“I think you’re on mute.”

Does that sound familiar? At Rubicon, and almost everywhere else, we have had to become accustomed to our Zoom reality over the past couple of years. Since the onset of COVID-19 in March of 2020, Rubicon has been offering its Foundations workshop series virtually over Zoom. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Foundations workshops are led by Rubicon coaches and aim to help build participants’ employment, financial, and wellness skills. However, in April of 2022, Rubicon offered its first “hybrid” Foundations cohort. In this hybrid model, some participants were invited into the office while others had the option to remain on Zoom. Workshop facilitators were also given the option of facilitating in the office or via Zoom. When it came time for her workshop, Rubicon Career Advisor Maya Garcia expressed her excitement for being able to finally facilitate in person: “This was my first in-person workshop since coming to Rubicon, and it was nice to be able to connect human to human. I feel like they say in the musical, Hamilton…we’re in the room where it happens!”

Participants seemed to be more engaged as well, including one of the in-office participants, Tyler, who explained that “there aren’t any distractions here compared to my house, which makes it much easier for me to focus.” The participants on Zoom also appeared to have an upgraded experience due to all of the participants being able to participate in lively discussions together. “There just seemed to be more energy in the room” said Maya, which led to more engaged discussions compared to when everyone is in their own space.

The hybrid workshops are a welcomed return to facilitating and connecting with participants person to person. At the same time, however, they present new challenges for both staff and participants. The hybrid model requires more technology running seamlessly to be able to include participants live and virtually, which can always pose problems (did you try hitting the refresh button?). Secondly, facilitators have the added challenge of engaging and paying attention to participants in dual spaces. Having multiple facilitators for each workshop is one method that Rubicon staff has found effective for handling this.

While there will certainly be a learning curve with the hybrid workshops, the return of in-person facilitation is an exciting development for Rubicon. Rubicon and its staff will continue to adapt and fine-tune our approach to the hybrid workshops to maximize the experience for our participants.

Rubicon commits to the continuous investment in our participants. Helping participants progress, grow and prosper on the journey toward economic mobility is vital to our mission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rubicon has innovated and adapted in order to continue to provide our services to as many community members as possible.

Word-of-mouth referrals have always been Rubicon’s most valuable source of new participants. Our participants’ excitement for and success in the program can be the best motivation for another person joining. In an effort to enhance our word-of-mouth marketing and further invest in Rubicon participants, Rubicon has launched a new incentive program. In this incentive program, Rubicon participants who complete the Foundations workshop series will receive an investment of $100. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Foundations workshops are led by Rubicon coaches and help participants build their employment, financial, and wellness skills. Furthermore, Rubicon will invest an additional $100 in a participant if they refer someone else who then completes the Foundations workshop series.

The incentive program is off to a solid start, with over a dozen participants earning the incentive for completing the workshops so far. Concord participant Marquetis is one of the first to earn the participant referral incentive. Marquetis is grateful for the incentive, and he says he has more people that he knows that he’s planning to refer for future cohorts. “I appreciate you guys [Rubicon] helping me, and I know many people who could use that kind of support.”

Similar to Marquetis, participants who complete the Foundations workshop series are often motivated to share their newfound knowledge and have a desire to help their communities. And now with the incentive program, participants have even more motivation to connect those they know to Rubicon as we continue to build towards an East Bay without poverty.

Since the program launched in February, Rubicon is closely monitoring how it impacts program enrollment and completion rates. Rubicon hopes to see a steady rise in our numbers and plans to continue to innovate as needed. In fact, Rubicon leadership is currently in the process of developing a ‘milestone’ incentive program, which would provide additional investments in participants. Milestones that have already been approved include ones for securing employment and for maintaining that employment for 3, 6, and 12 months. If you know anyone who may benefit from participating in the Rubicon Foundations workshop series, please have them email their contact info and the name of the person referring them to impactcoaches@rubiconprograms.org.
 

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA – Rubicon Programs, as the lead agency in the Better Careers Design Group (BCDG), will launch the pilot of the Returning Home Career Grant this month to support at least fifteen justice-involved adults in Alameda County. Collaborating on this project since 2020, the BCDG is a partnership composed of five prominent organizations: Rubicon Programs, Alameda County Workforce Development Board, Growth Sector, Alameda County Probation Department, and Third Sector. With seed support from the James Irvine Foundation, the project features two primary components aimed at improving quality of life and economic outcomes for adults who are returning home from incarceration.

