. good morning. and welcome to mosaic i am i am honor to be your host. communities are taking a deep look at issues of work. and it's economy. and ways in which a community can contribute by work economy to theon common good. we are pleased to have this the conversation this morning, lowsa countryman who works with jbs to talk about the important issue. welcome lowsa. >> thanks for having me. >> let's jump in and ask what is jvs. >> jvs we believe in the power of work to transform lives.

we are a nonprofit, nonsectarian work force development organization. and it's grounded in jewish values and serves the bay area community. our mission is to open up access to opportunities for those left behind. >> so, it's a beautiful big vision statement, and i am wondering if you can give us a couple examples how it finds its way to the ground. >> of course. yes, so, we work closely with employers and sectors that are showing very strong growth and particularly sectors that have a large percentage of what we call middle skill middle wage jobs. one of the things that happened sin the great recession has been kind of a hollowing out of the middle of the labor market. and what that means is that the growth that's been happening has been happening in the highest paid, highest skilled jobs. and unfortunately, also in the lowest skilled, lowest paid

jobs with kind of a shrinking pool in the middle. and so we focus on making very deep connections with employers in the sectors that do still offer middle kyle middle wage jobs. and then building out career pathways training programs, in partnership with the employers and the spentors. i will tell you more aboutwhat that looks like. it is connecting skill based training or communication skills. followed by a paid work experience in partnership with an employer, often paid by the employer. and then a direct connection to employment with a goal of getting people into jobs. somewhere between 40 and $80,000 a year. >> communities throughout the country face this issue. and every community has a lot in common with every other community. and at the same time, every community is unique, and so, i am wondering if you can talk

about how jvs understands our bay area community and makes decisions about what sectors it moves into to form partnerships and to actually contribute to the economic work life of the community at large. >> yes. that's great question. and a really big question. a couple of things i want to draw out about that are first of all, that the bay area economy, in terms of the inequality and hollowing out of the middle. the bay area economy is the most acute case in the country. and in that sense, it makes the work that we are doing here in partnership with employers, a really great testing ground for developing programs that can work. that can solve that problem. and we believe that if it can work here, then it should be able to work pretty much anywhere. and i think other key factors to think about in thinking about the bay area economy, are looking at sectors that still offer a high percentage of middle skill and middle wage

jobs. so some examples are health care, but also utilities and the public sector. and another piece of why those particular industries are still offering so many middle skill, middle wage jobs is for the most part, the jobs can't be offshoreed or inshored. they have to be done by people who are here. health care and the public sector also have the advantage of being fairly recession proof so those are good investments in terms of developing programming and partnership and building sustainability. >> you used an interesting word. think people understand offshore which means a job leaves the country. what is in shore? >> so? in sure. >> in shore something a dynamic we think. in city like san francisco, but really the broader bay area, and we work across multiple counties across the broader bay

area. many companies are -- in response to the increasing cost of living, and also the increase in cost of course of doing business, moving jobs that can be moved, to lower cost areas of country. >> i see. so, a job might leave the bay area for another part of california, another state. >> that's exactly right. >> interesting. so we will take a quick break and come back in a moment here on mosaic.

good morning and welcome to mosaic. i am honored to be your host. p we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation for the folks at jvs about the bay area economy and work and contributing to the common good. so we like to welcome back lisa countryman the chief strategic officer at rebecca the director of health care programs. welcome back lowsa and rebecca. >> thank you in becca, let's jump in and ask you what are the health care programs at jvs. >> so we have a really diverse port folio of health care programs at jvs. i think of our programs in two- ways. we serve people lies licensed in the field and those who want a foot in the door.

we serve a wide range of occupations. we work with medical assistants, and lvns and rns and medical administrative assistantsan. those are occupation that are in high demand in the bay area, and also have good-try level wages. so, our refresher programs are designed for people with a certificate and licensed burks maybe people have taken a little time off, or got a license or certificate and weren'table to find work in the field. we have targeted short-term training to refresh clinical skills and get the confidence back up, and to practice all the soft skills we know employers want. then they go no a work base learning experience where they are earning a wage and practicing the skills and support them in finding a job afterwards. our other training program is that are more for folks not certified or trained already in the dental assistant and med come assistant programs. and our medical administrative

