While the San Antonio training program has stalled and officials try to discuss the details of the next phase, a key backer fears the initiative is in trouble.
COPS / Metro, a grassroots advocacy group, has aggressively campaigned for city guides to set up an emergency program to help some of the thousands of people unemployed during the pandemic acquire the skills they needed to getting higher paying jobs.
The group’s leaders later sided with Mayor Ron Nirenberg when he asked voters in November to use sales tax money to help create an expanded program.
But months after the idea proved victorious in the elections, COPS / Metro members became increasingly disillusioned with how the city’s efforts in vocational training were doing. They feel that city officials have all but ignored their concerns. The group’s leaders are disappointed with the meager number of participants who have received training certificates and jobs under the Train for Jobs SA emergency program.
Nine months after the $ 75 million initiative began, 214 people were placed in jobs.
On ExpressNews.com: “Slower Than Expected”: The San Antonio job program is still struggling to gain momentum
And COPS / Metro executives fear the city hasn’t done enough to prepare for the next level of its training effort – Ready to Work, the $ 200 million sales tax-backed program that helps residents too to enroll in college courses. The rollout of the program has already been postponed by one month from September to October.
City officials who created Ready to Work have done so at a breakneck pace, COPS / Metro leaders argue, focusing too much on figuring out bureaucratic procedures rather than what jobs the participants will be training for – points officials deny .
“They just did this, if you will,” says Sister Pearl Ceaser, former director of Project Quest, the COPS / Metro vocational training program founded more than 25 years ago.
When Train for Jobs began last September, officials said the program would help 10,000 people in some way even if they didn’t complete their education and farm labor. But the program itself fell short of that number – around 6,000 people qualified for training and completed the program’s admission process.
For their part, COPS / Metro executives said they initially expected low enrollment and placement numbers – in part because it was difficult to implement a vocational training program. Most of the participants in the program have opted for training that lasts longer, but theoretically leads to even higher-paying work.
But the city risks seeing similar numbers of Ready to Work if no more outside people development experts are brought in to weigh and determine the jobs that will come when attendees graduate, claim COPS / Metro- Executives.
“They’re going to remodel the same flawed program on a larger scale and get no better results than what they’re getting now,” said Sonia Rodriguez, a COPS / Metro director who worked on Nirenberg’s Ready to Work campaign.
City officials said they were focused on these things. Nirenberg’s office provided a list of external experts whom he and his staff consulted as part of the program.
“We are building an unprecedented human resources program and we knew all along that we would face challenges,” says Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “It’s a natural part of the process and we will face challenges as they arise.”
Kin Man Hui / Photographer
They also identified several target industries for Ready to Work, including healthcare, manufacturing, and cybersecurity. They also plan to publish a detailed list of potential occupations for those who complete the program. Nonetheless, the city expects a third-party organization running the program to stay in touch with employers and ensure that jobs are waiting for program participants.
“We know which jobs determine wages and are in demand right now,” said Assistant City Manager Alex Lopez, who oversees both vocational training programs. “We already know that. Will that change year after year? Maybe.”
It is not the first time that COPS / Metro has made public complaints about Ready to Work. Its members were outraged when city officials made a proposal in December to hire 65 new city workers and set up a new agency to enroll participants in vocational and college study programs and ensure they don’t drop out. Rodriguez described the proposed department as “bloated bureaucracy”.
The officials withdrew this suggestion and instead chose to outsource this work, along with the training itself, to an outside organization.
This process also drew heat. After the city submitted a document setting out their expectations for the contract, COPS / Metro and potential contractors complained that the expectations were too strict and micromanaged by the city. The officials went back to the drawing board and plan to open the bidding process on July 6th.
On ExpressNews.com: As unemployment benefits run out, the mayor of San Antonio tries to increase interest in an apprenticeship program
The city guides have largely defended how Train for Jobs has evolved and how Ready to Work is taking shape. Even if they needed work, potential newcomers to Train for Jobs were likely put off by the prevalence of COVID-19 in the early days of the program, officials and advocates have suggested. Employers were also reluctant to hire in the winter months.
But interest in Train for Jobs has increased since the beginning of the year as the pandemic subsides and more residents receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said.
“We are building an unprecedented human resources program and we knew all along that we would face challenges,” Nirenberg said in a statement. “It’s a natural part of the process and we will face challenges as they arise.”
But Nirenberg said he’s with COPS / Metro when it comes to concerns about how long it will take the city to hire a manager to oversee Ready to Work. The city was originally expected to hire someone by May. Months later, the position is vacant – and it is unclear when it will be. A city spokeswoman said the hiring process is “in the final selection phase”.
Other Amazing COPS / Metro Executives: The person overseeing the city’s current education program is Heber Lefgren, who heads the city’s animal care services division.
Ready to Work will be launched in October – after the city council gave the order to implement the program. But the program will steadily be brought through the doors from January onwards with more pressure on the enrollers – in part to give the contractor time to settle in. “We have learned that we have to do a soft launch,” says Assistant City Manager Alex Lopez. “No switch is thrown.”
Kin Man Hui / Photographer
“Don’t we have people who know a little more about people development who might be in leadership positions?” Rodriguez told the Express News editorial team.
City officials defended the move to temporarily place Lefgren in place of overseeing the day-to-day running of Train for Jobs.
Lefgren “has been instrumental in many innovations and improvements” in animal care services, city manager Erik Walsh said in a statement. His previous work in the city’s budget and innovation offices gave Lefgren “a solid foundation for creative, effective systems design and implementation,” said Walsh.
Ready to Work will be launched in October – after the city council gave the order to implement the program. But the program will steadily be brought through the doors from January onwards with more pressure on the enrollers – in part to give the contractor time to settle in.
“We have learned that we have to make a soft start,” said Lopez during a public form of the program on Thursday. “No switch is thrown.”
Even after the city hires the contractor, officials expect problems to arise. It is time for Rodriguez to iron out those kinks before this organization is shut down.
“There is really a lack of logic in all of this and the order that is missing,” said Rodriguez.
Despite their concerns, COPS / Metro executives do not plan to leave the process.
“It’s too important,” said Rodriguez. “This one is too big to fail.”
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/san-antonios-fledgling-job-training-program-under-scrutiny/
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