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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06272000 - C.131 FHS #1 ► i CONT COSTA TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COUNTY FROM: Family & Human Services Committee fr DATE: June 27, 2000 SUBJECT: Update on Ca1WORKs/Welfare-to-Work SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT the attached report from the Family and Human Services Committee on the implementation of CalWORKs/Welfare-to-Work . BACKGROUND/REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S): On June 19, 2000, the Family and Human Services Committee heard a report from John Cullen, Director, Employment and Human Services Department on implementation of CalWORKs/ Welfare-to-Work. Following the report, Supervisor Gioia asked several clarifying questions and requested more information on several items. In addition, a member of the audience asked about the status of the RISE waiver, which, as explained by Wendy Therdan, Workforce Services Director, will be implemented at the SIT sites in July, with full countywide implementation pending a waiver extension and modification. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _YES SIGNATURE- - RECOMMENDATION Of COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR—RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER $10NATURE( : C 1LLA YJ0HNM. G101A ACTION O ARD ON Jax n p 2 7# 2 0 0 0 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED XXOTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A XX UNANIMOUS{ABSENT — — — — — ) TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact:Sara Hoffman,335-1090 ATTESTED June 2T# 2000 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS A O TY ADMINISTRATOR cc: CAD John Cullen,EHS Wendy Therdan,EHS B DEPUTY EMPLOYMENT & HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT Contra Costa County Date: June 13, 2000 To: Family & Human Services Committee Supervisor Joe Canciamilla and Supervisor John M. Gioia From: John Cullen, Director c: Phil Batchelor Subject: Ca1WORKs/Welfare to Work Implementation Update Recommended Action: ACCEPT the attached report on the update of CalWORK.s/Welfare to Work Implementation. This report is presented to the Family and Human Services Committee and the Board of Supervisors as an update of the CalWORKs/Welfare to Work activities in Contra Costa County. The Employment and Human Services Department continues to move towards the full implementation of Welfare Reform. I would like to again acknowledge the dedicated efforts of the staff in the Department and the on-going success of the partnerships that have been developed in the community as we refine our service delivery model. JBC/SP Family and Human Service Committee CalWORKs/Welfare To Work Implementation Update June 2000 1. INTRODUCTION Since February 1998, the Employment and Human Services Department has been submitting updates on Welfare Reform to the Family and Human Services Committee. Past reports have focused on the challenges of implementing CalWORKS. We continue to refine our CalWORKS implementation as well as have regular staff meetings and on-going meetings with the unions, to both provide updates on progress and address problems together. This report will provide a brief description of the various CalWORKS programs and collaborations, indicators demonstrating success, critical service delivery issues and continuing and emerging challenges. 11. PROGRAMS March 2000 marked the two-year anniversary of our implementation of the CalWORKS program.The economy continues to be strong and caseloads continue to decline, a 29%decrease since March 1998. The CalWORKS caseload for May 2000 was 9,116. With declining caseloads, the Employment and Human Services Department (hereinafter referred to as the Department) will be challenged with providing service to the "hard to serve" client. As the caseloads decline,staff is identifying more long-term barriers to employment for CalWORKS clients. A. CaIWORKS TANF CalWORKS TANF provides cash assistance to families with children who are needy because of the absence, incapacity, unemployment, or death of one or more parents.Time on aid is limited to 60 months. As of May 2000 our TANF cash aid caseload is 9,116. Of that total, we currently have 5,854 single parent households, 651 two-parent households and 2,611 child only cases. Employment and Human Services Department CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update B. Ca1WOM/Welfare To Work The CaIWORKS/Welfare4o-Work program includes education, training, employment services, and supportive services payments such as child care and transportation so that participants will have the necessary skills and support to overcome any barriers to employment and become self sufficient. As of May 2000, there were 7,156 CalWORKS adults, of which, 6,276 were identified with Welfare to Work requirements. In past reports we included current statistics on a number of indicators such as, number of job placements, grant savings, diversion payments, etc. Prior statistics are included here for your convenience and also as a measure of our progress. 