A Seattle non-profit is going to help ten states around the country figure out how to guide people on food stamps into living-wage jobs. An organization called Seattle Jobs Initiative is the recipient of a $3.6 million, two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA oversees the food stamp program. Seattle Jobs Initiative, or SJI, helps people on food stamps with education and apprentice programs that can help them find stable work and financial independence.
With this new grant, SJI will help ten other states, yet to be named, to do the same. David Kaz, a policy director for SJI, says his organization focuses on quick paths to employment.
“So we’re looking at industries and sectors and occupations within those, so that if you don’t have a B.A., but you have a 1-year credential — maybe a 2-year —where can you get a good job with advancement potential that can at least get your family to a living wage?” said Kaz.
Healthcare, trucking and manufacturing are go-to professions. To figure out where those opportunities are, SJI does a variety of research from looking at job listings to talking to trade organizations about what skills are in short supply.
SJI helped shape a statewide job training program run by the Department of Social and Health Services. Between 2013 and 2014, it linked more than 10,000 people to formal training and apprenticeship programs.
SJI will help guide other states via a digital platform called the Employment and Training Center of Excellence. It will be full of information states can tap into and be a place to share ideas.
“[It will be] something online that states can access that will have updates, news, resources, tools they can use; a way to connect with one another; the capacity to do webinars where states can present to one another as to what they’re learning, where we can address common challenges,” said Kaz.
The grant will also pay for additional program and policy experts to provide hands-on help.
