Program Activities
Reasonable Costs
The planning process has taken into account all reasonable and legitimate expenses related to the implementation of the CHT program. The CBO has had extensive experience in managing, implementing and administering training and counseling programs and this knowledge has been put to use to devise both the program and the budget.
Cost estimates have been based on a detailed program design which takes into account all of the criteria, clients and other aspects of the CHT program, which include staffing, wages, stipends, educational costs, cultural activities, liability insurance and uniforms, tools and equipment. Other costs that will be incurred will include counseling and support services, leadership development and job placement.
The program is based on a year long schedule which takes into account the difficulty, hazard and liability that training young people for the construction trades entail. Safety will be emphasized and all progress through the program will be based on capability, ability, attentiveness and responsibility.
The instruction for each of the trades that is covered (carpentry, electrical, plumbing and pipe fitting, and masonry) will be conducted by trainers who have practiced the trade that they will teach. In this way the students will learn a great deal more than just how to perform the tasks that each of the trades require. They will also be involved in the actual practice of construction as laborers on the site and will acquire necessary understanding of the actual process of construction and the folkways that govern behavior at construction sites.
Each of the students will be paid a small stipend for both work and the attending of classes. We have figured this stipend on the basis of the 10 months that the students will be in the actual schooling of the program. The remaining period will be spent in outreach and job placement activities. Each of the trainees will likewise be provided appropriate safety equipment, tools and clothing such as steel-toe work boots, Carhardts, work gloves, hammers, etc. Classroom supplies will also be provided in whatever manner is deemed advisable by the instructors.
We have estimated these cost as follows:
Outreach and recruitment activities will be extensive and the pool of applicants will be large those not selected will be placed on a waiting list for other training activities.
Educational and job training services will require one full time supervisor/counselor, 4 part time classroom instructors and 4 part time trade instructors. The cost of staffing will be $10,000 per student.
Trainee wages stipends and fringe benefits for the 10 month period will be $9,600.00 per student.
Supplies and materials for each of the trainees, which will enable them to pursue instant outside employment once the program is over will be $1,500.00 per trainee.
All other costs of the program are reasonable and customary and are illustrate in the budget worksheets.
Program Planning
The CHT program described in this exhibit comprises recruitment, training, education, professional and peer counseling, leadership development, and job placement for young men and women from the neighborhood who have not finished high school, qualify as very low income community residents, and have very limited training, educational, or job placement resources available to them. The grant will include feasibility studies on recruiting students to the program; utilizing and supporting existing community counseling, child care, health care, and job counseling services and developing new services where these do not already exist; retaining students in the program once they have begun their on-site training and educational activities; providing comprehensive English as a Second Language training and instruction toward successful completion of a State High School Equivalency Diploma (through the GED examination); and follow-up with students once they have completed the program and are working in their communities.
Wherever possible, community resources will be put to effective use. In some instances, it will be necessary to work with educational consultants to develop the comprehensive educational component of this CHT program. The Partners have already injected significant energy into planning, course and program development in order to implement CHT at as early a date as possible. Careful planning at the early stages of the proposed CHT program has enable the Partners to address the diverse educational and job training needs of the participating communities.
Potential problems and Solutions
The planning process will be focused on the recruitment and retention of students in the CHT program. The planners will need to study the availability of local resources for recruiting students: community newspapers, local popular radio stations, community centers, police precinct community relations staffs and the Police Athletic League, local Boys and Girls Clubs, the Children's Aid Society, churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious institutions and their related youth groups, alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers, high school guidance counselors (to identify students at risk of dropping out of school who may be appropriate participants), community service agencies that work with disabled young people, and individual referrals will be useful sources for locating potential CHT program participants. The program planners and administrators need to make connections with these sources and establish working relationships with them in order to compliment existing community services while providing a unique educational and job training opportunity for the target population. Specifically, the planning process will be targeted at working closely with the community to establish CHT as a viable community program.
During the implementation stage, it will be necessary to work closely with participants before they begin their on-site construction training or classroom education. It will be necessary to provide intensive and extensive pre-program counseling that will help participants to understand the scope of the CHT program; the education, counseling, and training opportunities it provides; the importance of personal commitment to changing earlier patterns of attendance, punctuality, and responsibility in a job or school setting; and the potential to use the training to make significant changes in a participant's life. Where appropriate, participants who require ongoing assistance with psychiatric or drug-related problems will be referred to outside agencies for counseling. Such counseling in the earliest stages will help program participants to set and achieve reasonable goals, develop their potential as students and working men and women, and remaining in the program.
Many community residents who wish to take advantage of CHT may be prevented from doing so because of the need to care for their dependent children. As part of the effort to recruit and retain these program participants, program planners will study the feasibility of providing child care for those hours during which program participants are on the job as well as the time when they are in class. It will be necessary to consider issues such as on-site day care versus hiring local residents to care for children in their homes. In addition, it is critical that program planners take into account the insurance, licensing, and the health care, nutritional, and educational requirements of any program that cares for pre-school children. All of these issues need to be studied and specific provisions for child care will have to be formulated.
