Project Empowerment Program

Project Empowerment (PE) provides supportive services, adult basic education, job coaching, employability, life skills and limited vocational training, and job search assistance to District of Columbia residents living in areas with high

unemployment and/or poverty levels. PE seeks to help alleviate widespread joblessness among the District’s hard-to-serve population with multiple employment barriers and successfully move them into the workforce.

Employers Benefits in hiring Project Empowerment participants include:

• Protected through the Federal Bonding program. Bond can be issued to the employer as soon as the applicant has a job offer with a date scheduled to start work.

• What Is Fidelity Bonding? Fidelity Bonding services are user-friendly.

• No bond approval processing–local staff instantly issue bonds to employers

• No papers for employer to sign to obtain free bond incentive for job hire

• No follow-up and NO termination actions required for bond issued

• No deductible in bond insurance amount if employee dishonesty occurs

• No age requirements for bonded person other than legal working age in State

• No other U.S. program provides Fidelity Bonding services

• No Federal regulations covering bonds issued

• Receive the Work Opportunity Tax Credit

Whom do we serve?

The District of Columbia residents who benefit from our services must be:

• 22-54 years old, currently unemployed and lack a secondary school educational credential (high school diploma or its recognized equivalent, e.g., “General Educational Development”)

All potential PE participants must demonstrate a substantial need for intensive employment assistance by exhibiting at least three (3) of the following:

• A documented history of substance abuse

• Homelessness

• A history of job cycling in which he/she has not maintained employment for more than one (1) consecutive quarter in the past eight (8) quarters, as verified through UI Wage Bumps

• A conviction of a felony

Job retention and case management

Our Job Retention staff works with new employees for approximately six (6) months to ensure that they have necessary support to succeed on the job.

Contact us for more detail information and requirements at:

D.C. Department of Employment Services, Project Empowerment Program

4058 Minnesota Avenue, N.E. Second Floor, Washington, DC 20019

202-698-5599 ∙ TDD 202-698-4917 ∙ www.does.dc.gov