1. Job Placements While there continues to be an increase in the number of job placements, as we move further into the implementation of CalWORKs/Welfare to Work, we anticipate that the number of job placements, and other indicators, will level off. The caseload is declining and we are reaching the "hard to serve" population. From January 2000 through May 2000, 2,378 job placements were recorded for an average of 476 placements per month. TOTAL AVERAGE#OF #OF JOB PLACEMENTS PER TIME PERIOD PLACEMENTS MONTH July 1998—July 1999 4,199 323 August 1999—May 2000 5,003 500 In addition to individual case management, participants receive employment services through Job Club and Job Search.The Department continues to be proactive in our outreach to area employers. Recently, the Martinez District Office held a Job Fair that was attended by thirteen (13) employers including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BASS, APS Security, Macy's, Kaiser Permanente, UPS and several staffing agencies. Fifty-seven June 13,2004 2 Employment and Human Services Department Ca1WORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update (57) Welfare to Work participants attended. Several participants were offered positions and approximately twenty-four (24) were scheduled for interviews. The Antioch District has also been successful in their recruitment efforts. PacBell, Kaiser, Bank of America, Safeway, Raley's and Pinkerton Security have made presentations to CalWORKS participants. Additionally, Job Fairs at our other District Offices are planned later this year. 2. Average Hourly Warne and Average Weekly Number of Hours at Work For the period January 2000 through May 2000, CaIWORKs participants, at placement, averaged 29.71 hours per week and earned an average of $8.18 per hour equaling $1,052.31 per month]. The monthly average income based on the average hours per week at work continues to be below the U.S. poverty threshold of$1,157.00 per month for the average CaIW®RKs family consisting of a single parent and two children. However, the $1,052.31.00 average monthly amount is a 12.66%increase over the Ca1WORKS participants' average monthly income reported in the September 1999 Update. Average Weekly Average Average Number of Monthly Time Period Hourly Wage Hours at Work Income August 1999- December 1999 $7.95 29.22 1,005.58 January 2000- Way 2000 .18 29.71 $1,052.31 3. Work ParticlDati n Rgte(WPR) The WPR is a Federal mandate requiring a certain percentage of our families to meet minimum weekly work hours. By October 2000, 45%of our one parent families should be working or in some other approved work activity for 30 hours per week, and 90%of our two parent families should be working or in some other approved work activity for 35 hours per week. 29.71 hours per week x $8.18 per hour x 4.33 =$1,052.31 per month.If the participant is working 40 hours per week, the average monthly income is$1,416.77 per month,which is above the U.S.Poverty Threshold. June 13,2000 3 Employment and Human Services Department '' CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update The State has finally developed a system to measure the WPR through a caseload sample. In April 2000, we completed our first sample for October 1999 through March 2000. The average monthly WPR for the sample period is 35.96%, which is substantially higher than our previous estimates. Several factors have contributed to the increase in the WPR. Key among them is the more proactive case management efforts of our Employment Specialists resulting in more frequent interfaces with participants and services. Additionally, staff has greatly improved in their GIS entries. Although our WPR is below the federal target,we are actually meeting the mandated WPR after applying the caseload reduction credit2. 4. CalWORKs Cases with Earnings Increase As of May 31, 2000, 2,711 families, or 29.75% of all CalWORKs families, have earnings. The current rate for two-parent families is 65.59 %or 427 families. CaIWORKS Two- %of CalWORKs Parent CaIWORKS Families %of Families Two- with CaIWORKS with Parent REPORT MONTH Earnings Families Earnings Families December 1998 3,202 27.40% 609 53.42% July 1999 2,898 27.3% 550 55.3%. December 1999 2,903 30.98% 482 64.70% May 2000 2,711 29.75% 427 65.59% For May 2000, our CalWORKS families reported earnings of $2,355,855. However, the larger percentage of hard-to-serve participants and lowering caseloads will make it more difficult to show increasing performance numbers. 