HRDC's Adult Learning program faces funding problem

District 4 Human Resources Development Council is facing a funding problem with one of its programs, the Adult Education Center.

The center helps people older than 16 learn skills necessary to begin their careers, including job searching, creating resumes, interview preparation and general career planning as well as other things like driver’s license preparation and study skills.

However, the primary activity the program engages in is preparing people for their high school equivalency exam, the HiSET, offering general and remedial instruction in math, reading and language.

The program is free and has no income requirement, however if someone is low-income the program can also help pay for the HiSET itself.

Adult Education Director and Instructor Dan Koffler, said it is especially helpful for people who don’t have internet access, which is required for many of the things the program aims to help with.

Koffler said passing the HiSET opens up a wealth of new possibilities for people when it comes to their long-term careers.

“It’s a huge impact on peoples’ lives when they get their high school equivalency,” he said, “It allows them to apply for a lot of jobs that you can’t do without it.”

He said passing the HiSET also allows people to apply to post-secondary education, which can broaden their horizons even further.

Nationwide, 41 percent of HiSET passers went on to enroll in some kind of post-secondary education within one year of passing, Koffler said, and people who go straight to the workforce generally see a 12 percent higher annual wages.

Unfortunately, he said, the program is in a difficult position when it comes to its funding at the moment.

He said, historically, the program has been funded by a grant from the state of Montana, which requires a 40 percent match.

This match originally came out to about $10,000, which could be paid for in-kind, which, Koffler said, is convenient since HRDC doesn’t have a whole lot of discretionary money to spend.

“They could meet that pretty easily without having to tap into regular funds,” he said.

Koffler said the programs funding recently increased due to increased participation and now the program needs to come up with about $30,000.

Koffler said that just isn’t the kind of money the program makes, in part because generating income is not the program’s goal, nor is it funded by local community colleges or the public school system, which most programs of its type are.

“The program isn’t here to make money, it’s to serve people,” he said.

He said this fiscal year, July 1 to June 30, the state waived the additional amount so the program could continue to operate. But next fiscal year the program will have to come up with that $30,000.

Koffler said HRDC is reaching out and trying to find solutions, seeking other sources of funding to make that match.

He said he doesn’t really know what’s going to happen if the program doesn’t come up with the money, but it’s possible that the program could get taken over by another entity or cease to exist entirely.

The program is also facing the more immediate problem of COVID-19, which Koffler said has affected the program’s ability to do outreach to Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap Indian reservation, as well the program staff members’ ability to do in-person instruction.

He said he also suspects the general anxiety caused by the pandemic has caused people not to engage with programs like this at all.

“It’s just human nature,” he said.

Koffler said HRDC is also looking for volunteers, and one thing the organization is looking for volunteers do is teach the classes for this program, which can be one-on-one or is small groups.