My Agency Report

1. My Agency Report Susan Evans

2. Mission/Vision • MISSION - The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) coordinates and directs workforce development initiatives responsive to the needs of Baltimore City employers and job seekers in order to enhance and promote the local economy. • VISION - Every city resident maximizes his/her career potential and all employers have the human resources to grow and prosper --- a workforce system that works.

3. Demographics • The target population of my agency is essentially women who have been receiving benefits through the state of Maryland for a number of years. These women have never held paying jobs within the community, and are mandated by social services to be part of this welfare to work program. These women will be provided training within the community at various businesses, so that they can hopefully become gainfully employed. This positive experience will hopefully empower them to become productive and contributing members of society.

4. Policy Framework • The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) is an open-access system that seeks to serve all Baltimore City residents. However, the Baltimore’s Work Investment Board (BWIB’s) public policy framework places emphasis on support for legislation that will empower the workforce system to reach those most in need – the unemployed, job seekers in need of adult literacy and job readiness training, people with barriers to employment, and youth preparing to enter the world of work. By advancing a legislative agenda at the local, state and federal level that addresses the City’s most pressing workforce issues, the BWIB aims to build a pipeline of workers qualified with the skills local employers need to thrive in a competitive global economy.

5. Organizational Structure • Executive Leadership • Administrative Leadership • Workforce Operations Leadership • Youth Services Leadership

6. Governance • The Mayor's Office of Employment Development (MOED) works in concert with the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board, a mayoral appointed board, to address the diverse workforce needs of Baltimore’s employers and job seekers. By directing a broad array of innovative programs and collaborating with a host of specialized organizations, MOED acts as the city’s primary agent of workforce development services and coordinates the efforts of all its workforce partners to create a seamless workforce system.

7. Funding • The Governor's Workforce Investment Board (GWIB) is the governor's chief policy-making body for workforce development. • The GWIB is a business-led board of 45 members, a majority of whom represent the business community, as mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA).  Other members include the governor and the lieutenant governor, cabinet secretaries, college presidents, the state superintendent of schools, elected officials, labor, and representatives of nonprofit organizations.

8. Relationships • There is a very strong relationship between the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and many other human service agencies within the State of Maryland. All funding for this program is provided by the State of Maryland. Referrals from the Baltimore City Department of Social Services are provided to Workforce Reception Center. Businesses throughout Baltimore City have chosen to be part of the Welfare to Work Program in order to provide training.

9. Strengths, Trends & Challenges • There are many strengths within the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development to include the desire to get people off of welfare and be provided with paying jobs. Strengths also include having these recipients be provided with adequate on the job training. • The trends within the agency are that many people are not given adequate training, and then are back to being unemployed. Another trend is that some people do not know any other way of living, and change is difficult. • Challenges for the agency include people being mandated to participate in a program do not always yield the best results. When you are told that you have to do something or be part of something, then you may not really want to be part of such a program. You are only participating in the program because it is mandatory for you to keep your benefits. Other challenges include businesses automatically thinking that you have the necessary skills already to perform a job function, and are not willing to train the basics.

10. My Role • My role at the agency is to provide these women who have never held paying jobs basic skills, so that they can hopefully want to seek additional training. My goal is that these women will want to advance themselves, and become productive and contributing members of society. I hope that these women will want to take advantage of every training program that is offered to them for the sole purpose of learning more, and advancing. I have taught these women basic professional skills, because they were lacking in many areas. I taught them how to file letters correctly, and the importance of alphabetizing.

11. My Role • My favorite part of my role was teaching the women basic consumer math. None of them knew basic math skills, so this was an enjoyable experience. I taught them how to look for sales and clearances. I hope that I was able to teach the ladies some basic skills, not only within a workplace, but in the real world as well. I developed a very nice rapport with these women, along with the supervisor, and I was always open for questions, comments, and suggestions. I told the women right from the beginning that I was an intern, and was learning as well.

12. My Role • I told the women that there is no “I” in the word team, and that we were all there to learn from each other. I asked the women what they wanted to learn, and we took it from there. They appeared to enjoy the experience, and were eager to learn. They liked that someone was taking the time to teach them the basics. My job in a nutshell was to empower these women.