2 The Work Participation Rate targets are a set number. Federal regulations allow for a reduction in the WPR target based on a reduction in the State's caseload.This is a calculation preformed at the State and Federal level. It recognizes that as the caseloads decline,we will have a higher percentage of hard to serve participants. June 13,2000 4 Employment and Human Services Department ! CalWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update 5. Grant Savings Grants savings continue to increase. For the period January 2000 through May 2000, our grant savings totaled $3,136,904. Our average monthly grant savings for that period is$627,380. For the immediate prior six-month period, our monthly average was$610,070.This number is also effected by the number of participants left in the program. b. Exits Due to Earnings The number of exits due to earnings as provided below are fiscal year based. We anticipate that we will slightly surpass the total for FY 98/99. As with job placements,we expect that exits due to earnings will also level off due to declining caseloads and reaching performance plateaus. CASH AID TERMINATIONS RECORDED THAT ARE DIRECTLY TIME PERIOD LINKED TO EMPLOYMENT January 1998-June 1998 6 mos. 673 July 1998-June 1999 12 mos. 2,112 July 1999-May 2000 11 mos. 2,001 7, Diversion Payments The Workforce Services staff continues to recognize and offer diversion payments to people in need of temporary assistance to avoid coming on aid. From January 1998 through February 2000, a total of 84 diversion payments were approved for a total of $115,161.79. Statistics are kept to track the length of time clients who receive a diversion payment remain off of aid. A successful diversion occurs if the client remains off of aid for six months in addition to the number of months equivalent to the amount of the diversion payment. For payments made from January 1998 through June 1999, 42 clients remained off of aid for six months, which represents 84% of the total clients receiving a diversion payment. Of that 42, 38 clients continued to be off of aid as January 7, 2000. June 13,2000 55 &V-j?/ Employment and Human Services Department CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update Of particular interest is the underlying need for the diversion payment. In FY99/00, 78%of the diversion payments covered emergency housing costs. For July 1999 through February 2000, 64%of the payments were for emergency housing costs. Through the use of diversion payments we helped a self- employed cabinetmaker that was injured in an automobile accident. He was unable to pay the rent on his business. We paid his business rent for 3 months in addition to paying his living expenses for 2 months. After 3 months, he was able to return to full time self-employment and remain self-sufficient supporting a family of 7. We also helped a single mother with 3 children to obtain the necessary education credits, pay for renewal of her LVN license and move to a site of a job offer. C. Other Initiatives 1. Welfare To Work Outreach Workers In our September 1999 Update, we introduced to you the concept of the Outreach Unit whose function it is to make home visits/contacts with participants when they are in danger of being sanctioned for non-cooperation with the Welfare-to-Work requirements. The new units are now fully operational in all four District Offices. From December 1999 through April 2000, the Outreach Unit received 1,088 referrals of which 578 participants (53.1%) agreed to cooperate and 114 participants refused. 2. RISE Waiver(Reinyesfing In Self-sufflciency and EmoloMent) The intent of RISE is to relieve Employment Specialists of some cash eligibility paperwork processing responsibilities. Eligibility requirements are time consuming and divert the Employment Specialist away from employment services. The RISE Initiative will allow the Department to change the monthly reporting requirements for CalWORKS participants by only requiring participants to submit monthly income reports when there is a change to report. However, participants with earned income must continue to submit monthly income reports. June 13,2000 6 Employment and Human Services Department ,-, 7-e'd Ca1WORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update RISE will be implemented in the two SIT sites next month and is planned to be rolled out to the four District offices by September 2000. 3. Tracking Participants who coply for Gash Aid In April 2000, the Workforce Services Bureau began collecting data on the reasons people apply for cash assistance and if they have received cash assistance in the past.The first month's data shows that loss of employment and separation from spouse/significant other were the top two reasons for applying for cash aid and that over 50%of the applicants had never received aid before. As we have only one month's statistics,it is premature to draw any solid conclusions from the data. We will continue to capture this information and will include the results in future reports. 4. Sphere Study-The "Leavers"Studv In our March 1999 report,we announced that we committed to participating in a leavers study conducted by the Sphere Institute and the Bay Area Partnership of the Northern California Council for the Community (BAP).The purpose of the study is to enhance our understanding of the variety of circumstances faced by low-income families in our communities who have left welfare. The study will include families currently enrolled in our programs, those who are former participants and those persons who may be in need of our services at some time in the future. The sample size is 602 families. We expect to receive the first draft report containing preliminary findings in August 2000. 