Cecil College’s JobStart program moves to 207 North St.

Cecil College trustees Dell Foxx (left) and Donna Horgan take a tour of the college’s new JobStart location conducted by Beverly Kitchin, Cecil College director of community employment services.

NORTH EAST, Md. – Cecil College recently relocated its JobStart program from the college’s Elkton Station at 107 Railroad Ave. to 207 North St. in Elkton.
Funded by the Department of Social Services for the past 12 years, JobStart is a program in which people who are receiving Temporary Cash Assistance are required to demonstrate that they are working toward becoming employable. Customers spend 40 hours per week in meaningful job-related activities until they no longer need Temporary Cash Assistance.
Located just one-fourth of a mile from Elkton Station, a five-year lease has been established for the 4,110 square feet of finished space for 13 office staff and the program’s participants. The location features a large classroom with 36 seats, a room with 21 computers, and 10 staff offices. The full-time JobStart staff is comprised of a director, administrative assistant, three case managers, licensed social case worker from Upper Bay Counseling Services, job developer/career counselor from Susquehanna Workforce Network, coordinator of transportation, and a classroom instructor. In addition, there are four part-time positions, which include a job developer, barrier specialist, and two van/bus drivers.
For the first four weeks of the program, customers attend classes Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., while Wednesday and Friday are left open for job readiness activities outside the classroom. Much of the class time is devoted to pre-employment skills: dressing appropriately for a job, interviewing, computers, ethics, decision making, relieving stress, getting along with your co-workers, keeping a job, and writing cover letters and resumes.
Customers who don’t have full-time jobs after four weeks are put into volunteer work experience positions. Union Hospital, Cecil County Public Library, Goodwill, SPCA, Cecil County Help Center, Department of Social Services and Cecil College are some of the locations in Cecil County where work experiences have been performed.
JobStart is presently serving approximately 102 customers per week. There were 1,307 registrations last year. It is projected that about 225 individuals will find unsubsidized employment through the program in this fiscal year, which began July 1.
JobStart operates two vehicles, funded by the Cecil County Department of Social Services, for the transportation needs of its customers to get to class, the Department of Social Services, and other approved destinations related to obtaining employment. JobStart’s vehicles have traveled more than 16,000 miles all over Cecil County in the first quarter of this year.