In many construction jobs, the ability to drive can be an asset for a worker. However, many potential workers from very low income families may never have had the opportunity to acquire this important skill. CHT participants who have not acquired a State driver's license will be able to study for the written test through the counseling component of the CHT program. It is expected that those students who require practical driving instruction may benefit from a contractual arrangement with a local driving school.
In-House Staff Training
Staff members recruited for the CHT program will be required to work effectively as a team. Many will work with participants in more than one content area and all will be expected to assume counseling and leadership-building tasks with the group as well as a traditional classroom teaching roles. All staff members will need to spend considerable individual time developing lessons and curricular materials outside of required class time. In order to facilitate the team-building process, all CHT staff members will participate in a one-week retreat comprised of workshops and discussions focused on the community, the construction trades, the program's population, and the mission and goals of the project. The five-day retreat will be held at the CHT site and will consist of the following activities:
Monday Morning: Team Building Workshop (outside consultant) role-playing, discussions, and exercises to help staff members develop a closer acquaintance with each other's individual expertise
Monday Afternoon: CHT's Mission and goals presentations by program administrators and discussion
Tuesday Morning: Introduction to Construction I field trip to a construction site that will help staff members to become more familiar with the environment in which CHT participants will be spending an important part of their working day
Tuesday Afternoon: Introduction to Construction II lectures by representatives of the construction trades to help staff members understand basic terminology and work processes on the job
Wednesday Morning: ESL I presentation by the ESL staff on the basic clients of teaching to a non-native speakers of English
Wednesday Afternoon: ESL II practice lessons and discussions presented as if the class were comprised of non-native speakers of English
Thursday Morning: Computer Lab presentation by the staff member in charge of the computer lab to familiarize staff members with its resources discussion of computer-assisted instruction
Thursday Afternoon: Computer Lab II further discussion of computer-assisted instruction and software programs to which participants with particular difficulties can be referred
Friday Morning: Counseling I discussion of community and CHT program resources to assist participants with problems related to health, housing, child care, and family or legal emergencies
Friday Afternoon: Counseling II workshop on recognition and assistance with learning disabilities; drug, alcohol, or other substance abuse; physical abuse in a family or relationship; or personal psychological difficulties.
Housing Plans
The site of both the housing program and the training activities will be conducted at the Avenue in the neighborhood. The CBO has an option on the property and may use it for both instructional and construction purposes. 36 housing units will be rehabilitated to be used as assisted rental housing with a portion devoted to transitional housing for homeless victims of disaster. The CBO will be the general contractor and developer of the project as well as the director of the program. At the end of the construction period CBO will be the property manager of the site.
The scope of work will be determined on an individual basis considering the condition of each of the individual units as recommended by the architectural and engineering study. It is anticipated that bath and kitchen remodeling will take place along with electrical and plumbing upgrades so as to bring the units into line with current housing standards. The work will take place in concert with the training activities. The students will be actively engaged in learning the relevant construction trades on the site. The construction items identified in the grant amount will be used to construct the classrooms on the lower floors of the building where there is vacant commercial space.
The costs for acquisition, rehabilitation and rental subsidy, planning, predevelopment and development are being funded through a variety of assisted housing programs sponsored by the City, State and Federal government, including housing tax credits, and private grants and loans.
Site
a. The site of both the housing program and the training activities is located at the Avenue in the neighborhood.
b. The number of units that will rehabilitated will be 40, including 36 units of assisted rental housing with a portion devoted to transitional housing for homeless victims of disaster, and 4 units of vacant commercial space on the lower floors of the building that will be used as classrooms.
c. (see attached Deed and Site control documents.)
Construction and Property management
The CBO will be the construction and property manager for the project. The experience of the applicant is detailed on Exhibit 2.
Housing for the Homeless
The CBO is the initial phases of negotiation with the City, the American Red Cross and other community groups identifying homeless families and individuals, who have become homeless as a result of a loss of their permanent housing through fire. We have done substantial research and have produced a program and documentation for financing and administering this project.
Besides the transitional sheltering there will be a complete social service and housing component involved in the program. The CHT initiative will be a part of this innovative program.
Rehabilitation
The housing units will require new kitchens and bathrooms and also interior painting. Contractors will be hired to handle these tasks and will be selected by competitive bid open to qualified contractors. The work will be supervised by the CBO staff and the architectural and engineering firm selected. The tasks in this assignment will take approximately four months from 6/1/0X to 9/30/0X. A summary cost breakdown for the rehabilitation is as follows:
Cost of Kitchen Cabinets - $300,000.00
Cost of Bath Fixtures - $150,000.00
Carpentry Costs - $120,000.00
Plumbing - $80,000.00
Electrical Work - $120,000.00
Appliances - $150,000.00
Tile Work - $60,000.00
Miscellaneous - $20,000.00
Painting - $40,000.00
Cleaning, Disposal and Finishing - $10,000.00
Total Cost of Rehabilitation - $1,050,000.00
