The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated and worsened market forces, impacting the nation’s workforce. According to a September 2020 study by Pew Research Center, younger, lower, and middle-income workers, women, and workers of color have disproportionately been impacted by COVID-19 and its economic fallout. An October 2020 report published by the World Economic Forum stated, “the coronavirus recession is accelerating technological changes that could displace 85 million jobs within the next five years.” Service sector and retail jobs will continue to be lost due to automation, and a shift towards work from home, technical, and trade jobs will be in demand.

Case management is a key pillar for workforce development and human services. Case managers carry out a wide range of activities and play a critical role in helping guide, support, and motivate job seekers and those seeking training, employment, and advancement services. In workforce development programs, case management guides and supports the customer on their path toward obtaining employment and career advancement.

Case managers carry out four critical activities: assessments, career planning, coordination of supportive services, and job matching, placement, and follow-up. In the most effective case management, direct customer service activities are comprehensive, well-integrated, and tracking systems allow careful, ongoing monitoring and documentation.

While it is true that many workforce development CRMs offer case management, Launchpad emphasizes the quality and depth of the case management services we provide and is one of the best CRMs for government agencies, nonprofits, and the education industry. 

Assessments are one of the essential steps that serve as a foundation to helping participants. Assessments are a systematic approach to gathering information about the customer's strengths and assets, needs and challenges, interests, and goals. This information, in turn, guides the development of the customer's employment plan, commonly referred to as an IEP (individual employment plan). 

At Launchpad, we wanted to make the first assessment, or client intake, a hassle-free experience for both case managers and their clients. We created the Common Intake Form, a single form built into our CRM that gathers personal information, employment history, barriers of employment, skills, demographic information, licenses, certifications, and goals. Our proprietary program matching functionality then reduces the administrative burden. It empowers case managers to provide optimal results by automatically creating matches to programs and services that the job seeker is eligible for, including federal, state, and local programs. We also have additional assessment record types that can be utilized throughout a job seeker's journey. 

With the information gathered from assessments, it is vital to establish a career plan. Career planning includes:

• Analyzing the client's skills.

• Interests.

• Assessment results.

• Examining current labor market information to develop an employment plan that includes immediate steps to obtain employment and long-term strategies to advance in the labor market.
  
  

An effective career plan will include:

• Goals - what the job seeker wants to achieve. Goals should follow the "SMART" format, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (to both the job seeker and the labor market), and have an achievable Timeframe. 

• Objectives/Next Steps - what the job seeker needs to do to achieve their goals.

• Services - Any programs or services the job seeker is receiving to meet objectives.

• Milestones - show when a job seeker has achieved a goal or completed an objective.

Along with a career plan, case notes can be used to help document everything from conversations had with a client, as well as a way for service providers and case managers to communicate. Case notes should include detailed but concise information gathered directly from the customer or, in some cases, from the customer’s social system (for example, if a case manager has been unable to contact a customer but learns that the customer is employed through an informal conversation with a family member). 

Throughout this process, it's essential to keep a person-centered focus. Studies have shown that people in need of human services or workforce development services are most successful when they have the support of both their case manager and supportive services. Connecting job seekers and clients to supportive services such as SNAP, TANF, child care, vocational rehab services for veterans and disabled people, and helping find homes for the unhoused are just a small number of supportive services that are critical to success. 

Launchpad understands how important these services are to communities and work with our clients to make sure case managers have these services as a database in our CRM. Not only does it flag which services a client is eligible for, but our software can also help automate the referral process to service providers and provide visibility to everyone working with that participant on what services are being delivered and by whom.

When it comes to job matching or placements, a case manager may provide career advice, review resumes, help the job seeker develop interviewing skills, enroll them in job fairs or hiring events, or enroll them in training courses. Successful, sustained employment is often contingent upon

the availability of continued contact with a case manager. Some programs (such as WIA Youth) require follow-up for 12 months after program exit. 

Launchpad's case management tools can be used to support matching job seekers to jobs and obtaining new job skills or developing existing skills. Our case management tools include the capability to automatically match job seekers to jobs based on their information and resumes. We also provide abilities to track training course enrollment and outcomes, and job seekers can self-enroll in job fairs and other hiring events. 