training. folks are going through a clinical training program, and sometimes in partnership with a local accredited training provideor like san francisco state. we are supplementing the training with with soft skills targeted toward an employer and practicing the skills, getting coaching and support, wrap around service during the time and support with a job search at the end. >> so lisa was talking about jvs's commitment to identifying gap and filling it, tech hi in the context of middle wage jobs and middle level types of jobs as you described that dental assistant. for anyone who wants a job, at a certain point where the rubber hits the road is getting the job and i am wondering if you can get a little bit about the piece of the puzzle that i know jvs is involved with, to the point at which someone lands in place is commuting to job and getting a paycheck and how that structure actually

works at jvs. >> that's good question. we really integrate that training and support throughout the programs. so it starts before a program starts. we talk with employers about what does somebody need to get into job. both the actual hard skills, you know, do they need to be able to draw blood or room a patient, all the way down to, you know, what should they say in interview. what kind of attitude should they come in with. what do they need to be abe to say to land the job. we entergreat the program so they are receiving it alongside the harder skills. and we bring employers in to the process at every step of the way. many programs are targeted at a specific employer, and that employer is helping us select participants for the program. they inform our selection process, and they let us know the kinds of folks they are looking for, or what kind of skills they are looking for. and so we know once we bring people into a training program, there are well set up because the employer has bought in

already to the group of people. throughout the training, we are providing networking, training, and sitting down and towelly writing a resume, how to apply online. and then once a program en, many participants already have offers from an employer because they have shown what they can do on the job. a hiring manager can see they are trained in the specific setting. and they have shown what they can do on the job. for those still looking for work, they have access to a one- on-one job search support from one of our staff. and group workshops, and a whole slew of services around you know, how to practice the skills and keep themselves current with volunteer opportunities, practicing mock interviews with the volunteers, and really everything that they need in order to land that job. and once they land the job, we are touching base with folks to make shower they are successful within the first 90 days and year of work. they can give us a call if they

encounter challenges so we are supporting in getting and keeping the job. >> we have just one minute left in the segment together, but i know that jvs works so intensely across the spectrum of work. and work is so complex from a person who needs a job to a skill set to employee who -- employer who will hire and then the success of working and so, i wonder if you can talk about who are the employers that jvs works with and mention a program or two and then. >> sure. absolutely. so we work with a lot of employers in the bay area. some of our kind of bigger name employers are kaiser permanente. cpnc, ucsf. those are long-standing partners and large hospital systems. but we work with private practices, and small community clinics or community chinic consortium in the bay area tha are successful. we want to make sure our participants have a choice

where to work and choose the environment and workplace that's right for them. so we try to have a variety of employer partnerships. >> wonderful. believe it or not, we will take a quick break, and we will come back to this wonderful conversation with jvs in just a moment.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation with jvs and we want to reintroduce yo lowsa, jvs chief strategic office he and the medical group administrator for kaiser permanente medical center. so let's jump in and can you talk about the partnership that kaiser permanente has with jvs. >> absolutely. we have been working together

for 2 1/2 years now. and it start out of a need that lisa identified the hollowing out of the work force p . and we had medical assistants who would take job in san francisco, but after six months or year would transfer to a location closer to their home. and so that caused churn, and as you know churn results in people not being as effective at their jobs, and also it's expensive because you are constantly training people. and i met abby, who is the chief executive officer for jvs at a function, and we started talking. show told mow about the refresher program, and in particular, what i liked about it, was we were able to help develop the curriculum. and they work with us, and we could put pieces of it that are particular to kaiser pearl nen tay into the cribbing limb, which we appreciated. and they were going to recruit

around the san francisco and in the city of san francisco in particular. the experiment was that if we could get people who lived nearby, would we be table reduce that churn and is help develop the community in so many ways by providing jobs, and when we provide jobs there's health care, and other things that we can do a by investing in the community. so, it really was a win, win, win. and we have been happy. think think we are on the fourth cohort of medical assistants and it's working well, and they are very well trained. they not only know the clinical skills, they node the soft skills of the customers serviceings and we teach them about the computer systems, and it's working very, very well. >> kaiser permanente, think people know, has origins in worker health and community health. >> correct. >> i know that value has stuck with kaiser certainly in the bay area. and i am so -- i am wondering in terms of how you looked at

what you call the churning and what lisa talked about early about ensuring, that do you find that if you tend to hire people who are in the community, that the job keeps them anchored to the community? is that part of the vision of creating stability in the work force for health care sector? >> absolutely. and, so far, we have been, it's been a couple years, but we have been tracking our numbers. and there's lower churn. people are staying, and i have to say that some of these well trained medical assistants are some of the best medical assistants so we are very happy. >> lisa, can you talk about how people come into the system so if they come no a program that's directly linked to a job that may or may not land at kaiser or someplace else, how you educate people the expectations of what they are being trained to do and what the job expectation might be. >> of course. so, we do very targeted

