LTC 370-2018 City working with CareerSource to Increase Access to Jobs for Homeless MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# LETTER TO COMMISSION
370-2018
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members ofthee City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager /74
DATE: June 28, 2018
SUBJECT: City working with CareerSource to Increase Access to Jobs for Homeless
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to advise you of the recent successes of the City's
effort to obtain employment for homeless clients transitioning form the streets.
The City's employment program, an outgrowth of a successful pilot in FY15/16 funded with
Community Development Block Grant funds, employed 42 individuals in FY 16/17, its first full
year of funding, providing them short-term (32 hours) work experience, work and interview
clothes and an opportunity to enhance interview skills to prepare to seek and obtain permanent
employment. Work is an important and necessary tool in ending person homelessness. Aside
from the obvious financial gain, employment creates community integration, provides
opportunities to build new, supportive relationships, and provides a framework to promote
personal stability.
Thus far this fiscal year, the program has enrolled 35 persons and successfully transitioned 32
of the program's participants. A big component of these successful transitions to permanent
employment has been the City's collaboration with CareerSouth South Florida's South Beach
office. By working closely with the City to nurture clients to return to the workplace (including
providing clients with interview attire and providing letters of recommendation upon successfully
completing the City's employment program), CareerSource has consistently found employment
for clients wishing to work. In fact, June was a record month for successful permanent
employment transitions for City clients with six homeless clients securing permanent work.
The City would like to extend its appreciation to Ana Hernandez, the CareerSource South
Florida South Beach Center's Manager for working closely with the City's Homeless Outreach
Team to case manage and support clients returning to the workforce.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Maria Ruiz, Director of Housing and
Community Services.
JLM/KGB/MLR