Baltimore Rise: A Case Study in Advancing Local Workforce Development Efforts for New Americans

"Higher" is a program of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services designed to provide technical assistance to refugee employment programs at all nine national resettlement agencies and their affiliates. This report describes a pilot project, funded by a Targeted Assistance Grant from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, to make the workforce development system more responsive to the needs of immigrants and refugees, particularly those with college-level education in their home countries.  The project recruited dedicated staff for this project from one of Baltimore's American Job Centers.  Related vocational training took place at Baltimore City Community College. "Higher" staff provided technical assistance, based in part on observation and shadowing of American Job Center staff.  At the close of the pilot year, the program had connected 117 refugees to vocational training, 75 of whom successfully graduated. In addition, 53 participants had obtained employment. However, these numbers fell short of original targets. The report concludes with recommendations for local areas seeking to improve workforce development opportunities for immigrants and refugees.

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