On Wednesday, the Washington Post published an editorial on legislation to reform the city’s First Source law, highlighting a policy brief co-authored by DC Fiscal Policy Institute. In particular, the editorial focused on our suggestion of creating a new First Source workforce intermediary to coordinate between employers, trainers and job seekers to form an efficient and effective jobs pipeline. We agree with the Post that a workforce intermediary is critical to strengthening First Source.
Put in place more than 25 years ago, First Source is a well-intentioned law that requires contractors receiving taxpayer dollars to make a good faith effort to hire a majority of DC residents into new jobs created by that funding. Yet it has been largely ineffective, failing to meet the needs of both employers and job seekers.
DC Council Chairman Kwame Brown has given us the opportunity to make First Source better, by introducing legislation that would strengthen the law. Brown’s bill includes various provisions to enhance enforcement, but it also includes a task force to set up the First Source intermediary. We believe this should be an important focus of the bill.
Other cities with more successful First Source programs have found that simply setting hiring targets doesn’t work. These cities, which include San Francisco, Boston and Minneapolis, have taken a more proactive approach in recruiting, training, and placing residents for jobs in order to meet the needs of both residents and employers. Known in some cities as a “workforce intermediary,” the First Source broker would work with employers to anticipate future hiring needs, and then coordinate with nonprofit trainers and community colleges to train residents for the jobs that will be available.
Without a more proactive approach to matching the needs of First Source employers with job training programs, the District will continue to fall short of meeting its hiring goals.
