Met Cares Foundation

PROJECT PURPOSE

In Oklahoma, a single parent of two working full time for $10.50/hr still lives in poverty. While low/no-cost career training opportunities exist, many can't afford to leave work to attend them. These financial barriers can keep parents from advancing their careers and trap families in poverty. Studies show that children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience trauma, drop out of high school and remain in poverty as adults. LevelUp, a Met Cares Foundation initiative created by North Tulsa community members, alleviates barriers by providing parents in Tulsa with weekly stipends to complete a job training course. These stipends give participants financial flexibility to attend job training courses that lead to more lucrative career paths. The stipends are only distributed if participants are actively engaging in and completing training courses. LevelUp partners participants with groups like Goodwill and WorkAdvance that already provide low or no cost training. These partners also provide career advisors and job placement support. In just two years, LevelUp has helped over 50 parents complete job training to advance their careers. With support from the State of Oklahoma, another 80+ Tulsa-area parents can do the same over the next two years.

EVIDENCE

According to the American Psychological Association, children living in poverty face a litany of long-term detrimental outcomes. This is why programs like LevelUp are essential. Since launching, over 90% of participants successfully completed career training. Over 90% of those individuals have found new employment, started additional education or seen their current wages increase. Upon completing training, participants see an increase of $2 or more in their hourly wages, with a minimum expected wage of $12/hr, enough to lift a family out of poverty. With $3,950 allotted per participant, the program realizes 100% ROI within a year.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The LevelUp initiative primarily serves low income families in Black and brown communities across North Tulsa. As a result of longstanding and systemic economic, social and health disparities, these communities have faced enhanced difficulty in withstanding and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Data clearly indicates that Black, brown and native Oklahomans have been more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Oklahomans. The same is true for impoverished Oklahomans. In addition to stark disparities in health outcomes, the pandemic?s economic impact has been disparate across communities as well. Those with less access to accumulated wealth were more likely to struggle to make ends meet and more likely to face financial crisis. Data from August even shows that Black Americans were the only demographic group to experience a rise in unemployment. LevelUp Tulsa seeks to alleviate these disparities by focusing services on Black, brown, native and low income communities.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The LevelUp initiative works in concert with training providers to ensure that all participants are on track and advancing toward successful completion of their courses. The initiative also employs a part-time coordinator to connect with participants on a daily basis to help ensure their success. Participant data and progress is tracked regularly and participants receive multiple touch-points following the completion of their training to maintain accurate records of employment and income. The initiative will continue this method of regular outreach to both participants and partners alike to ensure regular tracking, data collection and reporting efforts in adherence to federal guidelines.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma