Non-Traditional Partnerships for Workforce Development
Detroit, Michigan

An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — March 18-19, 1999

This two-day Forum visit provided an opportunity to observe a number of successful, non-traditional education and workforce development programs in the Detroit Metropolitan area. Policymakers enjoyed a rare chance to visit and speak directly with practitioners, business leaders, workforce service providers, and students in various stages of their educational careers. The group of 20 Washington, DC area participants viewed a successful workforce development program, a One Stop Center, a high school within a major museum, a manufacturing sciences academy and a scientific research lab. Ford Motor Company, a major player in Detroit’s workforce development activities, is the sponsor of several of the programs seen: The Henry Ford Academy, Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences, The High School Science and Technology Program and A World in Motion. All of the programs visited share a desire to prepare youth for the workforce challenges of the 21st Century.

Focus: HOPE

Focus: HOPE is a civil and human rights organization with an evolving focus on workforce development for well paying jobs and has experienced exceptional success in preparing disadvantaged youth and adults for careers as machinists and engineers. Focus: HOPE was founded by the late Father William T. Cunningham and current Executive Director Eleanor Josaitis after the civil disturbance of the 1967 Detroit riots. The two created the organization to help build a multicultural community based on racial harmony. Focus: HOPE has earned the admiration of corporate and government leaders through its efforts to initiate practical solutions that affect the entire community. Through three decades of trial and experience Focus: HOPE has successfully developed education and corporate partnerships, technology training, machinist programs, food bank programs, child care and other programs that build a stronger community.

The main building, a focal point within the Focus: HOPE campus, was purchased at a greatly reduced rate from Ford Motor Company and houses the machinery and technology programs. When entering the building, visitors first encounter a striking bright green, rubber-like flooring that covers an enormous floor filled with state-of-the-art machinery. The impression is that of a modern workplace. The Focus: HOPE mission statement is posted prominently in the reception lobby and drives every aspect of its many programs. "Recognizing the dignity and beauty of every person, we pledge intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice. And to build a metropolitan community where all people may live in freedom, harmony, trust and affection – black and white, yellow, brown and red from Detroit and its suburbs – of every economic status, national origin and religious persuasion – we join in this covenant."

Focus: Hope Lessons Learned

The Commodity Supplemental Food Program was started as a response to a need in the community that proper nutrition play an important role in the development of a baby’s life or the sustenance of a low-income senior. This program addresses the fear of hunger from these two groups. "Listen for the fear to get the real message from people," said Josaitis. The program provides a free monthly supplement of food to senior citizens, pregnant women, postpartum mothers and children up to age six. Established in 1971, Focus: HOPE’s food bank is the largest commodity program in the nation. The food is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, feeding 19,000 at-risk mothers and 27,000 low-income seniors in the Detroit area each month. Eligibility for food bank assistance is based on age and income. Families must be certified every six months to participate; senior certification is once a year. The program uses technology to process orders efficiently, using bar codes to track inventory. Television monitors are placed throughout the food center to introduce users to Focus: HOPE’s training programs in the hopes that mothers and grandparents will spread the word to their family and community. Effort is made to make the food program user friendly. For example, signs are posted in English, Spanish and Arabic; recipes are provided so that recipients can prepare dishes at home and save money, and food demonstrations are conducted to show how to prepare various dishes with the commodities.

Mrs. Josaitis explained other lessons that have shaped the organization. Josaitis explained that a lot of time, money and effort was being wasted in going to Washington to testify and explain to policymakers the importance of programs within Focus: HOPE. "Learn to outsmart ‘em." By turning the situation around and bringing policymakers to Focus: HOPE, they were able to "show legislative aides the programs and the problems." These visits made programs more real to visiting aides and Members of Congress, and subsequently Focus: HOPE gained more recognition and funding from public leaders.

Setbacks from racial anger aimed at the organization’s message of tolerance and acceptance between blacks and whites loomed over the Center as it went through 13 years of lawsuits. Two years ago a tornado ripped through a large portion of their refurbished main building and last year the co-founder and driving force behind Focus: HOPE, Father Cunningham, passed away. Through hardship and loss, Focus: HOPE leaders kept their ‘eyes on the prize’ and have brought the organization to where it is today. Their tenacity got them through these hard times. "It wasn’t easy," said Josaitis.

