Jobs Plus Event Overview
This filmed presentation, features RHA’s guest speaker Mayor Tom McNamara supporting the importance of the RHA Jobs Plus Initiative during the live event kickoff held January, 21, 2022.
Jobs Plus Initiative
Open To All Residents Living In RHA Low-Income Public Housing Developments
The Jobs Plus Initiative is a free initiative aimed to help you gain higher wages and increase your income without increasing your rent – with the goal of reaching a self-sufficient living wage. The initiative will provide an employment specialist that will work one-on-one to help you reach your employment goals. In addition, the Employment Specialist will be able to provide: Employment counseling, employer linkages, job placement, and access to FREE education and training dollars for advancing your education.
Residents enrolled in Jobs Plus Initiative receive the added benefit of being automatically enrolled in the Jobs Plus Earned Income Disregard (JPEID). The JPEID benefits the resident in that it will disregard any income accumulated for up to 48 months after entering the initiative, meaning any earned income from the time of enrollment in Jobs Plus will not count toward your rental certifications.
The benefit for already employed residents comes when their income increases, as the resident will not see an increase in their rental amount if they increase their income. If your whole family enrolls in Job Plus Initiative, any additional income brought into the household will be disregarded and not counted towards your rent calculation. Jobs Plus employment services are tailored to residents’ individual needs and help you achieve your employment and general life goals.
“Because of the Jobs Plus program, I have a job opportunity that will essentially take me from a zero income to an income that allows me to take care of any obligations and be able to prosper. I don’t have to dream anymore, I can actually plan and execute my dreams now.”
Sam Clark, Jobs Plus Program Participant.
Jobs Plus Initiative
Open To All Residents Living In RHA Low-Income Public Housing Developments
The Jobs Plus Initiative is a free initiative aimed to help you gain higher wages and increase your income without increasing your rent – with the goal of reaching a self-sufficient living wage. The initiative will provide an employment specialist that will work one-on-one to help you reach your employment goals. In addition, the Employment Specialist will be able to provide: Employment counseling, employer linkages, job placement, and access to FREE education and training dollars for advancing your education.
Residents enrolled in Jobs Plus Initiative receive the added benefit of being automatically enrolled in the Jobs Plus Earned Income Disregard (JPEID). The JPEID benefits the resident in that it will disregard any income accumulated for up to 48 months after entering the initiative, meaning any earned income from the time of enrollment in Jobs Plus will not count toward your rental certifications.
The benefit for already employed residents comes when their income increases, as the resident will not see an increase in their rental amount if they increase their income. If your whole family enrolls in Job Plus Initiative, any additional income brought into the household will be disregarded and not counted towards your rent calculation. Jobs Plus employment services are tailored to residents’ individual needs and help you achieve your employment and
general life goals.
The Jobs Plus Initiative consists of the following three core components:
- Employment-Related Service: Grantees offer employment-related services to residents with a range of employment needs. This includes services such as work-readiness training, employer linkages, financial counseling, educational advancement, job placement, and employment counseling.
- Financial incentives: Targeted residents enrolled in Jobs Plus will be granted a 100 percent income disregard that will remain in place for up to 48 months.
- Community support for work: Grantees market Jobs Plus services and financial incentives to all targeted residents in a development. The goal is to saturate communities with work-related messages and to create a culture of work.
Jobs Plus services are tailored to residents’ individual needs and are drawn from a menu of on-site and referral services. For unemployed residents, case managers will help identify short and long-term employment goals and create plans to accomplish them. Employed individuals can work with case managers to take the necessary steps to advance.
Who would I contact to sign up?
You can always reach out to the:
Jobs Plus Employment Specialist
Nick Bowers
Office – 815-489-8503
Cell – 815-312-6084
nbowers@rockfordha.org