EFAA’s JUMP Program Links Low-Income Parents to Job Skills to End the Cycle of Poverty and Creates Blueprint for other Poverty-Reduction Programs Statewide

EFAA is committed to empowering families to thrive. Critical to this is a family’s ability to earn an income that covers their basic needs so they can live self-sufficiently. To this end, EFAA has recently expanded Job Uptake for Motivated Parents (JUMP), its work-training program for low-income parents in collaboration with Workforce Boulder County. EFAA’s innovative JUMP program is also inspiring and informing other statewide poverty-reduction efforts.

A critical poverty trap for many parents is that there are not enough hours in the day to add intensive job-training on top of full-time low-wage work and parenting. The JUMP program provides families the support they need to transition from a poverty-wage job into a professional career with income mobility. JUMP is a short-term investment that can change a family’s financial future and end the cycle of poverty for generations to come.

Success of the pilot program, including a 240% increase in monthly income for graduates working to support their families, has inspired Workforce Colorado to use the JUMP model as a blueprint for other similar employment programs outside of Boulder County.

JUMP’s success also led The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, a major seed funder of the JUMP program, to include EFAA in their WAGES (Women Achieving Greater Economic Security) Cohort. The 23 Women’s Foundation grantees in the WAGES Cohort will share insights and ideas to create services and policy that propel women and their children to economic security.

With EFAA’s expansion of JUMP, program participants selected by EFAA can choose between a wider array of job skills training available through Workforce Boulder County, including internships, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, resume writing and interview training. EFAA also provides intensive case management and increased basic needs support to remove barriers to program completion and help participants sustain gainful employment. This can include direct financial assistance for rent, food, child care and transportation during the 12-month-long program.

Hear Angie’s story and how the JUMP program is helping her improve her life for her kids and grand kids.