Question: >What resources are available in Texas to help people in homeless situations find jobs?

Answer: Both government and private organizations recognize that education and vocational rehabilitation are key elements in ending homelessness. Armed with diplomas and job skills, those experiencing homelessness can better escape the cycle of dependency that returns them day after day to shelters, soup lines, and street corners. Like the familiar adage, Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime, the philosophy of these organizations addresses the long-term benefits of helping persons in temporary living situations to achieve self-sufficiency, effectively manage their lives, reclaim their self-esteem, and become positive role models for their children. A small sampling of organizations in Texas dedicated to integrating the homeless into the state’s workforce reveals the spectrum of help available.

• The Texas Education Agency (TEA) assists homeless people through its Adult and Community Education program, which provides basic elementary and secondary education to adult learners. Those not enrolled in school can acquire English literacy skills, life-survival training, or GED accreditation so that they can qualify for a job or continue their education. Family development classes are available for parents whose lack of academic and parenting skills puts their family at risk of long-term dysfunction. TEA is dedicated to liberating parents from institutional dependence through education and to helping them become effective role models for their children.
• The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 provided Texas with a new approach for helping the unemployed find employment and training opportunities. WIA, which is implemented through the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), represents a consolidation and improvement of pre-existing employment, training, literacy, and vocational rehabilitation programs. This resource offers homeless job seekers skills that foster economic self-sufficiency. The Act’s target groups—disadvantaged adults and youth—have priority access to the intensive training activities. Homeless jobseekers can access services through one-stop centers located throughout Texas. WIA’s one-stop system is designed to help individuals make informed decisions concerning the development of their workforce skills. Staff members assist patrons with questions regarding computers, resource materials, labor market information, training, education, social services, and so on. Information is available on approved childcare facilities, public transportation routes and schedules, access points for social services, typing and resume preparation, educational grants, and student loans. Individuals seeking immediate employment have access to job-bank listings at the local, state, and national levels. TWC also offers programs that pay for childcare while parents are in school or in vocational-technical classes.
• A hazardous route is defined as one that lacks a walkway and causes the child to "walk along or cross a freeway or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial area, or another comparable condition."
• The Job Corps’ Foster Care Initiative is an education and training program for at-risk 16 to 24 year olds. Job Corps is a national program with centers in four Texas cities: El Paso, San Marcos, Laredo, and McKinney. The program provides comprehensive academic and vocational training services along with amenities such as room and board, transportation, health care, and a clothing allowance. The Job Corps is particularly sensitive to the plight of homeless and runaway youths and provides services aimed at keeping others from similar fates
• The purpose of the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) is to return homeless veterans to the labor force. Authorized under Section 738 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the program awards funds competitively to state or local governments and nonprofit organizations for solutions to the problems facing homeless veterans. HVRP helps Texas’ veterans either find jobs or gain skills needed to reenter the labor market. Staff members provide the homeless vets with one-on-one job counseling, résumé preparation, skills assessment, and job development and placement. Necessities such as clothing, shelter, referral to medical or substance abuse treatment, and transportation assistance are also provided.
• SEARCH (Services of the Emergency Resource Center for the Homeless), located in Houston, offers the local homeless population job training, adult literacy/GED, and job placement services. Individuals in need of tutoring can sign up for the Computer Learning Lab, where an instructor and tutors provide one-on-one assistance with specific learning goals. Once their learning goals have been met, students with a high school diploma or GED can move on to the occupational training program. Those who lack these credentials have access to GED software programs and one-on-one instruction from a certified teacher. Long-term training is available in such work-related areas as computer software, bookkeeping, and culinary arts. Short-term classes include forklift operation, web-page design, industrial radiology, and data entry. SEARCH also offers its homeless patrons job-readiness skills, assistance with job placement, and employment coaching. For a nominal fee, childcare services are available for homeless parents while they attend SEARCH employment education classes.

  Organizations committed to ending homelessness by helping homeless adults return to school, acquire job skills, apply for jobs, and secure employment can be found in most major Texas metropolitan areas. Homeless individuals wishing to exchange life on the streets for self-sufficiency and a brighter future will find that many agencies are ready to lend them a hand.

  Did You Know? (From the Streets to the Classroom continued)