Humanitarian Center Program

Since October 2009, the Humanitarian Center Program has provided daily jobs skills training (4 hours) and English language classes (4 hours) to refugees seeking to gain employment to help support themselves and their families. This partnership program between Utah’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS) and the LDS church seeks to “help participants improve their employable skills so that they will be job ready and able to move into family supporting paid employment at some time within approximately 12 months of program entry.”

The primary outcome measures for this program are English language level gains and employment rates. Year one results indicated a great deal of success in both areas as 64 (63.4%) associates attained employment and 86 (87.8%) associates achieved at least one level gain in their English proficiency. There were also many important lessons learned throughout the course of the first year. These findings were used to make adjustments to the program during year two including increased case manager involvement, refining of the referral and placement process for DWS associates, earlier discussions regarding program exit and employment, enhanced job development efforts, and the development of additional English language programs to meet the needs of targeted populations. The introduction of these components significantly enhanced the overall functioning of the program.

These outcomes at the two year mark (all associates who entered the program between November 2009 and December 2010) are reflective of differences in associate demographics and personal histories in addition to administrative/functional changes made within the program itself.

Read the reports associated with this program:

• Humanitarian Center Program - Year 2 Evaluation (2012)
• Humanitarian Center Program - Year 1 Evaluation (2011)

 

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