Implications and Conclusions

VI. Conclusions, Implications and Issues for Strategic Planning

This final section of the assessment contains an analysis of the findings from secondary and primary data sources, taking into account our community's assets, and prefaced by the concerns of our core committee about the size of the planning area. The section is concluded with a summary by the planning partnership of the implications this assessment will have for our strategic planning for adult education in Franklin and Hampshire Counties.

The Size of the Planning Area

Strategic Planning for Adult Basic Education services in the Franklin Hampshire service area must take into account the geographical size and diversity of this area. At the present time there are 3 separate partnerships addressing this dispersion and diversity. This makes sense given the geographic isolation of both the Ware and North Quabbin Areas*.

Even with separate Community Planning Partnerships in the Ware and North Quabbin areas, there may still be a need to further localize the "Central Planning Process" that currently covers the communities of Amherst, Northampton, Greenfield, and Montague. A logical step might be to separate out the processes for the Hampshire County communities (Amherst and Northampton) and the Franklin County communities (Greenfield and Montague). Of course, the advantages of local "community relevance" could be counterbalanced by the disadvantages of increased burdens on staff time to plan, coordinate, and carry out the necessary planning and partnership activities.

Though the most rural communities of our region are under-served in many ways, communities like Amherst, Northampton, Greenfield, and Montague boast a wide diversity of human and educational services and a long history of planning and partnership activities. The core DOE funded ABE providers (The Center for New Americans, The Literacy Project, and the International Language Institute) have been long term players in many of these partnerships - especially COSA (Council of Social Agencies) in Hampshire County and the Franklin County Resource network.

The core DOE funded ABE provider agencies are committed to ensure that the needs of adult learners are taken into account in all the major planning initiatives in our service area. To that end we seek to strategically increase our participation in ongoing local planning partnerships even as we fulfill the requirements of the DOE Strategic Community Planning process.

The Analysis of Primary and Secondary Findings By The Core Committee

The analysis of primary and secondary findings produced a complex, if not overwhelming, amount of information to guide the strategic planning stage of the ABE community planning. From this process, though, emerged seven overarching themes that encompass many of the issues identified. These overarching themes are summarized below along with a brief discussion of each one's implications for the strategic planning process to come.

Dissemination of Information:

Identified Challenge: A reoccurring theme of focus groups and key informant interviews was a lack of information and/or misinformation about the local adult basic education system. Individuals from various community groups and institutions reported having inadequate information as to what services were available and how to make referrals. In some cases, this was the result of information having not reached particular organizations or groups, while in other cases, information had reached appropriate organizations but was not effectively disseminated within. Focus groups and key informant also revealed a broad range of misperceptions about the local ABE programs, their capacity and staffing.

Implication: Within the next phase of the community planning process, the partnership will need to work to identify and implement mechanisms for more effective and systematic dissemination of information, and to continue building relationships that will facilitate these ends.

Waiting List for ESOL Services:

Identified Challenge: The planning process uncovered a great deal of frustration with the current waiting list for ESOL classes on the part of students looking to enroll, as well as organizations that serve them. It also revealed that individuals with the greatest life challenges seem to be least likely to place their names upon the waiting lists or to maintain interest and availability during the waiting period.

Implications: Within future planning activities, the partnership will explore the feasibility of expanding services available to students on waiting lists, such as tutorials, computer classes or conversation groups, some of which are already available, as well providing additional support and check-ins. Additionally, the strategic planning phase will be used as an opportunity to advocate for additional resources for ABE programs so more students may be served

Coordination of services:

Identified Challenge: For clients/students who are in need of a variety of different educational and social services their experience can be quite overwhelming. The current network of public and private service organizations can be confusing, fragmented and unwelcoming. Consequently, it frequently leaves clients/students and those that assist them at a loss for the best ways to meet their needs.

Implication: In conjunction with other community initiatives, the ABE Community Planning Partnership will work to advocate for and facilitate greater coordination of services. Promising models include a variety of comprehensive, collaborative and/or integrative models of service delivery and support, examples of which have been cited in the body of the report. These would likely involve streamlined intake and cross-disciplinary information sharing. Furthermore, members of the partnership should work to promote greater availability of case-coordination and case-management services to support students/clients with multiple needs.

