierce County (N=156) Snohomish County (N=154) Employment Status Ever employed 94% 93% 94% 95% Employed in past year* 62% 73% 57% 57% Currently working** 19% 26% 12% 17% Currently unable to work 21% 16% 24% 22% Education Currently enrolled in GED program** Currently enrolled in other school 5% 5% 1% 8% 21% 27% 17% 19% 6
Profile of Current Jobs 19% of respondents are currently working for pay Average of $11 per hour and 26 hours per week Of those working 44% work temporary, seasonal, or day labor 17% receive benefits from their job Snohomish (32%), King (12%), Pierce (6%) 58% say their job offers opportunities for advancement 7
Profile of Previous Jobs Average of $11.20 per hour and 35 hours per week Much larger ranges than in the current job 41% worked temporary, seasonal, or day labor 25% received benefits from their job King (35%), Pierce (23%), Snohomish (18%) Job ended an average of 21 months ago Median=12 Months 8
Reasons Left Last Job 43% of respondents left their last job because they were laid off, fired, or the job ended Common reasons they left their last job Laid off 17% Temporary/seasonal 15% Family responsibilities 12% Fired 11% Housing issues/homelessness 9% Pregnancy/baby 6% 9
What are the Barriers to Employment? 10
Looking for Work 43% of respondents indicate they are currently looking for work Common reasons they are having trouble finding jobs No jobs available 30% Transportation issues 20% Lack of skills/training 18% Lack of adequate childcare 16% Doesn t fit schedule 13% Criminal or legal issues 9% 11
Unable to Work 21% of respondents indicate they are currently unable to work Common reasons they are unable to work Physical disability 39% Mental disability 36% Other health problems 16% Lack of adequate childcare 10% Transportation issues 9% 12
Barriers to Employment Tri-County Total (N=466) King County (N=156) Pierce County (N=156) Snohomish County (N=154) Total number of children 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.5 % of households with children 6 and under Poor physical health functioning* Has one or more mental health indicators Positive screen for alcohol or drug abuse* 68% 69% 60% 76% 13% 14% 17% 7% 80% 82% 76% 83% 24% 17% 26% 28% Recent domestic violence 9% 7% 11% 10% Felony conviction** 17% 11% 24% 16% Currently on parole 6% 6% 5% 8% 13
What is the Income of Families Being Served in the System? 14
Income and Benefits Median monthly income is $478 King ($646), Pierce ($452), Snohomish ($440) Common sources of income TANF 58% Earnings, own 20% Child support/alimony 16% Earnings, someone else s 12% 7% of families have no income 15
Benefit Receipt TANF 58% SSI/SSDI for self 5% SSI/SSDI for someone else 6% Food Stamps/SNAP 96% WIC 65% 16
What are the incentives/disincentives of public benefits? 17
A Case Study Single mother with a 3 year old son receives TANF TANF recipient with one child adds employment Income $385/month from TANF $2,100 gross income (40 hours x $12.50/hour) Housing $30/month (Section 8) $548/month Food $367/month (SNAP) $70/month (SNAP) eligible for transitional food assistance for 5 months Childcare $15/month (Working Connections) $254/month childcare subsidy Health care Medicaid as a part of TANF Medicaid is continued for one year Total income $752 $2,170 Total expenses $45 $802 Net income $707 $1368 (Eligible for EITC) 18
What is the Role of Housing Providers in Connecting the Families They Serve to Employment? 19
Employment Services 36% received employment services 21% needed them, but did not receive them 25% Type of Services Received 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Skills assessment Job preparation Job skills Job search 20
Vocationalizing A strategy for integrating housing and employment services and defining the role that housing and case management providers can take to prepare and support their clients that participate in the training, education, and employment offered within the workforce system. 21
What is the Role of Main Stream Providers in Serving Homeless Families? 22
Mainstream Services Tri-County Total (N=466) King County (N=156) Pierce County (N=156) Snohomish County (N=154) Contacted Worksource in past three months 46% 45% 48% 43% Enrolled in Workfirst/TANF 32% 35% 33% 32% 23
Are There Best Practices We Can Learn From? 24
Housing and Employment Navigator A specialized case management approach that offers individualized and flexible support to link homeless families served by partnering housing programs to mainstream workforce services including sector training, educational programs, and job placement services. 25