5. Collaborations with the Business CommunNy Continue to be Successful ❑ Contra Costa Water District: The Water District has been working with us for over a year.The program is an innovation of the Water Company.They hire a CaIWORKS participant at 1,000 hours per year and provide an educational curriculum through Sacramento State with support focused June 13,2000 7 Employment and Human Services Department CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update on a career within their industry. We have our third participant in place now. ❑ Oxman College: Oxman has dollars through the State Employment Training Panel (SETP) to assist the Welfare-to- Work client with successful job retention. Our goal is to connect Oxman with employers who will consider expanding their hiring process to our population, and as a result, gain on the job coaching (free to them) through Oxman. The SETP dollars provide for up to 64 hours per client to assist them after they begin work. Currently we have teamed up with several different businesses of various sizes to implement these projects, including an employer from Crockett that makes, installs and maintains water filtration systems for a cleaner water environment, Bank of America, American Building Maintenance, and USS Posco/Residential Steel Framing Project. ❑ OPTIC: Opportunities in Technology Information Careers is a business venture combining government; business, education and community based organizations under one roof. OPTIC provides training and employment in data base maintenance and data clean up. Partners include: TechProse, EHSD, Workforce Investment Board, Los Medanos College, St Vincent de Paul, Contra Costa Council, and our DoIT. OPTIC will provide up to six months of employment focusing on productivity and soft work skill acquisition. During this time the employee can earn up to $8.00 per hour based on their productivity. When required performance is obtained, the employee will be placed in an outside competitive job where the entry-level salary averages $12-- $14 per hour. OPTIC`s first orientation was attended by 53 participants. Five of the participants were qualified to go directly to the work floor. An additional 10 participants started the training program. All 10 graduated on April 28, 2000. One of the participants was offered a position with TechProse as an Administrative Assistant with a starting salary of$12.50 per hour. A second participant accepted a job with QRS as an E-Commerce Technician at a starting salary of$15.60 per hour. Of the remaining participants, one person was promoted to a level 3 Information Technology Specialist at $8.00 per hour; five were promoted into the level 2 Information Technology Specialist at$7.00 per hour; and the June 13,2000 8 Employment and Human Services Department :- CalWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update remaining participants remain in the level 1 Information Technology Specialist at$6.00 per hour. A new training class started May 8m consisting of 8 new participants. ❑ ICAN: Independent Career Advancement Network. In our previous report,we summarized the ICAN retail collaborative training at Broadway Plaza that reinforces the work ethic, business needs, and business operations must become an integral part of every day communications. We are currently in planning/discussion phases with West County Hilltop Mall and possibly central county Sun Valley Mall for both variations and different career paths in retail. ❑ After School Safe Neighborhood Project: Five CalWORKs participants have been employed in the After School Safe Neighborhood Project. They are assistants in various school- site programs during the 3-6pm after school hours. This grant had the benefit of providing approximately 98 slots for CalWORKs children during the after school hours. ❑ Our CTDS (Career Training in Disability Services) collaborative training was completed.This 8-week project was rich with in- kind support from professionals throughout the disability career field (including Regional Center of the East Bay). We had three participants complete the training, and two of these are now employed and the third is looking at options closer to her home. The rest of the enrollees in the training were staff already employed in the field or independent adults wishing to increase their skills. The classes offered were of such high demand and value that we had to tum the already employed professionals away from the training. We just completed a second session and four participants are trained and ready to work. Overall, this project is extremely valuable to a career ladder that is quite extensive in California. ❑ CalWORKS