Targeted Outreach

Identified Challenge: Analyses of both primary and secondary data have highlighted particular population segments that may be under-served by the local ABE system. These groups include:

· Adults with developmental and cognitive disabilities

· Out-of-School

· Homeless Adults and Youth

· Ex-offenders/Youth and adults on probation

· Particular ethnic groups such as Cape Verdeans in Amherst, Moldovans and Russians in Greenfield, and newly arrived Puerto Rican adults in Northampton.

· LEP and low literacy, out-of-school, and at-risk parents in Greenfield, Amherst and Northampton

· Migrant workers and their teenage children

· People transitioning off of welfare

· Women who have experienced domestic violence and trauma.

Implication: The partnership will work to further develop targeted outreach approaches that are appropriate to these identified groups. Approaches will include both formal and informal means of outreach, and will involve ABE providers and other partners working in collaboration.

Transition Support

Identified Challenge: The planning process revealed a significant lack of programming to provide current and potential ABE students with support during critical transitions. In particular, there are inadequate resources to support transitions from ABE programs to college, from ABE programs to work and from corrections to ABE.

Implication: The partnership will continue to convene planning forums specific to these challenges. The goals of these activities will include:

· Continued relationship-building and planning among ABE, higher education, employment assistance and corrections providers

· Identification of ways to improve the capacity of current programs in these areas

· Identification of and development of additional models to provide transition support

· Identification of funding sources to support the creation of new transition support programs

· Advocacy as to the importance of providing these types of support

Ability of the ABE System to Effectively Serve Youth:

Identified Challenges: "Out of school" teens (ages 16-19) and youth (20-24) are present in significant numbers in our service area and represent a wide range of actual and potential needs. In this report, teens and older youth expressed many of these social and developmental needs in their own words.

· The Armed Forces section of the 2000 Census counted over 1600 teens in the Franklin/Hampshire area who were not in school and who had not graduated.

· Both program designs and track records of success in this area's ABE system indicate that these teens represent the greatest challenge to the ABE system.

· Pregnant and parenting teens represent only one of the special needs associated with these group though Even Start programs in North Quabbin and, now, Greenfield and Northampton are successfully able to serve some of that population.

· Homeless teens are another area of specialized need.

· The fact that a vast majority of youth enrolled in ABE/GED programs have been adjudicated or are on probation also gives an indication of the need represented by this population group.

Implications: The ABE system in the many communities covered by this report will need to build on existing relationships to develop planned and formal guidelines for communication, cooperation, and perhaps, collaboration with other agencies devoted to serving the needs of "out of school" youth. Many of these agencies have experience and success with various service delivery and curriculum models as well as access to resources in addition to those offered by the Department of Education.

The ABE system and its community partners should also explore options for working to change public policy with an eye towards supporting efforts to:

· help keep teens enrolled in public schools to the greatest extent possible

· while cooperating with the public schools in other ways, and

· ensuring that adequate resources are devoted to those young people for whom public schools are no longer a workable option.

Accessibility of Services

Identified Challenge: Throughout the planning process, barriers to service access were regularly identified. These barriers included the following:

· Program hours: Limited class-hours of ABE programs make it impossible for some prospective students to attend classes due to their work schedules or other standing commitments.

· Public Transportation: There is a shortage of available public transportation. For some communities no public transportation services are available. For others routes and scheduled are inadequate to connect education and work opportunities.

· Program locations: Current program locations make participation extremely challenging, if not impossible for members of some communities. This is particularly the case for the residents of the "hilltown" region.

· Childcare: Current and potential program participants lack access to affordable, high-quality childcare options so they can work and attend classes

Implications: The partnership will continue to explore strategies for overcoming service access barriers. However, it must be noted that with current resources, it is unrealistic that the barriers can be significantly impacted. To truly impact these dynamics would require such changes as additional class sequences, new public transportation routes, new program sites, or new childcare resources, all of which require significant financial and other resources. As such, the partnership will propose various long-term strategies, and work to identify and advocate for additional resources to make such strategies possible.

* * * * *

The Community Planning Partnership -Implications for Strategic Planning

On March 19, 2003, members of the community planning partnership met for three hours, having been provided with copies of the assessment in advance of the meeting and having had sections of the report highlighted according to each partner's interest area. During the meeting, the larger group was, once again divided into the areas of need initially identified by the partnership. Four questions from the guidelines provided by the DOE were used to navigate the discussion.

