Oregon’s Community College STEP Consortium is a first-of-its-kind project intended to provide meaningful career pathway opportunities and supports to SNAP recipients at each of the 17 community colleges across the state. This $8 million initiative has more than doubled the number of SNAP students receiving critical success coaching and student supports - including tuition, tools, and books - and has established a solid foundation for expansion in the years ahead. In this session, panelists will discuss the unique systems-level partnership that has sustained this effort, provide insights on how other states can use SNAP E&T scale up their own statewide career pathways strategies, and highlight policy reforms at the federal and state level that could enhance the success of these partnerships.
Speakers:
- Kate Kinder, Career Pathways and Skills Training Director, Portland Community College
- Dan Haun, Director of Self-Sufficiency Programs, Oregon Department of Human Services
- Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, Senior Fellow, National Skills Coalition
- Kermit Kaleba, Managing Director, Policy, National Skills Coalition