Taller San Jose (St. Joseph's Workshop): "Constructing" Good Men from Bad Boys
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Young Men at Risk: Transforming the Power of a Generation competition.
Taller San Jose walks undereducated and unskilled youth out of poverty and the trap of criminal recidivism through job-training that leads to living-wage employment ($15.00/hour).
About You
Location
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Your idea
Year the initative began (yyyy)
1995
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Plot your innovation within the mosaic of solutions
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Culture/environment of conflict exposes and enlists young men in violence
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Create credible choices and opportunities
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
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Name Your Project
Taller San Jose (St. Joseph's Workshop): "Constructing" Good Men from Bad Boys
Describe Your Idea
Taller San Jose walks undereducated and unskilled youth out of poverty and the trap of criminal recidivism through job-training that leads to living-wage employment ($15.00/hour).
Innovation
Describe your program or new idea in one sentence.
Taller San Jose walks undereducated and unskilled youth out of poverty and the trap of criminal recidivism through job-training that leads to living-wage employment ($15.00/hour).
What makes your initiative uniquely positioned to create change in your community?
In the 1980’s, immigration to the United States from Latin America exploded, impacting historically-rooted barrios like Santa Ana, California in dramatic ways. Today, 80 percent of the city’s 350,000 residents are Latino and fifty-one percent are foreign-born. The children of immigrants most often lose their way living out of their parents’ cultural influence—until in adolescence they merge onto the streets where they meet the traps of gangs, drugs, crime and early sexual experience. By building relationships with gang members, Taller San Jose identified the potential pitfalls that unstable young people in the community faced, identified the age range when most crimes were being committed (18-28) and designed a program to successfully and directly address these issues. Taller San Jose consequently focuses on recruiting individuals who have been on the edge of crime or recently incarcerated, and aims to monopolize their time and influence their behavior through highly focused job-training in construction with the promise of a job to follow.
Describe how you organize and carry out your work?
Taller San Jose brokered a partnership among employers, government officials and educators to help students successfully navigate the world-of-work and find employment with a living wage (approximately $15.00/hour +health benefits). Taller’s construction training program includes strong support services: mentoring and counseling, legal assistance, 12-step support programs and job placement. Apprentices participate in 15-weeks of paid training ($8.00/hour) and acquire essential construction skills. Training focuses on fundamentals and incorporates: safety, industry-related math, construction theory, attendance policies, mentoring, job-coaching, leadership development and hands-on training.
What is your plan to scale and expand your innovation into your community and beyond?
The 2005 U.S. Census estimates that by the year 2012 more than 55,000 young people (18-28) will be living in poverty in our community. Over the next five years, Taller San Jose seeks to expand its impact by pursuing a strategy focused on Central Orange County that refines, deepens and grows its current programs. By doing so, we expect to serve more than 600 youth each year and yield over 400 graduates.
A vital part of Taller’s expansion plan is Hope Builders, an entrepreneurial endeavor that will build homes for low-income families in Santa Ana’s Logan neighborhood, one of the city’s most economically-depressed areas. Since it will employ a crew of current students and alumni, Hope Builders will enhance TSJ’s programs and increase the organization’s efficiency by providing immediate employment for some of the younger and most unstable graduates and real-world job experience for current students. It will also create a source of self-sustainable funding for the construction program.
What other resources, institutional, or policy needs would be necessary to help sustain and scale up your idea?
As the number of young people (18-28) living in poverty in our community continues to rise, there is an ever increasing need for job-training, as well as support services such as mentoring and counseling, legal assistance, 12-step support programs and job placement. To scalue up Taller San Jose and add more students to existing Taller programs it is necessary to develop building and staff capacity. Additionally, Taller San Jose needs to broaden and deepen its Alumni Program, enabling alumni to connect to additional skills training as they navigate the path to earning a living wage.
In addition to increased funding, to ensure the longevity of Taller’s programs we are exploring the development of a social enterprise for new and creative ways to become self sustaining. A vital part of Taller San Jose’s expansion plan is Hope Builders, an entrepreneurial endeavor of Taller Tech that will build homes for low-income families in Santa Ana.
Impact
Describe your impact in one sentence, commenting on both the individual and community levels.
Taller San Jose breaks the pattern of criminal recidivism among young males (18-28) through training that promises a steady, well-paying job with benefits.
What impact has your work achieved to date?
307 young men have been trained and entered the workforce with 1) the skills that they need to find and sustain employment, 2) strong handyman skills that they can use to improve their own homes, 3) a desire to add to their earning power through further education and vocational training.
Tracked results include the following:
• 87% of graduates are employed within 30 days
• 93% of those employed retain employment for at least 12 months
• 43% of graduates who did not complete high school receive a diploma or GED
• 49% of graduates have enrolled in an advanced apprenticeship program or college. 12 have completed their Journeyman certification in a secondary level vocational program.
• 73% of students obtain a valid driver’s license
• 92% of those previously incarcerated, have not been re-arrested.
• Graduates of the program show an average increase of two grade levels in math abilities
• Average hourly starting wage for new graduates is $11.24 per hour.