County Employment Program (CCEDP): CCEDP was established in December 1998. The purpose of the program is to place CalWORKS participants in County project positions with the expectation that the job experience the participants receive will help them secure permanent employment into classified merit system positions. June 13,2000 9 Employment and Human Services Department �, -.;L-2-tyo CalWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update Since its inception, thirteen (13) participants were placed in project positions: three Experience Level clerks ( Salary range $2049-2259) in the Health Services Department and two Experience Level Clerks in the Human Resources Department; and eight Community Outreach Aides ( Salary range $1635-1803) in our own department. In addition, we referred forty (40) CalWORKS participants for the upcoming Community Outreach Aides County examination, which will result in five more hires. We continue to work with other Departments and special districts to place our participants. D. One Stop Career Centers In February 1999, efforts began to merge the then Private Industry Council or PIC (now known as the Workforce Investment Board or WIB) with CalWORKS. Since this time and with the hiring of the new WIB Executive Director and Workforce Services Director in September of 1999, staff of both bureaus has continued to work towards a clearer conception, delineation, and integration of the various workforce development policy, administrative, and operational responsibilities within the Department. This has included the designation of appropriate staff roles and assignments within the WIB, Workforce Services Bureau, and the Administrative Bureau. With the impending implementation of the new Workforce Investment Act (WIA) effective July 1, 2000, the new Workforce Investment Board took action in April to adopt a new One Stop Operator for the first transitional year of WIA. This One Stop Operator is a consortium of the WIA mandated partners,which includes the State Employment Development Department, the State Department of Rehabilitation, the Community College District, Adult and Continuing Education Coordinating Council, the County Community Development Department, the County Community Services Department, and the County Employment and Human Services Department. The Consortium has met several times to develop, amongst many other items, a transitional/timeline and primary WIA One Stop service delivery system. As part of the deliberations of the Consortium, the Employment and Human Services Department was designated lead agency status and, as such,will be entering into agreements with June 13,2000 10 �l3J Employment and Human Services Department .a CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update the current DTPA One Stop Operators to allow for these agencies to provide transitional,training, and technical assistance services to the new Consortium. Such services will allow for continuity of service provision to clients during FY2000-01. 111. CRITICAL SERVICE DELIVERY ISSUES A. Meeting the Needs of the Hardest to Serve A common theme through out this report and previous reports has been the declining caseloads and the challenge of providing service to the hard-to-serve.This population has multiple barriers to employment including inadequate job skills, educational deficiencies, child care and transportation needs, domestic violence issues, medical/physical limitations, substandard housing, and substance abuse and mental health issues. Of the 6,276 CalWORKS participants with a Welfare to Work requirement,we estimate that 3,200 participants or 51%are in the hard-to-serve category. 1. Domestic Violence The Battered Women's Alternatives (BWA) is piloting a project in our Antioch office. A full-time on-site BWA representative provides direct assistance to victims of domestic violence. In addition, the BWA representative provides technical assistance and consultation to our staff by assisting with assessments as appropriate and provides presentations on domestic violence at Orientation and Job Clubs.The pilot began January 2000 and will run through August 2000.Some of the benefits to date have been increasing staff awareness of domestic violence issues, developing protocols to deal With emergency situations,and improving our ability to assist and provide services to clients whose domestic violence issues are formidable barriers to employment. Additionally, the Department provided several training sessions on domestic violence issues. Since January 2000, the Antioch Office made 32 referrals to BWA. We plan to expand this project to the other three District Offices in the near future. June 13,2000 11 Employment and Human Services Department CalWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update 2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health (SAMHWORKS) We continue to refer participants to the SAMHWORKS (Substance Abuse and Mental health Services for CalWORKS) Program. Referrals continue to climb.The most recent statistics available are for January 2000 through March 2000 with 292 referrals made by our staff during that time period. 