Success Stories

Houston Community College Adult Education
Partners with National Workforce Model

The SEARCH Homeless Project was founded in 1989 by the Council of Congregations, an ecumenical group that believed homeless people needed more than a bed and a meal. They believed that homeless people needed a future. With a core focus of employment, education and job training, SEARCH serves more than 10,000 homeless people annually getting them off the streets and into jobs and affordable housing. Houston Community College as Texas’ largest provider of literacy and adult education and fiscal agent for Houston Literacy Consortium has subcontracted with SEARCH for more than 5 years.

The majority of individuals served by SEARCH’s adult education program are applying for job training and test low in math, reading, or language arts skills. Following orientation and assessment, participants are assigned to the Computer Learning Lab. Using a self-paced and individualized instructional format, the remedial program utilizes education software. Through the support by Houston Community College students at SEARCH are provided the option of working in the lab and learning under the guidance of trained and qualified adult education instructors and instructional materials. In addition, SEARCH also makes available qualified volunteer tutors to work with those individuals requiring more intensive one-on-one instruction. SEARCH also helps students who are applying for access to the agency’s employment services obtain their GED. These students attend class from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday with a qualified teacher and make up about 10% of the adult education services provided by SEARCH. Software programs are used to reinforce the skills of GED students in a manner similar to that experienced by the students in the remedial education program. SEARCH also offers a variety of services to the children of homeless individuals and so family literacy is a natural offshoot of the adult education program and those existing family support programs.

When we were first approached by SEARCH about partnering to provide adult education there, HCC did it with the attitude that it was something that needed to be done. If HCC didn’t do it, then who would? We frankly did not have high expectations for achievement or outcomes because of the multiplicity of barriers faced by SEARCH’s target population. However, Linda Barrett and Josh Hayes, the instructors at SEARCH, worked hard and quickly proved to be one of the most reliable providers for the college. SEARCH’s adult education program has grown to two full-time and one part-time instructors. Each participant receives case management, hot lunch, access to on-site medical and dental care, transportation assistance, clothing, housing assistance, and referral and assistance in accessing mainstream services.

Adding to the success of its adult education partnership with HCC, SEARCH was awarded a Research and Demonstration contract in 2006 by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC), the managing entity for the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Board, to operate a career center with specialized services to place homeless people into sustainable employment. This award made the SEARCH Midtown Career Center one of the few to fulfill the expectation under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) that adult education be provided on site at all career centers. SEARCH’s incorporation of the career center, otherwise known as The WorkSource Midtown, into its service mix has propelled it into national prominence among agencies that combat homelessness. SEARCH and its achievements in the areas of job training, adult education and housing has been featured in several national conferences including ones held in Washington DC, Anaheim, and Oakland. Mayor Bill White of the City of Houston has recognized SEARCH for its efforts to get homeless people off the street and into productive work and safe affordable housing and was the featured speaker at the grand opening celebration of The WorkSource Midtown. The achievements by SEARCH have also caught the attention of many senior leaders in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Labor who have taken great interest in the structure of the partnerships and combined service established by SEARCH. Both federal agencies are actively encouraging other major urban cities to adopt the same model.

The partnership between HCC, SEARCH and HGAC has helped a great many homeless individuals complete a GED, obtain skill training at Houston Community College and enter sustainable employment. These are the kinds of results that are possible when adult education providers actively find ways to productively and successfully collaborate with community-based organizations and the local workforce system.

David Joost is the Director of Community and Adult Education at Houston Community College, the largest provider of adult education in the State of Texas. He has been active in Adult Education for more than fifteen years and been involved in several state initiatives to integrate adult education and the Texas Workforce System as well as expand the presence workforce literacy to key industries in the Houston area. He can be reached at david.joost@hccs.edu.