When they noticed their high school diploma students were not performing well, standards were lowered to make accommodations. "This was a disaster,"said Josaitis. Based on this lesson two more programs, First Step and Fast Track were created to help students raise their levels of academic achievement in preparation for subsequent training programs that require higher levels of academic achievement. "Never lower standards, raise the bar."

Focus: HOPE Training Programs

The Center for Children, a program open to Focus: HOPE colleagues and parents enrolled in the training programs and the community-at-large offers child care and education services. "It’s the greatest gift you can give your trainees ...[they] don’t have to worry about [their] children when training," said Josaitis. The Center was established in 1987 and focuses on the development of young children. Parental participation is an important part of the program. Parents have opportunities to observe their children and be involved in parental programs and conferences on child care. A typical day for a child consists of activities that promote the development of language, self-confidence, independence, love and respect. The Center uses Montessori and Piagetian approaches to early childhood education.

First Step was created in 1997 to assist students in improving their reading, math, writing and speech in order to enter the Fast Track program. Students who enter First Step must have math skills at or above sixth grade and reading skills at or above eighth grade. Classes are conducted in small groups and run Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to noon for four weeks. Tuition for this program is $1,000 and it is supplemented or subsidized by public and private funds.

Fast Track, established in 1989, offers intense academic training designed to help high school graduates and GED holders reach the educational level needed to enter the Machinist Training Institute (MTI) program. A new Fast Track class begins every two weeks and within a seven-week period, raises math skills two grade levels and reading skills at least one grade level. Students are required to be drug free and adhere to a strict attendance and punctual schedule. Tom Murphy, manager of the program, states that in order for the seven-week program to work "Students have to take this seriously. We work on a point system; a tardy is one point. If they hit six points they’re out." Students sharpen their reading skills to at least a ninth grade level. Student communication skills are developed with an emphasis on resume and interview techniques and computer skills are honed by working at one of the 180 computer terminals. Classes run Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to noon. Tuition runs $1,700 per student and is supplemented with public and private funds coordinated by Focus: HOPE. Since it began in 1989, over 3,600 students have graduated successfully and are certified by the program. Ninety percent of graduates have gone on to either the Machinist Training Institute or Information Technologies Center at Focus: HOPE.

Machinist Training Institute (MTI), established in 1981, provides state license and accredited training in precision manufacturing and metalworking. MTI was created to solve an acute industry skill shortage by training and placing graduates at manufacturing companies throughout metropolitan Detroit. Over 1,700 participants have gone through the program since 1981. MTI relies heavily on equipment donations from manufacturers and JTPA funds. The funds are used to purchase the latest machinery. Other funding comes from student tuition for three phases of the program: Vestibule (five weeks) $1,500; Core I (26 weeks) $7,750; and Core 2 (26 weeks) $5,250. The job placement rate for both a Core 1 and Core 2 graduate is 100%.

Once students complete the MTI program, they can enter Focus: HOPE’s Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT), which opened in 1993. This Center offers hands-on manufacturing training coupled with academics. Students are paid wages for manufacturing duties while in the program. After graduation, the average starting hourly wage for a student from MTI is $11.00 per hour and students from CAT can expect a starting salary of $47,200 per year. The average age of these students is 26. Students graduate with an Associate or Bachelor’s degree conferred through a partnership between Focus: HOPE and one of the following universities: Lawrence Technological University, Lehigh University (Pennsylvania), University of Detroit Mercy, University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

During the first few months after graduation a student’s skills are highly marketable. Ken Kudac, Director of the Center for Advanced Technologies says, "You want to get people from training into employment as soon as possible." There is usually a nine-month life span after graduation where employers are willing to take students onboard and continue their training. Focus: HOPE manages a placement program for graduates, but some employers reach in early to get qualified employees. What makes a CAT graduate so appealing to employers is their intense theoretical preparation combined with the production of competitively bid contracts, providing the student with real-world experience and an integrated engineering experience. Students spend an average of eight hours per day performing machining contracts under the direction of experienced personnel, and three hours per week are applied to formal study guided by engineering mentors from the university and industry partners like Cincinnati Machine, Daimler Chrysler, Detroit Diesel, EDS, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The program is supported by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