3. Department of Rehabilftatlon (DR) Research from across the Country and our own experience suggest that some of our"hard-to-serve" participants have learning disabilities that require special attention in order for these participants to succeed under CalWORKS. In January 2000,we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Rehabilitation to develop a methodology and process for the identification and referral of appropriate clients for DR diagnostic assessment, support and continued employment services. Referrals to DR commenced in January and we continue to work with DR staff to refine the process. We expect to be fully operational district wide in July. B. Job Retention In several of our past updates to you,we discussed the importance of Job Retention as a crucial service to ensure that participants not only keep their jobs but also continue in a career path that will lead to self-sufficiency. We continue to address this challenge. At this time, there is one full time Job Retention worker in each District Office. In September 1999, we issued a Department Manual section outlining the policy for Job Retention Services. Our philosophy is that Job Retention services are crucial to the participant's long-term success at self-sufficiency. The Job Retention concept is now presented to participants at Job Club and Job Search. We are developing more specific policy and have offered several training classes to our Staff to increase their level of expertise in this area. As part of our continued effort to successfully address job retention and self-sufficiency for our clients,we are examining and developing other post employment approaches that go beyond supportive services (i.e. transportation, child care, housing, etc.) These June 13,2060 12 Employment and Human Services Department CaIWORKSIWelfare To Work Implementation Update approaches include career awareness and advancement services, on-site skills upgrade training with employers, and earnings enhancements. The concept of post employment services is also being discussed and developed for inclusion as a primary WIA service delivery component under the countywide Cane-Stop System for the next program year. C. Employment Support Services For Low Income Persons As we continue to work with the remaining CalWORKS population, we also need to address essential employment support services for low-income persons. Work in these areas will better enable a worker to meet costs of living,wage progress, and not move from work-to- welfare. 1. Transportation ❑ Transportation Partnership and Cooperation (TRANSPAC) has installed five computers in Contra Costa One Stops. These computers will allow participants access to Internet transit information for trip planning and to avail themselves of incentives for using public transportation. Transit incentives include the following: • 20 free bus rides for new transit riders, i one half of monthly costs paid for the first three months in a vanpool, • a $20 gas coupon per person per month for two months for those forming carpools, • $100 per month for three months to encourage existing carpools to add riders a We contracted with Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc. to provide training for hard to serve clients and the first training class commenced in February 2000. Nine participants graduated from the first class in April 2000, and 8 of those 9 are still employed full-time by Laidlaw as shuttle bus drivers. These successful participants now have their Class 8 License, which is the first step towards a career as a professional driver, which are currently in high June 13,2000 13 Employment and Human Services Department CalWORKSJWelfare To Work Implementation Update demand in Northern California. The second training class, which began on June 5, has 6 participants enrolled. ❑ The Community Development Department produced Geographic Information System (GIS) maps which identify concentrations of CaIWORKS clients in the county. The map also shows child care sites, transit corridors and employment/training sites. Transit operators and our Department will use the maps to determine gaps needed improvements in services. ❑ The Guaranteed Ride Home Program remains in effect. This program allows an individual who carpools or vanpools to receive up to six taxi rides home per year if a family emergency, illness, or unscheduled overtime occurs. ❑ The Contra Costa School Pool offers assistance to parents in forming carpools.This assistance is available in 41 public and private elementary, middle, and high schools in Contra Costa. $25.00 per month is available to drivers who are willing to transport children to school, childcare or after-school activities. ❑ The Contra Costa Bicycling Incentive Program is offering free bicycles, child safety seats, helmets, bike maintenance and locks to those who commute by this method. Up to 