Case management is vital to providing crucial services in both human services and workforce development. Launchpad is modernizing the way these services are administered and improving outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. See how Launchpad can modernize the way you provide services by requesting a demo today!

Watch the recording of our webinar discussing this topic here.

So what can be done? The answer is Workforce Development. The government, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and businesses must train workers to meet the new economy and help workers find a sense of purpose. 

Specifically, we need to focus on “middle-skills” jobs. What are middle-skill jobs?

Middle skill jobs are:

• Jobs that can’t be outsourced.

• Unionized jobs.

• Jobs that provide opportunities for on-the-job training.

Middle skills pay the bills. They’re jobs that the move toward automation won’t quickly eliminate. They will provide the kind of income that working adults need to support themselves and their families.

An easy way to achieve this is using sector strategies. Know what the jobs are in your region, be aware of what industries are hurting, and utilize a four-step approach. 

1) Engage - leverage technology like social media. Tweet, use TikTok, and ask, “Are you interested in a career in healthcare? Get paid to get trained!” it’s essential to leverage technology to measure participation levels and track how the community is responding. Go out into the community, talk to people on the street, or go to schools and engage with people. 

2) Assess - evaluate people’s skills but don’t get granular. Find out what their skills are and where their interests lie. Are they good communicators or educators, or are they good with computers? What motivates them? Organizations like Dotin provide quick assessments online to evaluate skills and guide people towards a career they’ll be passionate about.

3) Train - get them in touch with services that offer training programs and on-the-job training. Training needs to be quick, such as 90 days, not 2-4 years. It can include apprenticeships, paid internships, organizations that provide on-the-job training or work experience. The point is to get people trained quickly in middle-skill jobs that will benefit them as well as helping the industries that are hurting.

4) Connect - help them get that work experience and connect with employers. We also need we need better supportive services. We need to make childcare accessible and affordable. 

Using these tools and strategies, we can be well on our way to a modern, thriving, new economy. 

Click the video above for a brief demonstration of virtual workshop capabilities.

In 2021, supportive services will be critical in helping the workforce recover from the impact COVID-19 has had on the economy. Here at Launchpad, we want to highlight one of our key features that can help. 

The Event Management App is a sub-app that lives within our Case Management App. It helps track and enroll clients in welcome sessions, training events, workshops, job fairs, hiring events, and on-demand virtual events. 

Workshops are core and enrichment seminars designed to assist Job Seekers in general career development, necessary technology skills, resume techniques, and employment connections.

With COVID-19 impacting in-person workshops, the Event Management App can also track virtual workshops. A webinar or event can be recorded and uploaded to your organization’s Community portal. Job Seekers can self-register for the virtual workshop and download any attached resources. 

When a Job Seeker finishes the video/ virtual workshop, the system will show that they have completed the workshop. Case managers will receive a notification that a Job Seeker has completed the virtual workshop. 

Business Service teams can use the Event Management App to coordinate with local businesses to host job fairs and hiring events. Each job fair or hiring event can be internally managed to coordinate the event day and time, location, the event milestones leading up to the event, number of event attendees, and more. 

Hiring events also can show whom from a local business will be available to conduct interviews, and how many, directly in the App. Job seekers can then apply directly for an interview from the Community portal.

Working Wardrobes is a nonprofit located in Santa Ana, CA that helps men, women, young adults, and veterans overcome difficult challenges so they can achieve the dignity of work and the Power of a Paycheck. The organization’s work has become even more critical in this COVID-19 environment. 

On February 2, 2020, Working Wardrobes lost everything in a devastating multi-million-dollar fire. They also faced multiple challenges due to COVID-19 and faced the urgent reality of changing their programs’ dynamic to a virtual environment. 

“Working Wardrobes had a double whammy in 2020,” said Launchpad CEO Abraham Jankans. “They suffered a devastating fire in February, and then COVID really crippled our local non-profit community. These are good people helping Southern Californians get back on their feet with workforce training and opportunities. We knew we wanted to help them recover and provide solutions to the challenges they faced.”

One of the challenges Working Wardrobes faced was tracking their client service programs virtually, with all the data they needed in one place and stored in the cloud. Launchpad provided its innovative cloud-based case management app designed for workforce development, and further customized it to fit Working Wardrobe’s tracking needs. 

