An Evaluation of Educational Training and Employment Service Program for Homeless Veterans at Featherfist Transition Living Organization, Chicago

AN EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICE PROGRAM FOR HOMELESS VETERANS AT FEATHERFIST TRANSITION LIVING ORGANIZATION, CHICAGO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Executive Summary.......................................................................3

II. Introduction................................................................................4-5

III. Organization and Target Population.....................................................5

IV. Research Question and Goals............................................................5-6

V. Literature Review...........................................................................6-9

VI. Methodology and Study Design...........................................................9-10

VII. Limitations of the Study..................................................................11

VIII. Findings.......................................................................................11-13

IX. Discussion.....................................................................................14

X. Conclusion and Recommendations........................................................14-15

XI. References......................................................................................16

XII. Appendices.....................................................................................17-19

Executive Summary

This study evaluated a job training and employment service program for homeless veterans' population at Featherfist Organization, a transition living facility in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.

The goal of the program is to transition homeless veterans into living a sustainable independent lifestyle. As the program intended to address the perennial issue of homelessness among veterans, the study sought how many homeless veterans have benefited from the program and what factors have contributed to the program's success and failures.

While the success of the program was found to be due to factors such as program adequate funding through grants from Department of Veterans Affairs, team of dedicated staff at Featherfist and committed veterans who were willing to turn their lives around for better, the organization does not have a way measuring the program's goal of sustainable independent living among those veterans that are able to secure job upon completion of the training program.

Therefore, a six-month periodic follow-up by the organization is suggested as a parameter of measuring whether that goal is being met by those veterans that successfully completed the job training and able to secure employment.

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Introduction and Background

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates as many as 154,000 veterans are homeless on a given night and about twice as many are homeless each year (Kuhn and Nakashima 2008). Unemployment among homeless populations is widespread, and disproportionately so against the veterans, and the problem is especially worse during economic downturns. As the federal government continues to reduce troop level in Iraq and Afghanistan and with current unemployment amongst veterans at 14%, more veterans will be returning home competing for jobs. Failing to effectively address the high rate of unemployment could add to the ranks of homeless veterans (Murray, 2011).

Organizations such as Featherfist Transitional Living Organization, tailor their programs like Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP) and other related federal programs to helping homeless veterans. According to the Department of Labor, the purpose of the HVRP is to provide services to assist in reintegrating homeless veterans into meaningful employment in the labor force and to stimulate the effective service delivery systems that will address the complex problems that homeless veterans face.

The program is conducted through Featherfist Employment and Vocational Services (FEVS) program. The goal of the program is to help the veterans acquire skills that help them live a sustainable independent living through employment opportunities or better educational advancement. The program duration for set of participants is 12 weeks involving activities such as familiarizing participants with computers, how to access the internet, how to set up an e-mail address, how to perform basic word processing and spreadsheet functions. Additionally, classes are provided in household and personal budget management, basic home maintenance, nutrition, locating furniture, understanding a lease, landlord and neighbor relationships, among others. The expected outcome for the program is the ability of the program participants to transition out of the shelter into a sustainable independent living.

Organization and Target Population

Featherfist is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization with a mission to eliminate homelessness in the Chicago area. The organization provides various social services that include job training and employment referral services for mostly clerical positions or provide p assistance to help these homeless folks engage in advance educational opportunities. The organization in essence, provides crisis intervention, housing assistance, computer and job training, employment workshops and seminars about the many benefits and services available to veterans. As stated in their mission, the fist) and the feather is to give "power and purpose to the homeless by helping them gain housing stability, self-determination, self-sufficiency".

The goal of this organization is to eradicate homelessness through provision of myriad assistance to help homeless population in their serving areas, transition into a sustainable independent living. The study was however focused on the job training and employment program for