By Megan Belville

Speak United

Manhattan, KS

After 10 months of testing, letters, phone calls, meetings, and negotiations, Speak United claimed a victory in its fight with the local workforce center to better serve the needs of low-income workers.

In January, the group won improvements for low-income people seeking jobs through the Manhattan Workforce Center (MWC) at a meeting with an official of the Kansas Department of Human Resources (KDHR), James DeCoursey.

At the meeting, DeCoursey agreed to Speak United’s demands to increase accessibility and customer service at the center, check into the status of installing handicapped parking at the entrance of the center, open the center on evenings and weekends, and to hire a new workforce manager.

Access Denied

Speak United completed a study before its meetings with DeCoursey, which documented the problems at the center. The report was called “Access Denied” and the results of the study were released at a press conference in October.

It exposed the center’s failure to provide federally mandated employment assistance to low-income job seekers as provided under the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

WIA provides employment services through state and local systems to improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance productivity and competitiveness by increasing participants skills and therefore employability and earnings. This is supposed to be accomplished through places like the MWC.

The “Access Denied” report found that the MWC failed to provide meaningful workforce development services to low-income community members. The most dramatic findings included—of 53 documented visits, not a single tester received an orientation, skills assessment, enrollment in a skill development or training program, and none secured employment. In addition, testers found the handicapped parking lacking, the hours of operation inconvenient, and the customer service poor—12 of 19 testers rated their overall experience as very poor.

“I felt like I was stupid and never wanted to go back there because of the attitude and treatment I received from the staff,” said Speak United leader Megan Belville, recalling her experience at the center.

In addition to Speak United’s demands for improvements at the center, DeCoursey said that the KDHR Personnel Department had already begun to do staff trainings at the center and would provide ongoing trainings about customer service. A new brochure was also put in place detailing services available to job seekers.

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