Out-of-School and Other Youth-At-Risk

HOW DOES THE INFORMATION WE'VE GATHERED AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE PLANNING OF ABE/FAMILY LITERACY/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES?

Out-of-School and At-Risk Youth" is a Significant Area of Service Needs

In 2000, the Armed Forces section of the census counted 1,636 youth between the ages of 16 and 19 who lived in the Franklin/Hampshire service area that were not enrolled in school. This fact needs to be publicized and made central to all planning efforts.
This assessment documents many of the needs of this population in the words of youth and teens themselves.
One issue that clearly stands out is the alienation and isolation of these young people.

The ABE system in the Franklin/Hampshire region has room to improve its programming and outreach to these teens.

While there are successful models, the ABE system is geared primarily to older learners with very different developmental needs and issues.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES OUR PARTNERSHIP WANTS TO ADDRESS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF ABE/ESOL/LITERACY SERVICES IN OUR COMMUNITY?

Services to Out-of-School and At-Risk Teens should be conceptualized into separate, but related areas:

· Intervention and Prevention services that work with the public schools to prevent dropping out.

· Educational and related health and safety services to teens who have recently withdrawn from school

· Educational and related health and safety services to youth who enter GED (or Literacy) programs after being out of school for 3 or more years

· Outreach and related health and safety services to teens and youth who have recently dropped out but who are not currently ready to resume their education (enroll in ABE services)

The ABE system needs to find and dedicate resources to research and develop educational and related programming for Out-of-School and At-Risk Youth.

There are many successful models including those that combine experiential learning with state and national graduation requirements. Such programs can offer duel diplomas in conjunction with public high schools (which gives those public schools a stake in the process.)
Researchers have already studied programs like these and have identified several core principles that could help guide planning and implementation of successful programs for more of the 1,636 out of school teens in our service area.

There is a need to work towards public policy changes that will allow adequate funding for comprehensive services to Out-of School Teens and Youth.

One proposal would allow educational dollars to follow young learners even after they withdraw from the public school system.

WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY ASSETS THAT WE CAN BUILD UPON TO ENHANCE ABE/ESOL AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES?

Franklin and Hampshire Counties each have their own strong, ongoing, partnerships addressing all areas of services to Out-of-School and At-Risk Teens.

The circumstances of each county, along with the geographic dispersion currently require that these processes be distinct.
In Hampshire County the major partnership work regarding these youth is being done by SPIFFY (Strategic Planning Initiative for Families and Youth), the Hampshire Educational Collaborative, the R.E.B. Youth Council and YWCA
In Franklin County the central partnership work regarding these youth is being done by the Community Coalition for Teens, "Communities that Care", Dial Self, and the R.E.B. Youth Council.

HOW CAN THE PARTNERSHIP BETTER WORK TOGETHER TO MEET THE NEEDS?

Increased, but strategic, participation of ABE personnel in the ongoing partnership efforts in this service area will strengthen the informal networks that connect needy youth to appropriate services. It could also help lay the groundwork for more formal collaborations.

There is a need to research models for formal interagency collaborations to provide comprehensive case coordination services to Out-of-School Teens and Youth.

Transitioning to College and the Workplace

HOW DOES THE INFORMATION WE'VE GATHERED AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE PLANNING OF ABE/FAMILY LITERACY/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES?

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES OUR PARTNERSHIP WANTS TO ADDRESS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF ABE/ESOL/LITERACY SERVICES IN OUR COMMUNITY?

There is a need for structured transition services between ABE/ESOL and college with an emphasis on "structure". Step Up worked because there was a structured collaboration on the website and with TLP and CNA.

There is a need for case coordination/service facilitation all the way through the process from the adult education class to the workplace or college.

· This shouldn't be just agency-driven.

· When possible cohort groups should be kept together

· There is no mention of the GCC/ES0L role in the document.

There is a need for communication between employers and service providers particularly when there are work structures that create barriers to participation in adult learning classes.

· Noting that those with LEP are a large part of the unskilled labor force - there is a need to facilitate them through that process

· ABE is talking to employers about "swing shifts"

Strengthen collaborations, noting that the state budget should not be structured to set up competition

WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY ASSETS THAT WE CAN BUILD UPON TO ENHANCE ABE/ESOL AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES?

