Public/Private Ventures (P/PV)

Legacy collection

Innovation. Research. Action.

After almost 35 years Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) has ceased operations. The organization leaves behind an incredible legacy of knowledge, including hundreds of research reports, case studies and evaluations about how best to improve programs and outcomes for children, youth and families. We are fortunate that P/PV has decided to archive its publications collection with the Foundation Center's IssueLab so that practitioners can benefit from this knowledge for years to come.

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Working with Employers: Skills and Strategies for Job Development Success - Participant Workbook

October 1, 2008

"Working with Employers: Skills and Strategies for Job Development Success" offers 10 skill development modules (each 2 1/2 to 3 hours in length) that can strengthen the effectiveness of frontline staffs job placement activities. Participants experience a peer learning community as they practice key concepts, apply those in their daily work and gain insights from other experienced practitioners.

Working with Employers: Skills and Strategies for Job Development Success - Facilitator Guide

August 7, 2008

Whatever their job titles -- job developer, employment specialist, business services representative -- staff who balance the competing demands of both job seeker and employer customers face a challenging task. "Working with Employers: Skills and Strategies for Job Development Success" offers ten skill development modules (each 2-1/2 to 3 hours in length) that can strengthen the effectiveness of front-line staffs job placement activities. Participants experience a peer learning community as they practice key concepts, apply those in their daily work, and gain insights from other experienced practitioners.

Launching AmeriCorps: First-Year Implementation of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993

July 6, 2007

The National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 spurred the creation and expansion of national service activities throughout the US, relying on the states to determine how best to implement programs locally. P/PV undertook a long-term study to document this process, paying particular attention to the nature and progress of the federal-state relationship that the Act employed to get programs up and running quickly throughout the country. This report chronicles the first year of implementation, drawing on extensive interviews with key staff members of the Corporation for National Service, state commission heads and board members, and on observations of implementation activities in nine of the participating states. A close review of developments at both the policy and implementation levels reflects the challenges and opportunities presented by the joint federal-state approach, as well as the extent to which states were able to get programs up and running quickly to satisfy this ambitious legislative mandate.

Ready4Work In Brief: Update on Outcomes; Reentry May Be Critical for States, Cities

May 30, 2007

This issue of P/PV In Brief provides updated data from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative, with a focus on the prison crisis occurring in many cities and states. While much more research is needed to understand the true, long-term impact of prisoner reentry initiatives, outcomes from Ready4Work were extremely promising in terms of education, employment and program retention, with recidivism rates among Ready4Work participants 34 to 50 percent below the national average.Funded by the US Department of Labor and the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations, Ready4Work was a three-year national demonstration project designed to address the needs of the growing ex-prisoner population and to test the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations to meet those needs. Ready4Work programs provided employment services, case management and mentoring in 11 adult sites around the country (data from seven juvenile sites are being analyzed separately).

P/PV Preview: Mentoring Ex-Prisoners in the Ready4Work Reentry Initiative

March 26, 2007

Promoting successful reentry for ex-prisoners is a critical issue facing individuals, families, communities and governments across the country. This brief presents findings from a forthcoming report on the mentoring component of theReady4Work prisoner reentry initiative.Ready4Work participants who met with a mentor remained in the program longer, were twice as likely to obtain a job and were more likely to stay employed than participants who did not meet with a mentor. The report's authors conclude that while mentoring alone is not enough, supportive relationships -- which can be fostered through mentoring programs -- should be considered a core component of any reentry strategy.

Good Stories Aren't Enough: Becoming Outcomes-Driven in Workforce Development

July 1, 2006

Workforce development organizations are more and more focused on achieving and documenting performance outcomes; yet managers frequently face a challenge getting buy-in from frontline staff about collecting and using data -- not only to satisfy funders' needs but to improve services. Good Stories Aren't Enough looks at the experience and learnings of six organizations as they focused on becoming more outcomes-driven. It identifies practical, hands-on strategies to increase staff involvement and communication around data, so that what at first seems like "impersonal" information becomes a useful tool to better meet job seekers' and employers' needs.

Just Out: Early Lessons from the Ready4Work Prisoner Reentry Initiative

February 17, 2006

Just Out examines the early implementation of Ready4Work, a three-year national prisoner reentry demonstration project funded by the US Departments of Labor and Justice the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations. The report focuses on emerging best practices in four key program areas. While P/PV provided the basic program design to the 17 lead organizations participating in the project, each site was given creative latitude to build programs unique to their own organizations, resources, partnerships and missions. Through this work, many innovative and promising approaches to effective prisoner reentry emerged, as did challenges for which solutions were sought. Just Out focuses of Ready4Work's 11 adult sites (the other six sites serve juvenile offenders). It offers practical advice about recruitment, case management, mentoring and employment, and documents early lessons in this growing area of study, policy and advocacy.

Getting Connected: Strategies for Expanding the Employment Networks of Low-Income People

November 1, 2005

We've all heard the familiar phrase, "It's not what you know, but who you know that matters." Not surprisingly, studies have found that most people find jobs through informal networks. This is no less true for low-income job seekers, who may be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to connections to people who can help them get good jobs. Getting Connected looks at eight programs from across the country that focus explicitly on increasing the size and quality of low-income people's networks as part of their broader strategy. Though there is variation in how networking is incorporated into these programs, all aim to provide participants with the ability to form connections that will help them negotiate job change throughout their working lives.

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