SHFYA
Westhab's Supported Housing for Families and Young Adults
(SHFYA) Program provides housing and retention services
for homeless clients residing in Westhab housing. The following
services are provided to clients in the SHFYA program:
Employment Readiness Training: At least ten hours
of instruction (incluuding structured small-group sessions
and one-on-one training) includes activities designed to
assist in the development of higher-order thinking skills
and personal skills, with particular emphasis on:
- Building self-confidence;
- Developing decision-making, problem-solving, and reasoning
skills;
- Adjusting to corporate "culture" and workplace
expectations;
- Maintaining a positive attitude;
- Developing good work habits, such as proper dress and
punctuality;
- Dealing with stress; and
- Developing conflict resolution skills for dealing with
supervisors and co-workers.
Unemployed participants also receive training in finding,
keeping and advancing in jobs. A variety of training techniques
are employed in this component, including individual and
group instruction, role-playing exercises, video feedback,
and presentations by successful graduates of our employment
programs. Westhab's job-readiness cirriculum, entitled "Stepping
Up", has been refined over the last five years,
based on our experience with Welfare-to-work employment
programs. It has further been adapted and enhanced for this
program in response to the needs and skills demonstrated
by participants.
Linkages to Education/Skills Training: Participants
are connected with existing adult basic education and occupational
skills training, both from Westhab's existing programs and
from outside providers. Participants may also be placed
in on-the-job training through Westhab's Wage Subsidy Program
(WSP). Funded by the New York State Department of Labor,
the WSP provides subsidized on-the-job training and other
employment services for the most difficult-to-serve public
assistance recipients and low-income residents of Westchester
County. Following job-readiness training, WSP participants
are placed in a subsidized job with a private employer,
with the employer partially reimbursed for wage costs by
Westhab.
As many of our participants need adult literacy or other
educational services, we also provide linkages to adult
education and GED classes at the Yonkers Public Schools'
Center for Continuing Education (CCE) and other local educational
institutions. Occupational skills training in addtional
fields is available through CCE, through Westchester BOCES
(Board of Cooperative Educational Services), and through
the Westchester County Workforce Investment Board, which
proivides vouchers for training from vendors throughout
the county, Our Case Managers work with the Employment Coordinator
to identify education and training opportunities that suit
the needs of each participant.
Job Search Assistance: Participants who are not
employed, are assisted by the Retention Counselor with finding
employment that is suited to their interests and abilities.
The Retention Counselor works with Westhab's job development
staff to identify openings, Westhab has placed over 800
formerly homeless clients in employment over the last ten
years. In the course of these efforts, we have found that
the most effective approach to placement is to match individual
participants to appropriate jobs rather than to develop
multiple placements with large employers. The Retention
Counselor gets to know participants during the employment
readiness component, and works with our job developers to
match each participant with an appropriate job opening.
The Retention Counselor also assists when necessary with
outreach to potential employers to develop additional placement
opportunities.
Job Retention: The Job Coach/Retention Counselor
provides intensive job retention services for up to one
year to residents of our transitional housing. Knowing that
most former public assistance recipients lose jobs for either
(a) attitudinal reasons, or (b) failure to adequately plan
for emergencies, the Retention Counselor focuses on these
two areas. Before placement in a job, the Job Coach/Retention
Counselor assists each participant in preparing a written
emergency backup plan for things such as transportation,
child-care and health emergencies. The Retention Counselor
then reviews many of the strategies learned by the participant
during job readiness training, such as communication and
body language, active listening, appropriate assertiveness,
anger management and conflict resolution. After placement,
the Job Coach/Retention Counselor assesses each participant's
progress through observations of the worker on the job,
disucssions with the worker, and meetings with his/her supervisor.
Program staff are also available to workers and their supervisors
by telephone and pager. Individual counseling and group
sessions are conducted where appropriate, to reinforce skills
learned in the job Readiness Training or to work on new
skills.
An important responsibility of the Retention Counselor
is to provide ongoing motivation and support for participants.
In our employment programs for the homeless, we have found
that it is imperative to enhance participants' self esteem
and to foster a sense of accomplishment if they are to succeed
in the workplace. Westhab has many former clients who have
said that without us, and especially without "that
one person who really cared," they would never have
made it out of homelessness and poverty. During all interactions
with participants, program staff stress the advantages of
working as opposed to reliance on public assistance and
directly address participants' concerns about losing public
assistance benefits. Westhab also employs a number of graduates
of our employment programs who have achieved self-sufficiency
through work anc can thus serve as positive role models
for participants.
To be eligible for Westhab's SHYFA Program, an individual:
- Must be currently receiving TANF (or a federally funded
Safety Net Program) OR
- Must answer YES to all of the following criteria:
- Must be a New York State resident
- Must be a member of a family that includes a minor child
or a pregnant woman or a non-custodial parent.
- Must be a United States citizen or TANF qualified non-citizen
- Must be a member of a family whose gross income does
not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level.
