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AWEE Seeking Program Partners
ARIZONA WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT, INC (AWEE) will be issuing a Request for Qualified Vendors (RFQ) on or about September 6, 2007, with intention to request providers to deliver workforce preparation services to young adult exoffenders in Maricopa County. Minimum required services for delivery include job readiness training; career counseling; job development and placement assistance; case management; assistance with substance abuse treatment or relapse prevention support; and job retention support and documentation; as defined within the RFQ. Qualified providers are encouraged to obtain the solicitation and indicate their intent in their request for qualifications submittal, due to AWEE in electronic format by September 25, 2007. The evaluation will be based on provider experience, capacity, diversity of service menu, and approach. RFQ may be obtained by submitting an email request to deboraharteaga@awee.org after September 6, 2007. The proposer is responsible for obtaining correct and complete bid or proposal documents. AWEE reserves the right to reject any statements and/or proposals and/or to waive any informality related to this publication.
AWEE AWARDED $1 MILLION GRANT BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Grant to assist ex-offenders 18-29 transition back into the workplace.
(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 3, 2007) – Arizona Women’s Education & Employment (AWEE) is among five grantees the U.S. Department of Labor tapped to help younger ex-offenders with their transitions from prison back into the workplace. AWEE joins the ranks of Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment, the City of Chicago, the Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Inc. and the Director’s Council of Des Moines, Iowa as recipients each of a $1 million grant.
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the award of several youth-related grants totaling $41 million to invest in the education and career skills of troubled youth nationwide, among them the Beneficiary-Choice Contracting Program that AWEE will manage.
AWEE has more than 27 years of experience as a workforce development organization, and in recent years has added those same successful practices to supporting the exoffender population with its Women Living Free (WLF) and Paths to Living Free (PLF) programs offering pre-and post-release reentry services for male and female felons, supported in part by a U.S. Department of Labor Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) grant. AWEE’s PLF program is currently exceeding enrollment goals and has a documented recidivism rate of 11% -- compared to the national average of 67.5 percent from 1994, the last year the U.S. Department of Justice offers such rates. Currently more than 600 exoffenders are thriving in their lives after prison as a result of help from AWEE and subcontractors under the noted programs. AWEE also serves exoffenders through other programs. This population now comprises one-quarter of all individuals served by AWEE in three counties in Arizona.
“This is a hallmark for prison re-entry programs and shows a significant commitment to the community for enhancing the lives of those coming out of prison and for the community overall,” says Marie Sullivan, president & CEO of AWEE. “We hit the ground running with a three to four month planning period, and likely start offering services in November. In that time we’ll have to ramp up our efforts internally as well as refine our partnerships with the other community groups we have already chosen through a competitive bid process, as well as recruit one or two others,” noted Sullivan. Those community partners will include: Prison Fellowship – Arizona; Southwest Leadership Foundation; Goodwill of Central Arizona; and the Family Services Agency. Faith-based and community organizations play a key role in the project. The grant emphasizes high performance outcomes and payments to community partners will be based on achievement of performance goals relating to the exoffender’s entry into and retention of quality employment.
"This award confirms once again that AWEE is a uniquely valuable resource for the Phoenix Metropolitan Area and for Arizona,” says Clara M. Lovett, president emerita of Northern Arizona University and a member of AWEE’s Board of Directors. “It has the visionary leadership needed to identify emerging needs and an unmatched ability to bring together public and private sector agencies to meet the needs."
The Need:
- Arizona’s rate of incarceration exceeds every other western state.
- “Get-tough sentencing” and other factors have contributed to the Arizona Dept. of Corrections (ADC) ending FY 2006 in a 3,996 bed deficit and operating at 113% of its capacity.
- 75% of Arizona prisoners are nonviolent offenders.
- More than half of exfelons released from state prisons each year are released into Maricopa County.
- The greatest percentage of young adult exfelons are released into four fragile neighborhoods within the Greater Phoenix Metro area, within the following zip codes: 85008, 85009, 85040, 85041, 85201, 85204 and 85301, which encompass South, West and East Phoenix, as well as parts of Mesa.
- These are neighborhoods that also experience among the highest rates of crime, poverty and drug use as well as low educational achievement levels.
- Maricopa County’s recidivism rate for non-violent offenders in 2005 was 24.4% for males and 15% for females.
Released prisoners face a myriad of challenges that contribute to a return to criminal activity, re-arrest and reincarceration. Joblessness among exprisoners has been broadly linked to recidivism rates. The overarching objective of AWEE’s program will be to help exoffenders receive services and training, enter and retain employment, and avoid recidivism. AWEE will serve as a primary partner for social service delivery to ex-prisoners, offering highly personalized support as well as a direct link into the communities to which the ex-prisoners are returning. This grant will rely heavily on faith and community organizations to develop relationships and ensure connections to rehabilitation services for the formerly incarcerated. Research indicates that faith-based and community institutions are among the strongest, most trusted institutions in the urban neighborhoods to which the majority of released inmates will return.
AWEE will focus its efforts on post-release services that will include recovery support and/or mental health services; continued education (including job training) assistance; safe and affordable housing; mentoring and other services to build confidence and self esteem; skills to prepare for employment (soft/job readiness/job search as well as vocational training); access to good paying jobs and help with sustaining employment; advancing in career ladders and/or identifying longer term career goals despite limited work experience; and assistance with family reunification as appropriate. Initiating services prior to release combined with transition-specific services beginning the day of release will be key to the success of supporting the targeted population.
“This grant is a further tribute to the exceptional services that AWEE provides to this community as the premier leader in workforce development," says Mary Ellen Simonson, Esq, Lewis and Roca LLP, and president of the AWEE Board of Directors. "It speaks volumes about AWEE's inspiring mission of 'changing lives through the dignity of work'."
These grants are part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s ongoing response to the 2003 White House Task Force Report on Disadvantaged Youth. They focus on preparing America’s neediest young people, especially dropouts or those at risk of dropping out, to succeed in the 21st century economy. By engaging state, local and federal partners, the department will not only help educate young people but also help build pipelines of skilled workers that meet the demands of the country’s growing industries.
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