A NICE SURPRISE

As I was waiting for a bus, I talked with a guy I know from Parker Consulting. He told me that John Dollinger has been fired by the wife of the owner. According to my source, the wife showed up in Tucson and was appalled at the poor physical state of the equipment and that was the end of John. This should've have happened years ago, before John had a chance to ruin Parker's reputation and before that young woman had a stroke.

GREAT NEWS!!!

I filed a formal grievance about my exit from the program last Friday and today I had a meeting at PCOA headquarters and my grievance was upheld.  I still need to finish the re-certifcation procedure so I will meet with Kerry at El Rio tomorrow.

THE LATEST FROM SCSEP

I spoke with Roger Forrester last week about being grand-fathered into SCSEP and he said he would look into that but was non-committal.  I asked him if he had a meeting with HR at the U of A and he said he put in a call to the person Leslie Porter delegated the task to but had not gotten a return call and he wouldn't do so now because SCSEP funds have been cut.

This week, I called up Joel Miller and asked him if the the 30-day exit procedure was a rule. He said no but apparently changed his mind (see copy of Riecken below).

This week, I finally got an interview with Michelle at the Primavera Men's Shelter and she is eager to have me start.
I sent Forrester and Riecken an email about this good news:

I spoke with Joel Millman a few days ago and he said there
was no rule about mandatory "exiting" after a placement
doesn't work out.

Even better, the Primavera Men's Shelter wants me to
work for them through SCSEP!!!

This is Riecken's reply:

Steven;



Joel spoke with me on Wednesday and confirmed that he explained to you that there was a 30 day limit to the leave of absence last fall, as I had implemented.



Regarding your application status, we are beginning to process people into SCSEP. By policy we process those who are considered “high priority” before any other candidates, and I have no idea how long it will be before your file rises to the top of the list as there are many factors to consider.



Regarding Primavera, they, as well as the University of Arizona , are not a Host Agency with Pima Council on Aging’s SCSEP, nor will they be in the foreseeable future.



As Roger Forrester and I discussed with you more than once in the past few months, it is extremely inappropriate for you to represent SCSEP in recruiting Host Agencies or promoting yourself to organizations as a potential candidate. I again advise you to discontinue this activity.



Laura Riecken

Program Manager

UMC UPDATE

Today I spoke briefly with Keith Wilburn and he said he would get back to me by Wednesday but he wanted to check with HR people.  I told him that Allison Vaillancourt and Leslie Porter were already involved and he seemed to like that.  I also said that Roger Forrester had to meet with one or both of them to get the final OK for the U of A.

Joel Millman hasn't replied to my e-mail about SCSEP's definition of "unemployed."

SOME NEWS

Today I made an appointment to speak with Roger Forrester.   He agreed to meet with me but it was clear that he preferred that I deal with Laura Riecken. 

I had been trying to contact Martina Johansen, the Main Library's HR person, for over a week but my phone calls and e-mails weren't returned.  Today, I saw her and found out that there isn't a slot for me right now at the Information Commons but they will keep my resume on file and she suggested that I get back in touch with them in 5 or 6 months.

TALK WITH PEGGY & KERRY

I met with Peggy O'Brien who is a SCSEP intake person at the El Rio DES Center. Like me, she was surprised that I (and others) had to start all over again with SCSEP and she told me that since Liz Melin left, SCSEP had gone downhill.  Peggy said that she was pretty much kept in the dark about what subsidized openings SCSEP had and had been told to mind her own business when she questioned any of the recent decisions by SCSEP.  She and Kerry Kemp had looked for the justification for requiring people to start all over in SCSEP and just like me were unable to find any.

Kerry told me that Laura at SCSEP wants to take people off the street and train them to get a job instead of placing anyone in a subsidized position.  That might explain why Laura told me that getting a position for me at the U of A was a "low priority."

While I was talking with Peggy, I discovered that on January 3rd, 2011,  there were about 15 host agencies and among them there were only 3 or 4 open slots for SCSEP clients.  This was about the time I was waiting for SCSEP to look into seeing if I could work for the U of A.

REALLY GOOD NEWS!!!

Yesterday Martina Johansen sent an email to let me know she will speak with the leader of the Information Commons staff next week and I may then be contacted for an interview or asked for more information.

AARGH!

Today I called Laura at MWC because I seemed to be getting pretty close to being hired at the U of A Main Library and I wanted to find out what sort of paperwork MWC would need.  It turns out that Roger Forrester hasn't done a damn thing since my last post and the Main Library is not a "certified" host agency. 

On my end, Allison Vaillancourt passed me off to Leslie Porter who in turn connected me with the Main Library's HR person, Martina Johansen.  I sent Johansen a cover letter and a copy of my resume and should be hearing from her next week.

MORE ON FORRESTER

I finally managed to contact Forrester and he gave me some good news: The U of A is an acceptable host agency.  Below I noted that I was told that no one at MWC seemed to know ho to contact at the U of A but when I spoke with Forrester, he told me he not only knew Vaillancourt, he had worked with her before. Perhaps Laura didn't know that Forrester knew who to contact at the university.

STILL LOOKING?

I wrote below that Laura of SCSEP told me that the U of A qualified as host agency but I just got a phone message today from Allison Vaillancourt at the U of A that according to Roger Forrester, it's not clear that the U of A does qualify. 

I have been unable to reach Forrester by phone so last week I sent him an e-mail but I haven't gotten a reply.  At least Vaillancourt had the courtesy to give me a call.

SCSEP?!

The week before Thanksgiving, I met with Laura at SCSEP and she said she would look into whether or not the U of A qualified as a community operation.   The week before Xmas I called back and she said it did qualify and George (I think) was looking into getting an agreement between SCSEP and the U of A but the U of A is a large place and this may take a while.  Yesterday  I got back in touch with Laura and she told me that getting an agreement with the U of A was not a "top priority" so I offered to help out.  She again told me that U of A was a large place and SCSEP would like to know who to contact.  I found out that very afternoon and sent Laura e-mail.  She replied that she had forwarded the information to Roger, who apparently is now in charge of establishing a link with the U of A.

I'm a little annoyed that whoever is in charge of recruiting at SCSEP didn't bother to take the time to contact the U of A.