The Broward County Employment Self-Sufficiency (ESS) Program aims to enhance employment opportunities and improve the appearance of distressed communities within the Broward Municipal Services District (BMSD) by providing training, job readiness classes, and employment services for unemployed or low-income residents. The program, in partnership with Opportunities Industrialization Centers of South Florida, addresses significant barriers faced by residents, such as low educational attainment and past criminal convictions, while also tackling high unemployment rates in the area. With a budget of approximately $304,000, the ESS Program has already benefited numerous residents by offering training and facilitating job placements to improve their economic self-sufficiency.

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
Abstract of the Program:
Broward County, Florida’s Employment and Self Sufficiency (ESS) Program was created to provide
employment in distressed communities and to “clean-up” unsightly areas within unincorporated
areas of the County such as vacant properties, maintenance of bus shelters, and graffiti removal.
The ESS program provides training and employment opportunities for Broward County adults
that are: age eighteen and older, residing in Broward Municipal Services District (BMSD)
boundaries, and are unemployed or have low income. The County solicited proposals from
nonprofit organizations to provide specialized job readiness classes, a path to GED attainment,
vocational and job skills training, job placement, and budgeting and personal finance classes.
Through a competitive process, the County contracted with a nonprofit organization to provide
these services to residents living within the BMSD neighborhoods. The goal is to provide a
pathway to employment for residents of BMSD, many who face employment barriers due to past
criminal convictions, lack of employability skills and low educational attainment.
The Problem or Need for the Program
The Broward Municipal Services District, (BMSD) experiences drastically higher unemployment
rates and substantially lower median household incomes than the rest of the County. Based on
a 5-year average of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, neighborhoods in the
BMSD experience double-digit unemployment rates. According to the U.S. Department of
Labor, the unemployment rate in Broward County in January 2018 dropped to 3.8%, and in
January 2019 further dropped to 2.5%. Certain communities within this unincorporated area
have the highest unemployment rates of 30 percent compared to the rest of the County, which
averages less than 4 percent. Neighborhoods in unincorporated areas have high minority
populations, and many of the area’s residents do not have high school diplomas or GEDs.
Finding a job can be very difficult for individuals facing employment barriers that impede
economic self-sufficiency. The most common barriers are past criminal convictions, a lack of
employability skills and low educational attainment. The median household income in this area
is only $22,168, which is 57% less than Broward County’s median household income of
$51,574.
Description of the Program
In an effort to address the economic barriers of residents in neighborhoods of the BMSD, the
County developed an Employment Self-Sufficiency (ESS) Program. The benefits of the ESS
Program are two-fold-- to upgrade the appearance of the BMSD areas and to provide training
and employment opportunities for Broward residents that reside within the BMSD and who are
unemployed, are low income, and/or who experience barriers to entering the job market.
Residents living in neighborhoods located in BMSD possess high risk socioeconomic factors.
Residents often lack the educational and vocational job skills needed to obtain and maintain full-
time employment that pays a living wage. The program includes partnering with a nonprofit

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
organization who was selected through a competitive selection process to provide specialized
job readiness classes, a path to GED attainment, job placement, vocational and job skills,
budgeting skills and employment for participants. Opportunities Industrialization Centers of
South Florida (OIC of South Florida) was selected as the nonprofit organization to partner with
the County to increase the employability of residents living within high unemployment areas.
One of the main objectives of the program is to provide employment opportunities to
residents within the BMSD and increase their employability while providing educational and
vocational support. Once participants complete initial screening and training, they are hired by
the nonprofit to provide the maintenance and clean-up services the County has contracted with
OIC to provide. The County will benefit by having more self-sufficient and productive members
of society and who have enhanced skills and market-ready employment opportunities.
To be eligible for this program, residents must reside in the BMSD and be unemployed or have
a median household income of less than $36,273. Candidates for the program are screened by
OIC. All program participants receive the following mandatory Career Readiness training:
a) Preventing Sexual Harassment for Employees Training
b) Safety Training General
c) Workplace Fire Safety Training
d) HIPAA Privacy & Security Awareness
e) OSHA 10-hour General Industry Training Course
f) Safety for Janitorial
g) FDIC Money Smarts
h) Workplace Etiquette – Employability Soft Skills and Digital Literacy OIC Certifications
i) Teamwork- OIC Certification
j) Pathway to GED- in the event the Program Participant does not have a
high school diploma or GED
In addition to the training topics highlighted above, participants are provided employment
training in three tracks: 1) General Labor; 2) Culinary/Hospitality; or 3) Information
Technology.
Training topics provided under the General Labor track include:
a) Aerial & Scissor Lift Safety Training
b) Forklift Safety Training
c) Hazcom Chemical Safety Training
d) HAZWOPER Accidental Release & Spill Cleanup
e) Welding Safety Training
f) Electrical Safety Training
Training topics provided under the Culinary/Hospitality track include:
a) Food Safety & Personal Hygiene
b) Safety for Foodservice Training
c) SafeStaff Food Handler's Certification