A measure of successful community improvement is seen in the graduates of Focus: HOPE. Graduates give back to the community in a number of ways. From data compiled by the Michigan Employment Security Commission, a 1994 report was created by John F. Sase of the Machinist Training Institute at Focus: HOPE to demonstrate the net benefits of the program. The report stated that graduates repay the public investment through increased income taxes, FICA, and reduced food stamp transfers in just over three years, and that a graduate averaging 2,000 hours of straight-time work per year, for an average remaining work life of 30 years, will repay the public investment 13.4 times over.

Eleanor Josaitus concluded the visit with the following thoughts on why Focus: HOPE programs are so successful. "Every single person who works at Focus: HOPE has a passion for civil rights. If you start to chase the dollars instead of the dream, you run into trouble." Today, Focus: HOPE employs over 800 colleagues and involves more than 51,000 supporters and volunteers. Over the years Focus: HOPE has initiated practical solutions to the problems of hunger, economic disparity, inadequate education and racial divisiveness. Focus: HOPE’s technology training programs, educational and corporate partnerships and food programs continue to evolve and grow to answer the challenges of a diverse community.

Detroit’s Employment Connection

AYPF’s afternoon schedule included a meeting with a panel of speakers from the Detroit Workforce Development Board and a tour of Detroit’s Employment Connection (DEC) One-Stop center run in connection with Detroit’s Work Place. Panelists included: Willie Walker, Director, Detroit Employment and Training; Steve Schultz, Director, Human Resources, DCT; Greg Handel, Executive Director, Business and Education Training Alliance, Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce; and Mike Schmidt, Manager, External Education Programs, Workforce Development, The Ford Motor Company.

The Detroit Workforce Development Board has been involved in workforce development since the mid-1990s. The Board was created by the Governor to oversee the coordination of existing education, employment and training programs, enforcing accountability standards and performance-based measures. Its mission is to create and implement a comprehensive workforce development strategy to prepare Detroit’s youth and adults for jobs and careers in a competitive labor market. The Board is chaired by a member of the business community, currently Dr. Renee Lerche, Director, Workforce Development at the Ford Motor Company. The Board also oversees the Detroit Employment Connection, led by president Ignacio Salazar. The DEC is overseen by the City of Detroit’s Workforce Development Board. The Board receives monthly and special status reports from DEC.

The DEC’s mission is: "To provide a bridge between Job Seekers and Employers for the 21st Century; to combine the forces of customer service and satisfaction with modern technology, producing a more cost-effective and practical strategy to the ‘Business of Employment,’ and to approach the New Millennium as the most efficient and customer-friendly system for labor exchange and employment service registration."

The DEC houses a wide range of employment services at its One Stop facility and other satellite locations throughout the city, including: apprenticeship programs, workshops and career resources, business services, job placement services, testing and assessment, unemployment services and job bank registrations. It is a full service center dedicated to working with businesses and job seekers. Services that businesses can expect from Detroit’s Work Place, a program within the One Stop, include:

• Pre-Screening of Job Applicants
• On-Site Interviews
• Hiring and Training Cost Reductions
• Tax Credit Assistance
• Help in Locating Economic Development Funds
• Linkages to Customized Training Programs
• Labor Market Information
• Information on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Rapid Response to Mass Layoffs and Plant Closings
• Training Incentives such as On-The-Job Training Programs

One Stop Center

Willie Walker gave an overview of DEC’s One Stop programs and services which were created under the Governor’s executive order in 1997. The One Stop offers "JTPA services, HUD services, offender services, legal services, court services, childcare services– all types of services in one location." The One Stop is available to all and is staffed by former state employees. It also works with over 30 partnering organizations, including community and faith-based organizations, and houses contractors who have bid on proposals to offer services. Walker is proud of the performance accountability demonstrated by service providers at the One Stop– "No one [contractor or staff] is guaranteed a position at the One Stop. They can be put out at any time," said Walker. "If there is a need for certain services in another part of the city, the contractors are given 10 extra points on their proposal for agreeing to move to that location."

