UCS launched the Employment Planning Project to identify opportunities to improve employment and career pathways for low income households. Based on the belief that employment should be a pathway out of poverty, the project's goal included developing a Johnson County-specific set of strategies to increase income and expand household-sustaining employment opportunities for low-income residents. The ultimate vision is that every household in Johnson County has adequate income to sustainably meet their members' basic needs. Last week UCS released its report:
A Plan to Increase Income through Employment in Johnson County
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The Employment Planning Project was made possible through grant support from the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund. UCS recruited a volunteer work team for the Employment Planning Project based upon their professional expertise and connections to sectors in the community that are relevant to the goal of the project and included representatives from workforce development, economic development, human services, post-secondary education, county government, funders, and regional planning.
The work team also included representatives from the UCS board who brought additional expertise in municipal government, employment law, private business, and human service program development.
A component of the project included focus groups with unemployed and underemployed residents conducted by Angela Gist, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at KU Edwards Campus.
KU Today released an article on Gist's study earlier this spring. Last week, Kathryn Evans Madden, UCS Poverty Project Manager, and Angela Gist, were guests on Steve Kraske's show
Up To Date to discuss their work on UCS' Employment Planning Project.
Kathryn Evans Madden has recently been recruited to serve on the Workforce Development Advisory Board at University of Kansas, Edwards Campus. The Workforce Development Advisory Board critiques and informs campus administration on academic programs and services the campus offers or should offer to the employers of the region. This board is an important element in helping to build a well-qualified workforce in Greater Kansas City.
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