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

partners. The partners that provide referrals include other WIA affiliate agencies, workforce centers, the
Department of Human Services, schools, and other local community organizations. One interviewee
described canvassing the community to promote these partnerships, which result in referrals for their
financial literacy program:
We do go up and down 26th Street periodically…We’ll hit the churches. We will go to the Chambers
of Commerce [and] the banks. We partner closely with Fifth Third Bank, with Second Federal, US
Bank. They’ve all like come in [with referrals]…We promote the financial workshops…We go to the
alderman and to community fairs.
In addition to referrals, community partners also provide access to additional training opportunities,
allowing organizations to deliver services that they are not usually able to provide. Several programs
mentioned they partner with schools, including community colleges, which can help programs develop a
pathway of continued education and training for their participants. A few programs noted they work with
other community organizations to provide GED, ESL, or literacy training to help participants obtain the
level of skill needed to begin training programs.
Organizations are deeply dependent on maintaining dynamic relationships with community partners to
meet their participants’ wide variety of needs. Relationships with community partners have become
increasingly important as the economy worsens and the need for support services grows. The dual effect
of fewer resources available from community partners, coupled with increased demand for support
services from participants, demands an organization have more, and more varied, community partners.
Support services from community partners include transportation assistance, financial counseling, health
care, housing, food, child care, clothing, and other types of support participants and their families may
need. One program interviewee noted that whenever they have a need to provide supports, such as
interview clothes, holiday gifts, and school supplies, their community partners help them obtain these
items. These partners include community agencies, churches, and even their local chamber of commerce.
Community Characteristics Influence Services Provided
Local community needs influence such programmatic aspects as what and how services are offered and
what partnerships are established. Successful organizations in this study have program staff who often
work with community partners to identify these needs and determine if current services exist to meet
them, or if there is adequate demand for new services. One organization serving the Latino community
worked with partners to conduct a community study to help determine the Latino community’s interest in
specific occupational fields and identify what training programs they should provide. This effort
identified a need among local hospitals for Spanish-speaking nurses, so the workforce organization began
a nursing program. Some programs collect information on their engagement efforts within the
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