This publication highlights a business value assessment of a work-based learning project (WBL) conducted at Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus. The training, designed and delivered by District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund in partnership with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, provided training to 21 mental health workers at the hospital from 2008 to 2009. In this paper, WSI describes the training model and discusses the value of the training to the hospital and employees. Research was based on qualitative and quantitative data collected before, during, and after the WBL project was implemented. The publication also highlights the business value assessment research methodology and the challenges and opportunities addressed in carrying out this type of evaluation. Both the work-based learning program and this research were funded through Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care. Jobs to Careers is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with The Hitachi Foundation and U.S. Department of Labor.

This guide explores worker cooperative networks as a neighborhood, municipal and regional strategy for generating wealth. Drawing from two cases, the authors put forth a framework for building a scalable cooperative network in post-industrial American cities. This guide may be useful to practitioners learning about cooperative business models or exploring strategies to spread worker ownership.

Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) is a worker-owned cooperative and employer-based training program that provides home health aide services in New York City’s South Bronx and Northern Manhattan. The cooperative was launched in 1985 as part of a strategy to improve the low-wage occupation of the home health aide. This case study documents the organization’s evolving approach to operating as part of the home health industry, noting its strategies and accomplishments in the areas of improving the quality of jobs, developing career ladders, influencing industry practice and effecting policy change. Details on the organization’s operations and approach to training are also provided.