A partnership that 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 to learn more about how LA:RISE works.

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.

• REDF
• City of Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Economic & Workforce Development Department
• Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
• County of Los Angeles
• Workforce Development, Aging & Community Services
• Measure H, Los Angeles County

If your employment social enterprise or business is interested in partnering with LA:RISE, please fill out our interest form here and a member of the LA:RISE team will follow-up with you.

Are you looking for employment and interested in participating in LA:RISE? Use the directory to get more information on the participating social enterprises. Once you find the social enterprise that seems to be the best fit for you, contact them to ask about joining the LA:RISE program.

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

• An LA County or City resident
• 18 years of age or older
• Currently unemployed or underemployed and seeking long-term employment
• Previously or currently homeless, previously incarcerated, on parole or probation, or 18-24 years of age and currently out of school or work (opportunity youth)