Number of individuals served
Over the past 5 years Taller Tech has served 434 young men; 307 of these have entered the workforce as trained construction workers. Since Taller San Jose’s construction training program is based on an intensive employment model, candidates for training are interviewed, possess right-to-work documents, must pass a drug screen, are required to comply with uniform standards and are expected to be present daily and on time. Students who are not capable of meeting expectations and requirements are dropped from the program. Those who complete the training are certified in identified skills and have demonstrated stable, work-ready behavior that demonstrates their ability to enter the workforce successfully. Graduates of the program can return for job-placement and other support services such as mentoring and counseling, legal assistance and 12-step support programs.
Community impact
1) Taller San Jose graduates work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks earning at least a living-wage salary of $15.00/hour, the gross income is $31,200. According to the 2006 Federal Tax Rate the head of the household is required to pay $4,357.50. Since 87% of the 307 TSJ graduates found employment they have contributed approximately $1,163,844.68 to their communities in the last year.
2) Because of the low recidivism rate of graduates, we believe that our program has contributed to the lower crime rate and increased safety of the city’s residents.
3) Graduates of the program, who are now steady wage earners, are better able to support their families.
4) Health benefits for the individual and nuclear family accompany an increased status in job and salary.
Society at large
92% of previously incarcerated graduates have not re-offended, due to the strong motivation of maintaining living-wage employment. By contrast, California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the country, with 70% of past offenders returning to jail within three years. It costs taxpayers an average of $35,000 a year to incarcerate an individual, versus $8,000 to train one youth at Taller San Jose. If 215 or 70% of Taller’s graduates returned to jail it would have cost society approximately $7.5 million.
What measure do you use to gauge your impact and why?
Taller measures five “critical to quality” outcomes: 1) recruitment of troubled youth motivated to change; 2) training all students in soft and hard skills; 3) strong and appropriate support services; 4) placement of graduates into permanent jobs with a living-wage prospect; and 5) 12 months of job-retention support and follow-up. Additionally, Taller San Jose looks at the: number of graduates; number of students placed into employment; number of students employed at 6 and 12 month intervals; and number of students earning a living-wage.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative currently being financed and how would you finance further expansion and/or replication?
The following funding is allocated specifically for Taller Tech:
Kasler Family Foundation- $10,000
Ducks Care/McCormick Tribune Foundation- $12,500
FHL Bank of San Francisco- $25,000
Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation- $28,000
Samueli Family Foundation- $45,000
Safeco Insurance Foundation- $50,000
Esperanza USA- $100,000
Special Events- $200,000
Other funding for Taller San Jose for Fiscal Year 2008 includes:
City of Santa Ana- $50,000
Knights of Malta- $15,000
The Weingart Foundation- $750,000
Marisla Foundation- $25,000
John Curci Family Foundation- $10,000
Pacific Life Foundation- $7,500
Provide information on your current finances and organization:
Annual operating budget 07-08 for Taller San Jose: $3,028,573
Annual operating budget 07-08 for Taller Tech: $711,550
Annual Revenue 07-08: $3,021,180
Sources of Revenue
Individual Contributions: 19%
In-Kind donations: 2%
Special Events: 24%
Governmental Support: 12%
Grants: 39%
Earned Revenue: 4%
Number of Staff
Full-time: 20
Part-time: 2
Volunteers: 58
Who are your potential partners and allies?
The Orange County Probation Department has a vested interest in stabilizing the lives of those who have been recently incarcerated. Construction companies and property managers are eager to hire trained, young workers. The secondary level vocational construction programs and union construction programs accept Taller San Jose graduates into their programs and provide opportunities for advancement.
Who are your potential investors?
The State of California is overburdened by an immense budget related to prisons and incarceration and is thus seeking models for re-entry. The construction industry incorporates many different trades and our growing relationships within this industry will provide us with additional revenue.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
Sister Eileen McNerney is the founder and Executive Director of Taller San Jose, a job-training center for troubled youth in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. In 1992, to better understand chronic poverty, low education levels, unemployment, overcrowded housing and the impact of immigration, Sister Eileen invited three other nuns to move with her to a gang-ridden neighborhood in Santa Ana, where gun shots and drug sales were commonplace. One summer evening, Sister Eileen listened helplessly to the agonizing wail of a mother who had just lost her second son to gang violence. This moment marked a turning point for Sister Eileen in her resolve to develop a program that could move young people from violence to productivity. By bringing together sponsors representing local government, churches, corporations, foundations, and private individuals, in 1995 Sister Eileen opened Taller San Jose an educational and job-training center in downtown Santa Ana for high-risk youth ages 18-28. Sister Eileen knew that jobs and salaries had to be built into the learning model. Taller San Jose developed an on-site residential construction program that recruits youth with no marketable skills, many with gang and drug-related offenses, and prepares them for employment. Trainees participate in 15-weeks of paid training ($8.00/hour) and acquire essential hands-on skills in the building trades while learning how to adhere to basic employment principles. Taller San Jose is a highly focused, goal-oriented program that challenges students to move away from crime, drugs and paralysis and to build a foundation for future stability and success.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Sister Eileen McNerney is the founding director of Taller San Jose (TSJ), a job training program for youth in Santa Ana, California. Founded in 1995, TSJ has helped over 3,500 youth walk out of poverty and onto productivity. In 2005 McNerney published, “A Story of Suffering and Hope, Lessons from Latino Youth” her memoir detailing the struggles and triumphs of founding TSJ. She was awarded the 2006 James Irvine Foundation’s Leadership Award for her innovative and effective solutions to address significant California issues.
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