The moment was ripe by the late 1990s for a program that could unite the employment and training needs of central city residents with the workforce needs of employers and unions. The Annie E. Casey Foundation entered the picture three years ago at just the right time. The Jobs Initiative invested in the WRTP to establish an employment and training program that hooks residents up with industrial jobs. Nearly 500 central city residents have been placed since the summer of 1997. Almost 70 percent have retained their employment thus far.
Participants are primarily unemployed and low-income residents of central city neighborhoods.
Member firms and unions select candidates for immediate placement or employment based upon their successful completion of standard training programs. Half receive TANF, Medicaid, or food stamps. Half also lack high school diplomas. Participants typically have two or more children. Their demographic and economic profiles generally reflect the impoverished central city population as a whole.