The first component of the project is providing direct monetary and mentorship support to those re-entering the workforce following incarceration. Participants selected for the pilot will receive a $1500 monthly stipend for 9-18 months. This model represents a larger monthly investment over a longer period of time than other regional stipend programs aimed at providing a guaranteed basic income, representing a total investment of up to $27,000 per participant in stipends alone. The monthly stipend is unrestricted for the participants, meaning there are no reporting or expense tracking requirements tied to receiving the funds. Participants will have the ability to spend the funds as needed for basic needs such as shelter, food, transportation, or other expenses that would otherwise be a burden to cover while working towards their career goals.

Dr. Carole “DC” Dorham-Kelly, President and CEO of Rubicon Programs, emphasizes that unrestricted grant support is a vital investment in facilitating the individual and community shifts that the project aims to create. “Incorporating best practices from established GBI programs, minimizing restrictions on how beneficiaries can use the funds is essential to maximize flexibility and true impact on quality of life,” Dorham-Kelly says. “This level of unrestricted support to a community that has long been distrusted, discounted, and kept on the fringes aims to ignite new narratives of equity, inclusion, and worthiness.” 

The pilot cohort will be limited to referrals received from eligible Community Based Organizations (CBOs) providing pre-release and post-release services to justice-involved adults. Select CBO partners will nominate participants who are engaged in their programs and services, for whom this grant opportunity will alleviate barriers to employment and career mobility. In addition to financial support, the partner CBOs will provide one-on-one mentorship and goal support. Mentors will help participants map out their career pathways, explore county resources or services, and keep track of their achievements.

The second component of the project is developing a Fair Chance Hiring Video for employers. This multi-media tool will build the capacity and awareness of local employers who are uncertain of the benefits and considerations for hiring justice-involved job applicants. The video will feature snapshots of people leaving jail or prison, navigating various circumstances, pursuing career goals, and successfully entering diverse industries. The goal of the digital piece is to encourage more employers to support, train, and hire more justice-involved adults directly.

By focusing a portion of the pilot on confronting stereotypes around justice-involved job seekers, the project will address systemic barriers to career mobility in addition to individual challenges. The video will address common assumptions about justice-involved individuals in an effort to change employers’ hearts and minds, particularly about people with “serious” or “violent” convictions.

Donté Blue, Rubicon’s Chief of Programs, explains the significance of the video component to the project. “This video is important because we have always felt finding the best worker from the entire pool of potential employees is a good business decision,” Blue says. “But more importantly, while everyone in the community tends to agree reducing crime is a good thing, giving work that can sustain a formerly incarcerated person and their family is a proven crime prevention strategy at work.”

Through an equity-based continuous improvement plan, the BCDG will collect information from career grant recipients, engaged employers, and mentorship partners to better understand their experiences and outcomes and make appropriate adjustments over the course of the pilot. The goal is to learn from and improve upon the project over the course of the 18-month pilot so that participation leads to improved economic outcomes and quality of life for justice-involved individuals. The BCDG expects that the success of the project will lead to an extension beyond the pilot period.

Rubicon Programs received seed funding of $500,000 from the James Irvine Foundation for the pilot’s first year, which coincides with the 2022 calendar year. Without additional funding, the duration of support will be limited to 9 months, rather than the 18-month design. Additional unrestricted funding is being sought by Third Sector and Rubicon Programs to support the pilot through the remaining nine months, as well as to expand the project to serve up to 25 individuals. Ongoing funding to support the program beyond the initial pilot is also being prospected from public and philanthropic sources.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Rubicon was quick to pivot in order to provide our services to as many participants as possible, despite having to close our office doors. One way that Rubicon transitioned to providing virtual services is by utilizing Google Classroom.

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Classroom, it is an online hub that allows users to view content as well as complete assignments. Rubicon has found Google Classroom to be a strong fit to ‘house’ all of our Foundations workshops, which provide information on financial, employment, and wellness skills.