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
d) Customer Service
Training topics provided under the Information Technology track include:
a) Microsoft Office Specialist - Word 2010; Excel 2010; PowerPoint 2010; Access
2010; Outlook 2010 SharePoint 2010; and OneNote 2010
b) Microsoft Technology Associate - Entry-level credential that validates technology
knowledge
c) GMETRlX Training {For Microsoft Office certifications} - Practice test platform
for Microsoft and other assessments
There are several benefits to the Employment Self Sufficiency Program. First, is to enhance the
appearance of the unincorporated area by providing clean-up and maintenance of public space.
Second, is to provide training, educational and vocational opportunities to individuals who face
barriers to employment. Third, is to provide a baseline of training and employability skills so
that residents can be placed in other work settings once their participation in the program is
complete.
The following is a list of services that the County contracts with the nonprofit organization to
hire people to provide:
• Bus Shelter Maintenance/Clean-ups
• Pressure Cleaning of Sidewalks on Major Roads
• Maintaining Landscape at Entryways
• Maintaining Vacant County Owned Properties
• Board-ups of Abandoned Homes
• Graffiti Removal on Traffic Engineering Division equipment
• Traffic Engineering Field Checks, Verification of Complaints, and Removal of
Unauthorized Signage in County Right-of-Way
• Land/Lot Clearance
These services are contracted to OIC through a competitive process, who in turn recruits,
trains and hires employees to perform these duties. Since the program’s inception, nine (9)
participants have been provided training and employment opportunities.
Responding to Economic Downturn
Participants of this program are historically a hard to place group of individuals that experience
challenges related to lack of education, work experience, skills and transferrable industry
training. The communities in BMDS have still not completely recovered from the 2008
Recession and the residents suffer from a lack of opportunities due to having a largely unskilled
workforce. Many residents lack their high school credential, which is the baseline requirement
for accessing higher levels of training and skill development and a barrier to entry in the labor
market.

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
Opportunities Industrialization Centers of South Florida (OIC-SFL) is local nonprofit
organization focused on workforce development, education, training and preparing individuals
for the job market by reducing barriers to employment, providing comprehensive vocational
skills training. OIC works with youth through prevention and intervention strategies that
support positive youth development and skills-based training and employment readiness
services. OIC also serves adults who are challenged by unemployment, reemployment,
underemployment and/or release from incarceration.
The Cost of the Program
The total cost of this program is estimated at $304,000 on annual basis.
Through a contract with OIC, the County pays for the following services:
Bus Shelter Maintenance/Clean-ups: $132,960 (optional services of $16,100)
Pressure Cleaning of Sidewalks on Major Roads: $25,000
Maintaining Landscape at Entryways: $18,000
Maintaining Vacant County Owned Properties: $30,000
Board-ups of Abandoned Homes: $4,000
Graffiti Removal Traffic Engineering equipment: $50,300
Traffic Engineering Field Checks, Verification of Complaints, and Removal of Unauthorized
Signage in County Right-of-Way: $17,430
Land/Lot Clearance: $10,000
TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED (includes administrative costs) $287,690 (with optional services the
amount is $303,790)
The Results/Success of the Program
To date, the program has provided services to approximately 15,000 residents living within 11.4
square miles of family-friendly communities of the unincorporated area including recruitment,
training and providing employment opportunities. Broward County’s Office of Highway and
Engineering has tracked the reports of removal of graffiti to have been completed expeditiously
through the ESS program. Additionally, a number of vacant lots and abandoned homes within
the BMSD have been cleaned up resulting in an improvement in the neighborhood’s appearance
and community corridors. Visual inspection of the work was evaluated by County departments
including Traffic Engineering, Transit and the BMSD.
The Performance Measures of the program include:
Key Metric Goal Outcome
-Visual Inspection of Completion of Work
(Note: reflected in Customer “Cleanliness” Satisfaction Rating)
100% 100%
-Number of Employees Hired from Target Areas 100% 100%

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
(Note: effective Employee recruitment due to success of OIC’s
evidence-based Workforce Development and ReEntry programs,
and to its 200+ community resource partners)
-Number of Employees that Completed Training
Programs:
a. Employability Skills Training (e.g., Soft Skills and
Effective Interview Training, Resume Writing, and
Business/Social Media Etiquette)
b. Digital Literacy (e.g., Computer Basics, and Intro to
Microsoft Applications)
c. Other Career Readiness Trainings (e.g., Sexual
Harassment, Teamwork, General & Fire Safety, OSHA
10, etc.)
d. Customized/Career Pathway Employment Trainings:
o Commercial Vehicle’s License Certification
o Forklift Driver Certification
o Flagger Certifications
100%
100%
100%
Optional
100%
100%
100%
1 Employee
1 Employee
1 Employee
-Number of Employees that Exited Program for
Other Employment
Full-time Employment, Industries entered into include:
a. Local Electrical Power Company
b. Windows/Glazing Installation
c. Roofing Industry
Ongoing 3 Employees
(33%)
Success Stories – Meet the Campbell Family!
The Montel Williams Show counted him out. America’s Most Wanted considered him a lost cause.
Local news media coined him “Crime Boy.” But OIC of South Florida (OIC-SFL) calls Percy Lee
Campbell, III -- Family! Faith, motivation, and opportunity have the Campbell family standing
strong and excited about their road to self-sufficiency. Success video links of:
Percy Campbell: https://youtu.be/wTG7JLW43g0
George Jackson: https://youtu.be/Jfo7A2YzdFI
The success of the program includes increased employment opportunities for residents of
BMSD and the enhancement in the immediate appearance of distressed (blighted)
neighborhoods as a result of graffiti removal from bus shelters and regular maintenance and
clean-up of abandoned, vacant lots and buildings.
Worthiness of Award
The ESS program is an example of a successful partnership between Broward County and a
local nonprofit organization whose mission is to: be a leader in providing quality self-help skills
and employment opportunities for disadvantaged and underemployed residents of South
Florida; thus, assisting them to become self-sufficient and productive members of society.

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Broward County Employment Self Sufficiency Program
This is an innovative approach to addressing the lack of economic self-sufficiency in
communities where residents experience low educational attainment, high unemployment rates,
and barriers to accessing job opportunities. The primary goal of the ESS program is to provide
training/educational/vocational opportunities to assist unemployed and economically
disadvantaged residents of BMSD.