Students are not the only customers for the One Stop; many programs help veterans, the homeless, entrepreneurs, non-English speakers, ex-offenders and the general public. Since it’s opening in 1997, DEC’s One Stop Center has served over 76,000 customers, registered over 55,000 people onto a talent bank and provided over 100,000 referrals. Staff also give presentations at high schools on job training, career exploration, Tech Prep and GED and career counseling. Relationships have been built with community colleges and local universities to bring interns into the One Stop Center.

Henry Ford Academy of Manufacturing Arts and Sciences

The Henry Ford Academy of Manufacturing Arts and Sciences hosted a morning visit with the AYPF group. The Academy, a public charter school sponsored by Ford Motor Company in partnership with the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, opened in August 1997 with a group of 100 ninth-grade students. The school expects to reach its full capacity of 400 students by the year 2000. It is the nation’s first charter school developed jointly by a major corporation, a nonprofit cultural institution and public education. The Academy focuses on teaching a broad-based liberal arts curriculum through the lens of manufacturing, with emphasis on the application of mathematics, science, the humanities, social studies, communication skills, technology and problem solving in a real world context. The school is managed by Principal Cora Christmas and Larry Holliday, Dean of Students. The Dean handles daily business administration and the Principal manages faculty and academic matters.

The Academy serves students from over 43 different communities and each must make their own arrangements, including public transportation, to get to the school. The doors open at 7:00 a.m. to allow parents to drop their children off on the way to work, and the school day extends to include after-school activities until 6:00 p.m.. Guards at the Museum watch over the early students until the principal or dean arrive at 7:30 a.m.

The school day encompasses three two-hour blocks of time: a math-science block, English-social studies block and an elective block. At the end of the day the entire school engages in a reflective writing exercise. Students summarize what they have learned during the day in their journals and are encouraged to apply what is summarized into their studies. The ninth-graders are housed in the Museum while tenth-graders take their classes in Greenfield Village. Every Wednesday the school runs a reduced schedule, bringing the entire student body and staff together for 90 minutes at the end of the day to address various subjects, specifically on ethnic or diversity issues.

The Academy’s curriculum is based on national and state standards. The school uses a performance-based learning philosophy that makes students, "demonstrate that they have learned something other than a pencil and paper technique. They have to get up and explain it, or create a model or do something to show that they understand a particular concept. The curriculum is interdisciplinary when it makes sense," said principal Christmas. Subjects are not forced together, but when there are natural links between subjects, teachers make every attempt to connect them. Team teaching is another way the Academy integrates the curriculum, for example, math and science teachers often create projects together.

During a tour through classrooms, the AYPF group visited an economics class where students demonstrated the use of technology in a project-based learning activity involving stocks in their mock investment portfolios. In this class, students learn about the law of supply and demand, personal money management and other basic life skills. Students use the Internet to track their investment of an imaginary $15,000. A few students gave presentations on their portfolios, sharing the investment progress, graphs of losses and gains, and investment tips. Graphs were projected from a computer onto an overhead screen and students were able to answer questions clearly and succinctly. The teacher explained, "The technological advantage of incorporating the Internet into the economics class is that, traditionally, an economics teacher would make a transparency of the Wall Street Journal and put it up on the screen. That was the right speed for the 1980's. But today, by accessing the Internet, we can instruct students to pull up current articles, read about trends, open up an Excel spreadsheet and calculate a per share, profit/loss gain for companies they wish to investigate." By learning to trade over the Internet, and inviting parents who are financial analysts into the classroom, students broaden their economics education.

Technology plays a key role at the Henry Ford Academy. Students play a significant role in the upkeep of the laptops that are assigned to all students. As an after school project, a small group of students built a "tool crypt" with a parent volunteer to neatly store the school’s laptops. A technology coordinator and laptop committee work with the students to keep all computers in working order.