During the implementation, Launchpad reduced the financial burden by offering nonprofit discounts and licenses to Working Wardrobes. Additionally, Launchpad's implementation partner, Abelian, donated the implementation services costs as an in-kind donation. 

“Our ultimate goal was not to miss a beat in serving our clients,” said Ashley Baribeault-Vlcan, Director of Client Services. Working Wardrobes celebrated the grand opening of its new Career Success Center in September.  The center provides vital career development tools, resources, and training. The Career Success Center’s opening follows the opening of a new donation center and marks an amazing comeback for the organization, despite the enormous challenges of 2020.

Working Wardrobes is Orange County’s foremost career development nonprofit, championing on behalf of at-risk men, women, young adults, and veterans to help them achieve the dignity of work. Founded in 1990 by CEO/Founder Jerri Rosen, Working Wardrobes has been serving the Southern California region for over 30 years, providing job training, career placement, and wardrobe services to more than 105,000 clients to overcome barriers to employment and achieve the Power of a Paycheck®. For more information, please visit www.workingwardrobes.org. 

Over the past few years, there has been increased adoption of cloud and SaaS applications from CRMs to collaboration tools for workforce development. The benefit of these applications is the ability to have more impactful features and lower maintenance costs.

Some early adopters in workforce development have implemented modern SaaS platforms to deliver this new functionality, including the Salesforce platform, Microsoft, Zoho, and many more.

These platforms’ benefits are tremendous, including deploying modern case management, access to real-time data, regional collaboration, self-service access for job seekers, and the ability to customize relatively easily. These platforms have ushered in a new era of software as a service for government and nonprofit organizations.

Unfortunately, many of these platforms are implemented under an old software services model. The value that SaaS platforms bring is the ability to be agile and implement features over time. The reality, though, is that many of the old-school IT services companies are using old approaches to implement these new software as a service platforms. These outdated models have contributed to higher costs of technology and lesser outcomes for workforce development organizations.

One of the common issues we have seen with custom builds for workforce development is that the systems are overly complex. Because of federal and state reporting requirements, multiple programs, and the need for blended funding, system integrators often build or configure the application to be overly complex to capture the data.

This complexity reduces user adoption and user experience, as well as increases the cost of implementation. It also can result in reporting errors or failed reporting altogether.

Because Launchpad has standardized its data model on the Department of Labor's PIRL (Participant Individual Record Layout), we can capture the data and map it to the appropriate objects and tables. 

This is where COTS applications come in. With COTS applications designed for workforce development, government and nonprofit organizations can upgrade systems 75% faster and reduce costs by 50%. 

In a traditional implementation, a systems integrator spends significant hours gathering requirements and customizing the application based on the user's needs. Oftentimes, the system integrator has to learn about workforce development and the specific programs, and never really has a subject matter expertise. This represents a tremendous knowledge gap that has to be overcome during the implementation process, which adds to the costs.

If this happens in a waterfall approach, it can lead to hundreds or thousands of hours for a project. A traditional custom build might take 6 to 12 months to implement. 

Because COTS applications are preconfigured for case management and designed for specific industries, the customer only has to provide 25% of the requirements. They can be configured much more quickly, often customized using various workflow and automation tools that are launchable in 90 days.

Another benefit of using COTS applications is the ability to leverage existing business processes. Although many users want to customize their system specific to their business process, often a standard best practice for workforce development case management has already been established. Additionally, by leveraging the software's current business process, you can save time and standardize across service providers and programs.

Most processes can be standardized quickly using off-the-shelf applications and then customized to meet specific users’ needs. By standardizing case management processes, you can have a more predictable outcome and improve efficiencies across the organization.

We believe the power of these newer technologies can really be transformative for workforce development and human services organizations. It’s important that these organizations understand that they don't have to leverage a 20-year-old software development model to get value. 

The buy versus build approach will always be better as long as the applications align with the agency's business model. As the software as a service industry matures, you will continue to see newer applications come out pre-built for these industries. It is always best to adopt a pre-built solution and tailor it to your needs instead of trying to build from the ground up.