Rubicon also offers our Foundations workshops virtually via live Zoom sessions. However, due to those being at a scheduled time every day, Rubicon realized that offering the information on Google Classroom could expand our reach to more participants, who could complete the workshops on-demand as their schedules allowed. It's also been useful for participants who may miss one or two of the live Zoom workshops, as they can make them up by accessing the information on Google Classroom. “Participants that are working or have children and unable to get child care, are enjoying being able to log on to Google Classroom at their convenience,” says Rubicon Impact Coach Ruben Cantu. Rubicon further supported our participants by providing free laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots to those that needed them to access Google Classroom.

Participant feedback overall has been positive, as many are grateful for the flexibility that Google Classroom’s on-demand access provides. Participant feedback wasn’t always so solid, however; early on, many participants became frustrated because of their lack of familiarity with Google Classroom and their confusion over accessing all of Rubicon’s uploaded workshop material.

Rubicon responded by creating a new employment position, technical assistant, who would serve as a help desk or support line for participants who had questions navigating Google Classroom. And even better, this position is staffed by a few tech-savvy Rubicon participants. James Toalu, one of the technical assistants, explains that “once participants understand how to navigate Google Classroom, they are completing the workshops with ease.”

By having the Foundations workshop material on Google Classroom and offering live workshops via Zoom, Rubicon has been able to maintain providing our valuable services and information to our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Rubicon’s positive experience with Google Classroom has us believing that it's here to stay. Its on-demand ability makes it so convenient and a better option for many of our participants than scheduled programming. Thus, even when we’re back to offering our workshops fully in-person in the office, the Google Classroom option is likely to remain.

What the future holds is unknown, but what we do know is Rubicon is committed to providing our services and effectively reaching participants, one person and one laptop at a time. 

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIF., OCTOBER 7, 2021 … The Contra Costa County Measure X Community Advisory Board (CAB) voted last evening to accept a report listing first-year recommended funding priorities for submission to the Board of Supervisors. The list contains five goal areas supported by 43 strategies, many of which are aligned with Rubicon’s comprehensive programs.

Community-based services—including those that Rubicon provides such as mental health support, training and employment, and reentry support—are prioritized strategies in all of the goal areas highlighted in the report. The strategies were each rated as a top priority by at least 51% of voting board members at the September 8, 2021 meeting.

Michelle Stewart, District 5 CAB member and the Antioch Site Manager for Rubicon Programs, says the decisions on how to prioritize the funding recommendations were challenging. “It was really tough, because we had a bumper crop of presentations from numerous people, and it’s very difficult to make these kinds of decisions because everything is important,” Stewart said. “Do you prioritize seniors over children? Do you prioritize a lab for the regional hospital over mental health services? Do you prioritize housing over transportation? It’s all important, and it makes a difference in the quality of life for people and their ability to survive.”

In order to ensure that the CAB heard a sufficient variety of voices in the discussions, a total of 94 subject matter experts, including five from Rubicon, presented on a variety of community needs, issues, and topics during CAB meetings that were held over four months. Members of the public also gave their input by writing in and attending meetings, with some community members appearing at the virtual meetings nearly every week.

Although public attendance at the meetings grew over time, Stewart thinks there are more residents to hear. “We did get a lot of public comments, but we could get a lot more,” Stewart said. “I would have liked to have seen more residents participate and make comments about what is needed in their communities, in their neighborhoods, and what are their concerns.”

The recommendations in the report are not tied to specific dollar amounts. Instead, the CAB assigned rankings to each strategy to help the Board of Supervisors understand the priority levels to determine funding allocations. The rankings are based on the relative popularity of each strategy based on the September 8 vote, with community-based mental health services, establishing a County Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice, expanded comprehensive healthcare for the uninsured, and tenant legal services among the top ten.

Stewart cautions residents not to get discouraged if they don’t see their priorities at the top of the list. “This is just the first year. Just because you weren’t prioritized now doesn’t make you not a priority,” Stewart said. “We’re going to make our recommendations in the next couple of weeks, we’ll have a few weeks off, and then we’re right back at it. So just continue showing up.”

According to the report, Measure X is a countywide, voter-approved half cent tax that is intended “to keep Contra Costa’s regional hospital open and staffed; fund community health centers, emergency response; support crucial safety-net services; invest in early childhood services; protect vulnerable populations; and for other essential county services.” The CAB was established in February 2021 and is made up of 17 members—10 supervisorial district appointees and 7 at-large members—who serve two-year terms with a maximum limit of six years total. The CAB currently meets Wednesdays at 5:00 pm on Zoom.