Baker: Help coming for the homeless
Celebrating his 58th birthday on Thursday, Governor-elect Charlie Baker pledged to be "relentless" in office as he addressed a nonprofit homelessness prevention group about helping people receive on-the-job training as a stepping stone to self-sufficiency.
"Relentless most of the time is the difference between success and failure in almost everything in life," Baker said, addressing the New Directions luncheon for COMPASS, a non-profit focused on helping homeless families become economically self-sufficient.
Using his work at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care as an example, Baker offered a simplistic version of his management style, which he described being about "doing more of the things that work and less of the things that don't."
Baker talked about other states that have incorporated on-the-job training into their unemployment assistance programs, and suggested Massachusetts would do well to try a similar approach. On the campaign trail, the Republican's economic development plan included a recommendation to better coordinate between the Department of Unemployment Assistance and the Department of Career Services.
"We talked about the idea of creating some more on-the-job training opportunities as part of a larger strategy to help people find their way to work. A number of states have built on-the-job training initiatives as part of their unemployment assistance programs and have worked pretty well," Baker told reporters after the event.
Asked if he would pursue such a strategy, Baker said, "I think we should pursue it on a demo basis and see how it goes, yeah."
Under such a proposal, employers would receive a subsidy during the employee training period funded through UI funds that the worker would no longer need.
"I think proven models that have been demonstrated to work either at the local level or in other states we should be open to all of those, especially when it comes to helping people match people who are looking for work with people who are looking for people to work," Baker said.
The governor-elect also noted that while working under former Gov. William Weld the number of homeless families sheltered in hotels and motels was cut from 1,200 to zero in 18 months, and he said achieving similar results would be a "pretty high priority" for his administration.
"The time that families spend in hotels and motels is lost time. For many kids, that's just a lost year educationally," Baker said.
At the end of the luncheon, COMPASS leaders presented Baker with a giant birthday cake shaped like the State House, baked by Montilio's in Brockton. Baker posed for photos and took a few selfies with the cake before having an aide load it into an SUV to bring home.
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