There are many existing collaborations and we should build upon these.

Investigate unusual untapped connections - examples…

· Food bank and ABE classes on nutrition

· The Chamber of Commerce

· Computer Classes

· The educational reintegration counselor at Hampshire County Correctional Facility asked that REB add to their database those businesses that would hire released inmates.

HOW CAN THE PARTNERSHIP BETTER WORK TOGETHER TO MEET THE NEEDS?

Strengthen this partnership and find out who is missing. For example, the DTA, or Workplace Education at UMass

· We need to improve our relationship with Labor Management Workplace Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

· The role of the community colleges generally must be explored more fully. There is a need for a community college spokesperson from GCC and HCC at the table

ESOL and Others Under-served by Adult Education Programming

HOW DOES THE INFORMATION WE'VE GATHERED AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE PLANNING OF ABE/FAMILY LITERACY/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES?

We need to work on dissemination of information so we can get it to important organizations and have information shared within those organizations.

· The report gave us a better awareness of existing initiatives and resources as well as gaps and barriers.

· The report also showed members that it can be difficult for us to understand the resources and to navigate through them and we can imagine how hard this must be for our constituents. Is there some way we could do a graphic representation of available services?

· The report helped people to see the vulnerabilities of different groups of people, the cultural variations among people and their differing needs.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES OUR PARTNERSHIP WANTS TO ADDRESS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF ABE/ESOL/LITERACY SERVICES IN OUR COMMUNITY?

Can ABE/ESOL services be provided on a satellite basis such as in schools or libraries and this has implications for both programs and funders - to address?

· waiting lists,

· hilltown isolation and

· all those who are unable to use the existing system.

We acknowledge that the waiting lists are a major issue.

· We acknowledge that racism and discrimination in general is an issue and that they are barriers to newcomers in receiving the services they need.

· We envision video as an outreach tool with segments of each show being about availability of particularly ABE services.

· Service providers do not have adequate resources to be multi-lingual and these are related to staffing and funding.

· Rigid eligibility criteria can limit access to available services (grant-related guidelines-not about ABE but generally.

WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY ASSETS THAT WE CAN BUILD UPON TO ENHANCE ABE/ESOL AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES?

The willingness of organizations to collaborate

· Small miscellaneous funding sources are available

· Available space in schools, community centers and libraries, churches

· Volunteers - joint recruitment and outreach and community service learning programs in colleges, public and private schools.

· Local businesses are under-utilized as those who might contribute money, space, equipment and we don't approach them in an organized way.

HOW CAN THE PARTNERSHIP BETTER WORK TOGETHER TO MEET THE NEEDS?

Keep the programmatic network going including sharing specific information

· Use tools other than meetings to share information - e-mails and listservs

· Use Executive Summary and broad processes to keep everyone informed.

Corrections/Reintegration

HOW DOES THE INFORMATION WE'VE GATHERED AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE PLANNING OF ABE/FAMILY LITERACY/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES?

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES OUR PARTNERSHIP WANTS TO ADDRESS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING TO IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF ABE/ESOL/LITERACY SERVICES IN OUR COMMUNITY?

There is a need for ongoing support for the reintegration of released incarcerated individuals into our community.

· Although reintegration services are seen as a critical resource to both Franklin and Hampshire County Houses of Correction and the Sheriff's Offices, the lack of funding has been a barrier.

· Unless the community becomes involved in an integrated way, the released inmate (especially if their time has been served), may re-enter the community without any ongoing support.

· There is a need for ABE to address programmatically the increasing number of students in ABE classes who are court-involved.

· Community agencies, ABE and ESOL service providers need to educate themselves more about the court system and the courts need to know more about the ABE and ESOL services available.

WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY ASSETS THAT WE CAN BUILD UPON TO ENHANCE ABE/ESOL AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES?

Communication between corrections and ABE and ESOL agencies has improved since the assessment began. There currently is a part-time reintegration counselor committed to improving this relationship.

· Building upon this, it is hoped that ILI, CNA, TLP will send staff to visit the jails to meet inmates, and continue to work with the educational reintegration counselor to help assure better follow-up,