Overview | Hope VI | Career 1-Stop | Multi-Service Center | White Center Heights Elementary School

Trade Show: Career 1-Stop

Presentation by John Chadwick, employment director

q      Job training

q      Case management

q      Coaching and placement

There are 3 work source centers in King county and 6 affiliate sites. We are attached to Renton. Park Lake is connected with the work force center and associated with the community college for training.

When people come to Park Lake we first start with assessment of where they want to go with education levels and career goals. We look at the costs involved to bring them to an employable level. We will work with job placement as well as occupational skills training. Assessment will be done to set career goals and to look at long range possibilities. A large range of training will be done at community technical college.

Research has been done to see cost based on the different parts of the county and a calculator is now in effect to evaluate the cost comparison. The calculator will tell what subsidy a family might require based on an hourly wage which provides longer range planning and insight. The calculations will be made every 6 months to reevaluate and assess progress.

Case managers will do family budgeting and determine what the eligibility needs are. Referrals will be made if it looks like they are eligible for benefits. Links on the website to resources will be made but considerations need to be made for the maintenance of the site. We need to identify the barriers towards accessibility and form an in-depth assessment process.

Park Lake is working with the housing group. Our hope is to build a facility to incorporate other partners. The range of resources needs to be greater. Hope VI is an 8,000 to 10,000 sq foot facility. The average age served is 35 to 45 with 35% men 65% female.

There is a need to see more visibility of the services. We foresee a connection to the library for job training. We would like to see the computer lab remain open for more hours at the community college so resources aren't wasted. There are other considerations for those seeking jobs and training. As of now there are no support services for child care. We intend to look at family services and teen violence prevention. We don't know where funding will be coming from so resources may diminish. There is a need for access to King County job initiatives. Now it is all referral.

We have had job fairs in the past but need resource fairs. The staff at Park Lake is knowledgeable but there is room for improvement. Case managers have a broad range of backgrounds and expertise but there is a need for more knowledge of DSHS resources.