Ford Motor Company Academy of Manufacturing Sciences (FAMS)

The group’s next visit brought us face to face with high school students enrolled in the Ford Motor Company Academy of Manufacturing Sciences (FAMS). FAMS was designed as a career academy model and is an extension of Ford’s support of the school-to-work concept. The FAMS curriculum is based on manufacturing themes and broad career skills. The program was started by Ford in response to the need for a new kind of worker for the 21st Century. It consists of four ½ credit, reality-based courses taken between the junior and senior year and includes a summer internship at a partnering local business. Courses under the FAMS program foster student learning in science, math, technology, communication skills and teamwork. The program and faculty also encourage students to pursue postsecondary education.

A panel of eleventh and twelfth-grade students, along with two faculty members and principal Donald Jones of Southfield High School described their experience with FAMS. In their junior year, students learn to "sell themselves" to companies by becoming more familiar with the way a company is run and the reasoning behind management decisions. Each week the teacher chose two students to serve as managers to monitor their classmates. A manager’s job included sitting in the back of the room to take notes on the performance of fellow students. One student said that it helped the class be more effective and run smoothly "because you know you’re being watched and recorded...and you behave." To add to their practical experience, the junior class created and operated a mock company. This exercise made them deal with W-2 forms, Social Security rules, advertising and many other aspects involved in running a business. The class held mock interviews to sharpen skills on writing a resume, presenting themselves to a potential employer and dressing for success.

The senior student panel, already in the work world, described another side to the FAMS program. "It was very scary and intimidating at first because we were working alongside people who have a number of degrees and we might be treated like high school kids," said one student. Another student proudly described her work experience, "On my first day, my boss handed me a stack of papers with names of people doing business with the company." She was charged with creating a new database for the company. Later that day, the same student received an email from a high level manager requesting a task to be completed by the end of the day. The student completed the task by 4:55 p.m. One senior student described her internship experience at Ford Motor Company. She worked with two metallurgists on a problem-solving project involving the purchasing of aluminum and scrap from another company. Ford was paying for unuseable scraps and a plan was needed to save the company money. The team’s job was to find a way to separate the scrap from the aluminum. As a result of working on this project, this student learned that she liked to work in a team rather than alone.

Students take problem solving courses through FAMS. In one course, students create a model motor vehicle out of Styrofoam and magnets. The objective is to increase awareness of technical careers and highlight the importance of math and science in industry. Their model goes through a series of tests. As students learn about aerodynamics, they are challenged to figure out how to make the model work. "It’s easy for the teacher to tell you how to do it, but we have to figure it out." In another learning experience through the FAMS program, a teacher gave the students a computer software program that assists in the product design. The program was new to the students and they were being challenged to use it to design a key chain. As a team, students had to read the software manual and figure out how to create their product by using the program. The FAMS program uses projects and problem solving activities to give students a taste for what technology and engineering can do and to prepare them to handle challenges that resemble real world problems.

When a student graduates from the FAMS program, they should be able to:

• Define manufacturing terminology
• Utilize time management techniques
• Describe several possible careers in manufacturing
• Develop job campaign strategies: planning careers, marketing individual skills, and interviewing
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate appropriately in the workplace
• Work as a team member to solve manufacturing problems
• Read and process technical information quickly and effectively
• Write and organize business documents (letters, memos, tables and graphs) to meet the needs of a specific audience

Ford Scientific Research Lab

At the Ford Scientific Research Lab in Dearborn, our group learned about two other programs sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, The High School Science and Technology Program (HSSTP) and A World in Motion. We toured the Ford Scientific Lab and participated in several scientific demonstrations.

The High School Science and Technology Program is staffed with Ford scientists and engineers who demonstrate to students how science and mathematics are used in industry. They use lectures, facility tours, demonstrations and hands-on activities to stimulate student imagination. HSSTP teamed up with the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program in 1987 to increase the number of minority students interested in pursuing careers in science, engineering and mathematics-related fields.

