LA:RISE - REDF

LA is an incredibly vibrant region that draws people from all over the world, but it faces significant challenges, including more than 69,000 people living on the streets.

Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA:RISE) is an innovative partnership that unites the City and County of Los Angeles workforce agencies with employment social enterprises to help people striving for a better future get the jobs, training, and support they need to build it. LA:RISE connects employment social enterprises to the workforce system, supportive services, and employers, allowing all partners to bring their expertise and resources to the table.

Now in its eighth year, LA:RISE has expanded from 10 to 40 partners across the County of Los Angeles and provided transitional employment to over 7,000 Angelenos.

5,550

Participants have secured permanent employment or enrolled in education program

7,760

Participants have secured subsidized employment

4,550

Participants co-enrolled in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

How it Works

After working in a transitional job at the employment social enterprise and leveraging training and services from the workforce development agency (e.g. WorkSource Center, YouthSource Center, America’s Job Center of California), individuals are placed into jobs in the private sector, public-sector within the City and County of LA, or in vocational training programs. Upon placement, the individual is matched with a retention partner who works with them for up to one year, acting as a safety net in case barriers emerge on their path to self-sufficiency.

Watch this video produced by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration to learn more about how LA:RISE works and meet our partner Los Angeles Conservation Corps.

LA:RISE Partners

Social Enterprises: Social enterprises are competitive, revenue-generating
businesses that provide transitional employment and 360-degree support to people striving to overcome employment barriers. Social enterprises help these men and women stabilize their lives, build their skills, and succeed.
Workforce Agencies: Government contractors (WorkSource Center, America’s
Job Centers of California, One-Stops) are organizations that provide workforce development and job readiness training. They work with individuals from the beginning of employment at the social enterprise through job placement and follow up once someone is placed in employment.
Youth-Focused Partners: There are a subset of WorkSource (WSC) and YouthSource (YSC) Centers that specifically provide 300 hours of transitional employment to young adults that are participating in LA:RISE. The WSC and YSC caseworkers provide support in the form of transportation, clothing, resources, and counseling. Once the transitional employment is completed, WSC’s and YSC’s assist the participant in finding permanent employment and connect them to personal support providers.
Retention Providers: The sole focus of the retention provider is to help people remain employed by providing wrap-around support and resources to prevent job loss and lay the foundation for upward mobility. They assist with referrals to health, housing, and educational resources and coaching for personal development and financial capabilities.

Innovative Features of LA:RISE

Job Readiness Assessment: This tool is used by all social enterprise sites to ensure that potential employees are job ready. It helps increase participants’ likelihood of success in the program and assures employers that no matter which social enterprise they source from, their employees will be trained well and ready to work.
CalJOBS: A data tracking system that allows all LA:RISE partners to communicate efficiently with each other. By integrating social enterprises and personal support providers, this platform has significantly improved communication and case management across multiple sites.
Beyond Co-location: WorkSource Center partners and America’s Job Center of California partners are not just physically co-located at the social enterprise site — they are integrated into their program and organization. Individuals from both of these agencies are seen as one seamless team, providing customer-centric case management to all LA:RISE participants.

REDF’s Role

REDF is the lead program manager for LA:RISE and provides technical assistance to individual partners.

Funders

REDF
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Economic & Workforce Development Department
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
County of Los Angeles
Department of Economic Opportunity
Measure H, Los Angeles County

Partner with LA:RISE

Employers

LA:RISE offers employers direct access to a local pool of job-ready candidates – along with the resources to help them succeed, advance, and thrive long term. We’re recruiting forward-looking companies for our Employment Partner Program. Learn more about the benefits and how to get started.

Enroll in LA:RISE

LA:RISE is a three to 12-month employment program that starts you off with a real job that pays while you learn. LA:RISE is currently enrolling participants at its partner employment social enterprises. If you are an individual looking for employment, or you provide services to clients looking for work, get started by:

Calling to enroll at 1-888-4-LARISE (1-888-452-7473); or
Using the partner directory to learn more about LA:RISE’s employment social enterprise partners and determine which enterprise would be the best fit for your transitional employment. Then complete the Client Referral Form. You can expect to hear back from your selected employment social enterprise within two business days of your submission.

In order to be eligible for this program, you must be:

An LA County resident
18 years of age or older
Currently unemployed and seeking long-term employment
Currently experiencing homelessness, at-risk of homelessness, or previously experienced homelessness