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One of the issues that I think creates real difficulty is that those agencies that are funded by government CAN NOT COMPETE WITH or INTERFERE WITH the private sector. I think your dating analogy will be very useful as we move forward in the conversation. While partnership is vital and important; it is not as much of a life and death matter. A person can survive (perhaps not as happily) without a partner. Having a means of getting food, shelter and some other necessities is a totally different matter. By necessities, I’m not referring to a Park Avenue penthouse or $20/pound coffee. What I’m referring to is reasonably clean, decent housing in an environment that is relatively free from crime and grime and food that meets one’s basic nutritional needs; such as rice and beans.

Creating a Context for Closer Relationships between Employers and Agencies

We need to create public/private partnerships between those employers who are willing and able to work closely with an agency to create jobs for unemployed and chronically unemployed people. These organizations can be for-profit, not-for-profit or non-profit groups that agree to work in such a partnership. Perhaps, an attempt will be made to get more funding from business groups and private individuals who agree with this idea and rely decreasingly on the assistance of government (federal, state, local).
One possibility I’ve thought about is working to get unemployed people hooked up with democratic worker-owned cooperative businesses. This is a very new business model that has few adherents in the United States. There is an organization devoted to this topic; the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. See http://www.usworker.coop

What Choices Does The Job Seeker Have?

This whole employment thing is about soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are things like good verbal and written communication, flexibility, ability to solve problems, being a self-starter, etc. Hard skills are things like ability to hang sheetrock, program a computer, fix a car, use computer software on the job or build a rocket.

The more of both soft and hard skills a job seeker has; the greater are his/her choices. Those people who are weak in either skill set will need to get a “survival job” while training for a “real job” that requires hard skills.
Here is the really challenging part. How can we find “survival jobs” for people that pay enough to meet the real and actual cost of decent housing and food (as described above)?

How do we handle Job Seekers who continuously reject referrals or perform so poorly that they are fired; even after several attempts to prepare them for employment?

I believe that there is going to be a permanent group of people who must be cared for as humanely as possible because they won’t care for themselves. Why won’t they care for themselves? I think an entire encyclopedia could be written on this topic. Some people are simply not motivated to care for themselves. I have few ideas about why.