A World in Motion (AWIM), sponsored by Ford since 1998, "emphasizes hands-on discovery of scientific principles in a team environment for students in grades 4-6." The program was developed in 1991 by the Society for Automotive Engineers to promote scientific literacy, foster curiosity and creativity in science, emphasize cooperative learning, and to support the role of girls and minorities in science education and engineering professions. The program’s main thrust is professional development for teachers. Teachers are paired with technical volunteers from Ford to help conduct "hands-on" experiments that relate to real world engineering problems. The technical volunteers follow teachers through projects that are run through the school. AWIM allows teachers to expand their knowledge base and show students how science can be fun. Ford maintains a database of districts, schools, teachers and engineers and partnering businesses involved in their programs.

To conclude our visit to the Ford Motor Company, participants met with Dr. Renee Lerche, Director, Workforce Development. Dr. Lerche has implemented many of the Ford-sponsored model programs in education and workforce development. She serves as the chair of the Detroit Workforce Development Board and is the vice-chair of the Henry Ford Academy.

In reference to the Henry Ford Academy Public Charter School, Dr. Lerche shared her surprise with the circumstances of student enrollment. "We hoped that the kids would come very committed and very engaged, but, in fact, we’re finding that a lot of parents sign their children up for a charter school as a last resort. The kids have really had trouble in the systems they’ve been in. And so it’s a choice of last resort, not first." Dr. Lerche went on to describe Ford programs as mainstream programs and that the organization is not interested in targeting a specific group of students. "When we do recruitment we try to make sure that we have a broad candidate group."

Dr. Lerche discussed Ford’s strategy of making non-traditional investments in workforce development. This movement is sparked by a real concern that companies like Ford struggle with a need for a skilled workforce. "Many kids make irrevocable choices by the time they reach 9th grade that will keep them from being ready to participate in FAMS by the 11th grade. We want to help kids see that math/science is good. We have a vision of a program that is highly modularized that involves the community." She hopes that companies like Ford, IBM and Motorola can fulfill a real commitment in education, employment and training to build a pipeline for the workforce that they need.

Conclusion

The importance of "partnerships" was the overarching theme of our visit. Partnerships between education and workforce development are paramount to a smoother transition of young people to productive citizens. This logical connection, unfortunately, is still not experienced as a normal phenomenon in American society, thus the title, Non-Traditional Partnerships for Workforce Development. The programs visited created their own bridge between these two worlds by using technology, an important factor in expectations of the business and postsecondary community; adult learning time for teachers to engage in professional development; integration of real world problems into the curriculum; introduction of workforce expectations into the classroom; and communication across markets and industries, institutions and programs.

Contact Information

Eleanor Josaitis
Executive Director
Focus HOPE
135 Oakman Boulevard
Detroit, MI 48238
313-494-5500
eleanorj@focushope.edu

Dr. Renee Lerche
Director, Workforce Development
Ford Motor Company
World Headquarters
The American Road - Mail Drop 100, Room 120-3A
Dearborn, MI 48121-1899
313-845-8424
rlerche@ford.com

John W. Markee
Manager - Research Planning and Information Systems
Ford Motor Company
Room 1313 SRL- MD 2047
P.O. Box 2053
Dearborn, MI 48121-2053
313-323-0964
jmarkee@ford.com

Paul Poledink
FAMS Program Manager
Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences
Ford Motor Company
The American Road, Room 720
Dearborn, MI 48121-1899
313-845-3053

Willie Walker
Director of Employment and Training
Detroit's Workforce Development Board
Detroit's Workplace
707 West Milwaukee Street
Detroit, MI 48202
313-961-4118

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
20900 Oakwood Boulevard
Dearborn, MI 48124-4088
313-271-1620
www.hfmgv.org

Cora Christmas
Principal
Henry Ford Academy
20900 Oakwood Blvd.
P.O. Box 1148
Dearborn, MI 48121-1148
313-982-6193

Larry Holliday
Dean of Students
Henry Ford Academy
20900 Oakwood Blvd.
P.O. Box 1148
Dearborn, MI 48121-1148
313-982-6191
www.hfacademy.org

SAE International
A World In Motion
400 Commonwealth Drive
Warrendale, PA 15096-0001
1-800-457-2946

Ron Cooper
Ford Research Laboratory
High School Science and Technology Program
P.O. Box 2053 Mail Drop 3135
Dearborn, MI 48121-2053

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