apprenticeship preparation program

Community Collaborations
Flintridge Apprenticeship

A pathway to meaningful careers

The Pasadena/Altadena Apprenticeship Preparation Program offers a pathway to meaningful careers in the construction trades. The program helps steer young adults in high-risk circumstances away from gangs and street life by providing them with the information, experience and skills to successfully apply for union apprenticeships. Apprentices earn an hourly wage while they learn and receive full benefits. There are some 120 apprenticeship training programs in Los Angeles County, each focused on a specific building trade. Upon completing the apprenticeship (two to five years, depending on the trade), an individual becomes a qualified journeyworker who can earn $60,000–$100,000+ a year in a construction career.

The program is a collaborative effort, designed and administered by Flintridge and supported by an alliance of community partners. After an outbreak of gang violence in Pasadena in 2007, City Councilmember Jacque Robinson, whose district was most affected, asked Flintridge to take the lead in developing employment opportunities for young adults as a way to get at the root causes of gang involvement. Flintridge subsequently formed a coalition of diverse stakeholders to address the lack of job and career prospects for low-income, unskilled young adults. Partners in the coalition include Pasadena City College Community Education Center (PCC/CEC), City of Pasadena departments, businesses, numerous unions and local nonprofit organizations that provide gang intervention and prevention programs. The first session of the Apprenticeship Preparation Program debuted in June 2008.

The free 240-hour course is offered three times a year with a choice of an afternoon or evening class. Each class accommodates up to 25 students. The City of Pasadena furnishes classroom space at the Villa Parke and Jackie Robinson Community Centers. PCC/CEC provides the credentialed instructors. In addition to coordinating the program, Flintridge provides financial support for text books, journals, calculators, site visit transportation and case management services. Flintridge is also funding the development of a green construction curriculum.

Potential candidates for the course are recruited by local nonprofit organizations working on the front lines of gang intervention and prevention. Program graduates also go out into the city’s neighborhoods to promote the classes as a positive alternative to gang life and an opportunity to get a career. The PCC/CEC instructors encourage a supportive team learning environment and provide the individual attention that many of these young adults never received in school.

The course curriculum includes construction math, experience with tools, basic job safety, and an introduction to blueprints and rigging. Employability skills such as resume writing, interview techniques and good work habits are covered. There are also presentations by contractors and union representatives, and field trips to apprenticeship training centers, construction sites and a LEED certified (green) building. The guest speakers and field trips inspire the students to see themselves succeeding as journeyworkers in the trades.

Construction workerConstruction industry needs skilled workers
The construction trades offer a viable means to achieve economic security. They are occupations where prior gang connections, tattoos or a criminal record are generally not employment barriers. The construction industry is expected to generate approximately 163,000 new jobs in California by 2014 (CA Employment Development Dept.), so trained workers are needed to prevent a shortfall. Currently, the state faces an aging workforce and the loss of skilled workers due to retirement. At the local level, although Pasadena has a local hiring ordinance, there are few union tradesmen who live in the area.

Due to the growing demand for green buildings, which is creating new job opportunities and a need for workers trained in green construction techniques, Flintridge is expanding the Apprenticeship Preparation curriculum to cover green concepts and LEED certified building in greater depth. By introducing the students to the green industry sector, the program responds to the city and state’s future workforce needs.

Students also receive case management services as part of the program. These services help them deal with life challenges that present stumbling blocks to applying for or completing a union apprenticeship. Since there is often a waiting period for the apprenticeship exams, the City of Pasadena’s First Source Local Hiring Program identifies interim job opportunities for the graduates at local construction projects. In addition, the Alta/Pasa Community Improvement Center offers short-term employment and job placement services.

By providing access to career opportunities, Flintridge is helping to transform troubled lives into empowered and productive men and women. Time and again, the students express their deep gratitude for the new possibilities that the course has opened up for them. The pride and hope in the faces of the students and their families at the class graduation is a moving testament to the program’s life-changing impact. In the words of a former student who returned to motivate a new group of aspiring apprentices: “You take the tools you get in this class, apply them and hit the pavement running. This program’s the bomb.”

Apprenticeship Preparation Program Partners

Flintridge Center

Local Government

  • Councilmember Jacque Robinson, City of Pasadena
  • First Source Local Hiring
  • Human Services and Recreation Department, City of Pasadena
  • Jackie Robinson Center
  • L.A. County Commission on Human Relations
  • MASH (Maintenance Assistance and Services to Homeowners)
  • Northwest Programs, City of Pasadena
  • Pasadena Police Department
  • Villa Parke Community Center

Pasadena City College/Community Education Center

Construction Trade Unions

  • Carpenters Los Angeles Local Union 409
  • Carpenters Training Center
  • Cement Masons Union Local 600
  • Glaziers Local 6326
  • Glaziers Apprenticeship and Training Center
  • IBEW Local Union
  • IBEW/NECA
  • Ironworkers Local Union 416
  • Laborers International Union of North America Local 300
  • Laborers Training Center
  • National Elevator Industry Education Program Local 18
  • Painters District Council 36 & Allied Trades District Council
  • Pipefitters United Association Local Union 250
  • Plasterers Local 200
  • Plumbers Local 78
  • State Building & Construction Trades Council

Businesses

  • Masbuild, Inc.
  • J. L. Moseley Company, Inc.
  • Sares-Regis Group/Regis Contractors, L.P.
  • Solar Day Design

Nonprofit and Faith Organizations

  • Alive and Free
  • Alta/Pasa Community Improvement Center
  • AMER-I-Can
  • Asian Youth Center
  • Calvary Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
  • Five Acres / Pasadena Mental Health
  • Friends Outside
  • Lake Avenue Community Foundation
  • Learning Works
  • Mentoring & Partnership for Youth Development
  • Neighborhood Outreach Worker Program
  • Pasadena Youth Center
  • Union Station Homeless Services
  • Women at Work

 

Photos: Brian Biery