Inside the Black Box - Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

…a more holistic approach to working with individuals and families to give them all of the skills they
need to transition out of poverty.
Another aspect of the hard skills training most programs incorporate is an effort to mimic workplace
settings in their service delivery. Emphasizing the demanding nature of the program and their high
expectations, programs implement rules and procedures to emulate a work setting. Requirements to clock
in and out, a dress code, maintaining an employee handbook, and assigning participants to serve as “shift
managers” and work on teams were examples often discussed in interviews. One manufacturing-focused
program in the study created a learning environment with the same type of machines and equipment
found in the workplace to ensure their training participants learn on the same machinery they will be
using on the job. This attempt to mimic the environment and activities that occur in the workplace is
another tool programs use to help prepare participants to enter and succeed in their ultimate permanent
job placement.
Take Families into Consideration
Several programs noted the importance of the family unit in the populations they serve, acknowledging
that families must be taken into consideration at assessment and throughout the program in order for the
participant to complete the program and succeed in employment. A few organizations engage family
members in the assessment process in an attempt to understand the whole picture.
We go to their homes and have a meeting with the whole families…so we’re all there. We have to
create a plan to bring the students to be ready to learn in class.
One organization brings the entire family in during the admissions process to make sure they are all aware
of the commitment the individual is undertaking to enroll in the program. Families are also taken into
consideration while participants are enrolled in the workforce training programs, not only in their support
roles, but in offering programmatic features that engage the family as well. One organization in the study
offers a range of programs for youth, and allows the children of parents who participate in evening classes
to come to the center while their parents are in class. Additionally, organizations that operate a CWF site
have a strong family focus embedded in their organization through that program. The CWF focus is on
improving the financial status of low-income families, and the family services provided through them are
often available to all participants in an organization’s programs. At the same time, one of the
organizations in this study, not affiliated with a CWF, maintains a focus on families throughout all stages
of the program. This organization cites a participant’s ability to be economically stable for their family as
a successful outcome.
One program is witnessing an increase in their Latino population and, noting the importance of the family
unit in the Latino community, admitted they do not currently have a strong family component in their
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