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              IDES Human Services Plan 2010 Page 6 Section 1 -- Introduction
This is just one step in IDES’ continued efforts to increase the use of electronic commerce
to improve service to businesses. The Department will promote the use of electronic filing
via Illinois TaxNet and magnetic media and offer electronic payment options that include
ACH credits/debits and debit/credit cards.
VI. STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH
Effective communications and outreach heighten awareness of IDES’ services and build
the synergistic partnerships needed to ensure the equitable distribution of services to all
communities. To accomplish this goal, the Department will unify and update its message in
all IDES publications and launch new forms of outreach to external audiences.
A first step – to unify both the message and the “look” across publications – will establish
an identifiable IDES “brand.” Uniformity and the recognition factor will enhance the
perception that IDES is a source of work supports and services. The next step will ensure
that published materials available at more than 50 IDES offices across the state are up-to-date.
The Department will identify training opportunities for local staff on the publications’
content, if needed.
In addition, the Department has turned to a common electronic medium to highlight its
various employment services. Through its participation in the Job Help Hotline, a monthly
live call-in program seen throughout Chicago on Chicago Access Network Television, IDES
engages in stimulating on-air discussions of effective job search strategies and
employment and labor market information services. The Department also interviews
recruiters for the hospitality, trucking, computer and manufacturing industries, informing
viewers about these businesses’ hiring needs and requirements. The station’s five local
channels reach one million viewers each week, giving the Department’s comprehensive
employment services a broader exposure than would otherwise be possible.
Through its outreach efforts, IDES establishes working relationships with employers and
their associations, as well as with community- and faith-based organizations, to target
service delivery to underserved communities. These partnerships marshal resources and
generate actions that taken together produce an impact greater than the sum of individual
actions. From this position of strength, addressing the endemic problems of higher-than-average
unemployment among minority populations, the formerly incarcerated, youth,
persons with disabilities and low-skilled workers are more likely to result in positive
outcomes. As an example of the results such partnerships can achieve, IDES, the Digital
Workforce Education Society, the Chicago Community Colleges, and the Cook County
Boot Camp united in the Boot Camp Employment Initiative to provide vocational training to
the program’s young male offenders and to offer employers support services to motivate
them to hire Boot Camp graduates. The Cook County Boot Camp reported that 1,745 Boot
Camp graduates were employed after the one year program. In 2008, the USDOL’s
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) honored IDES’ role in the program with the
Recognition of Excellence Award.