outreach for all of our career pathways programs. and, for a program like our partnership with kaiser, of course it helps in the outreach that kaiser is such an attractive employer. people want to work with kaiser. kaiser has reputation of being a great place to work or a great employer that's stable. and i think that draws a lot of people. we get sometimes 200, 300 applications to be in a cohort, a training cohort of 20. so there's lot of interest. and people understand and we set expectations from the beginning what they are stepping no is a very robust training program that includes classroom training, a paid work experience, and it is not a guarantee of employment at kaiser. and so, they understand that they have the opportunity to kind of prove themselves in the moment, and if they don't get an opportunity at kaiser, immediately, after their externship they can apply but we work with them to look at other opportunities as well

with our other fantastic employer partners. >> if someone is interested in the health care sector programs, how do they make themselves available. >> they can go to the website and get connected to the health care programs through there. they can submit an intake form. >> and for skieser what are rizeer what are the positions they are look for. >> medical assistants. we are increasing the number of medical assistants we have been hiring over the last couple years. and we find it helps the physician in providing great care, and so, that's the one we are working with jvs on. certainly, we have other positions as lvns, rns and other areas as well administration. >> thanks so much. so, believe it or not, we will take another quick break and come back to mosaic in moment.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about the work and economy in the bay area and common good with the

chief executive -- chief strategic officer and a medical assistant who a went through the refresher program. >> yes. >> lisa. i know there's different ways that lets the community know what it's doing and can you talk more about how jvs lets the public know its work. >> opportunity like this are an occasion to do that by the big event is strictly business, which is the annual luncheon. that's the big fund raising event for the year. and it's really a celebration of the people who benefited from the programs, and an opportunity also to showcase our fantastic employer partnerships. and she is going to be honored as one of the employees of the year this year. at strictly business. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> so, what brought you to jvs. >> i was struggling to find

jobs. i had step from the medical job so when he tried to reapply it was hard for me to find jobs, like as soon as employers will see she is two years off of a job, they won't call or say we went in another direction, thank you for your -- for submitting the application but wouldn't call me. i was in this program that helps women who are single moms, and they told me about jvs, and i like -- well, i like the opportunity that they were giving mow to do the externship and i was a medical assistant and it gave me time to prep before i went to the job. it became more than just a

refreshment program for a little time, and go ahead and find a new way. they helped me from teaching me how to do an interview to how to dress up to actually do the interview. at the gave meet opportunity to do the externship at kaiser and gratefully, i hired at kaiser. >> so what is a medical assistant? >> medical assistant is a person who helps the doctor in the back office. they, like, withholding instruments and prepping for procedures, with room in patients. most of the people that goes to the hospital, they have a contact with the medical assistants the first person this he go either they register them or go and grab them and put them in the rooms, so the doctor can see them. that's what our jobs are. >> medical assistant, i am going to jump in. it play as important role in influences and setting the tone for the whole patient

experience. that's part of the reason why the employer partners we work like kaiser are so concerned about having medical assistants have a really deep grounding in patient communication and all of the soft skills. because they represent and stand in for the organization. >> it reminds me that health care worker know it's so complex. and the complexity can be the way a patient arrives to a doctor's office, and when they are waiting in the waiting room and their name is called, and they show up into the room, and people typically are nervous. they don't know what to do. they are not there because they are well. they are there because they have a concern. and i wonder from your experience, of your years as a medical assistant, how do you understand the ways in which people need to calm down? like are there certain ways in which people need to understand how to calm down so they are

more able to remember what to say to the doctor. what have you observed how people need to get to a place of being calm once inside the office? >> well, i don't know calm will be. >> fair enough. >> fair enough they wouldn't be calm. but jvs taught me if your you come yourself and present yourself with a up with a manner, and they will immediately calm down. because most of the patients are not there because not in the hospital because they want to be in the hospital. like something is going on or something brought them there. so they have to take time out of job and take time off, and like all of this is -- some are in pain, and so i remember one of my coaches on my teachers in jvs taught me, okay, never. >> -- >> of all things we have to stop i am sorry in a sentence

can you say. >> yes. just breath if you as a medical assistant person, breath like calmly, the patient is going to respond to you calmly. >> you know warrick think it's a wonderful way to end the conversation about health which is breath. and stay centered so thanks so much for being with us here on mosaic. have a wonderful day. watch cbs in bay area with the kpix 5 news app.

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