2017 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) DRAFT

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financial safety net or family support, small problems such as car troubles or lack of child care can escalate into lost work time or a lost job. ERN helps employees find solutions to such problems. A Resource Navigator,trained in rapid problem resolution and with access to a wide range of ' community resources, is on-site at each employer's workplace for a portion of each week and available the rest of hte week by phone and email. This Resource Navigator works directly with employees to address their everyday non-workplace issues, connect to resources, and build stability. While these services are focused on entry-level workers, they are available to all employees. In 2016 there were 245 referrals to the ERN with, 220 being unique employees served.The retention rate was reported at 100%. In 2015,the City of South Bend, in conjunction with the City of Mishawaka, the St.Joseph County Chamber of Commerce, IVY Tech Community College, WorkOne Development, and a number of local businesses launched a new workforce training initiative, "Supporting Manufacturers and Regional ' Talent" (SMART). SMART assists residents in obtaining the necessary skills to participate in a wider range of employment opportunities. Participants are trained through IVY Tech as skilled workers in manufacturing. Smart also merges various local employer advisory boards into one council to provide a unified local effort in job creation. In 2017,the program continued to develop a skilled workforce to meet the needs of local manufacturers. The St.Joseph County community was further committed to implementation of the low income , employment provisions at 24 CFR, Part 135 in the use of federal funds covered by Section 3. To that end, the Section 3 clause is incorporated into each contract. All public works construction contracts using such funds included Section 3 language as well. In addition,Section 3 requirements were outlined during the pre-construction meeting for those projects. ' Actions taken to develop institutional structure. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) Any targeted a pp roach to a geography meshes the efforts of South Bend City departments,the CDCs and other nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity to broadly plan and advance the effort. The CDBG, HOME and NSP funds targeted to the Near Westside, Near Northwest, and Northeast Neighborhood offered an opportunity for all of these entities to work together using their areas of expertise and educate each other on opportunities and challenges that will support the successful conclusion of the plan. South Bend utilized a team approach to working with its partners in implementing the programs/projects funded through the various federal sources.The Community Investment staff regularly communicated with all sub-grantees, and met with those entities involved in the targeted areas. Regularly scheduled meetings with CDCs occurred due to the nature of work and amount of funds allocated. ' Desktop and on-site monitoring of organizations occurred regularly throughout the year. St.Joseph County Housing Consortium members were continually informed of project/program status at ' their meetings throughout the year. CAPER 22 OMB Control No:2506-0117(exp.06/30/2018) '