15 bicycles will be awarded. ❑ Crain and Associates of Menlo Park conducted a transportation survey of CaIWORKs clients. The purpose of the survey is to obtain information regarding transportation-related barriers to employment. This information will be used to enhance existing transportation services and implement needed new services. The survey has been completed and is currently in the data analysis phase ❑ The department is working in partnership with many other agencies to maximize existing resources and expand transportation alternatives for the disadvantaged and disabled. June 13,2000 14 Employment and Human Services Department ; CalWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update 2. Housing Contra Costa County and California in general are suffering from a shortage of affordable housing. According to a recent report "Locked Out" published by the California Budget Project, the lack of affordable housing limits the ability of the working poor and those on welfare to move up the economic ladder. We are part of a collaborative effort to address this barrier through the Housing Assistance Alliance.The Alliance, consisting of representatives from our Department, the County's housing authorities, housing advocates, community based organizations and other county staff has been established to prepare recommendations to the Board of Supervisors regarding delivery of housing assistance and related services to CalWORKS participants moving from welfare to work. Our Department is in the process of hiring a housing consultant to work with the alliance to develop an effective Housing Assistance Program for CalWORKS participants.The housing consultant's primary objectives will be: o To guide County staff, rent subsidy providers, and other housing assistance advocates/stakeholders, in a collaborative planning and problem solving process leading to the development of cost-effective housing assistance options for CalWORKS participants who are transitioning from welfare to work. a To develop a program that builds a countywide housing assistance support system for CalWORKS participants. ® To prepare a report that documents the collaborative planning and problem solving process, describes the recommended actions for successful implementation of a housing assistance support program and that identifies procedures for monitoring and refining this program following implementation. The housing consultant's work in conjunction with the Housing Alliance Work Plan is scheduled to be launched on August 1, 2000 and completed by January 31, 2001. June 13,2000 15 Employment and Human Services Department y CaIWORKS/Welfare To Work Implementation Update 3. Child Care In May 2000, the four district offices' specialized child care units made payments totaling $1,128,820.00. This represents 1,422 families with 2,432 children. Monthly 11me Perbd Payment #of Children #of Families March 1999 725,884 1,734 996 June 1999 1 961,350 2,268 1,299 September 1999 1,182,371 2,370 1,413 May2000 $1,128,820 2,432 1,422 We have worked closely with the Contra Costa County Child Care Council and PACE-APP to ensure that all former CalWORKS recipients that would be losing their connection to CalWORKS child care as of January 1, 2000 would continue to receive child care services through the remainder of Fiscal Year 99/00. The State budget makes provision for continuing child care services for former CalWORKS recipients. We have also been successful in increasing child care resources.The Child Care Training program is a joint effort with the Contra Costa Community Services Child development Program, regional Occupation Program (ROP), West Contra Costa Adult School, Pittsburg Adult School, the Child Care Council and EHSD. We have graduated over 200 participants since the program started in West County in September 1997. 4. Health Care Although job placements continue to rise, many participants are entering jobs with no health insurance benefits. The Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Summit Strategy Planning Retreat, which included Department staff, addressed the problem of no health insurance or inadequate health insurance for low-income families, including families recently discontinued from cash assistance. Specific recommendations include: a Medi-Cal segment be part of all Job Club sessions; and the resource desk staff should provide more information on health insurance. We continue to refer all CalWORKS participants who are discontinued from cash assistance to the Medi-Cal Unit for an June 13,2= 16 Employment and Human Services Department CaIW©RKSIWelfare To Work Implementation Update eligibility determination. We are also in the process of hiring Community Aides for a new Medi-Cal Outreach Unit. D. Uncertain Funding Mix The estimated expenditure for fiscal year 1999-2000 is$48,281,762. Of that amount, approximately 8.5%is County funded. The expenditure breaks down as follows: CaIWORKS Basic Eligibility 15,993,502 WTW Employment Services $16,795,332 Cal-Learn 195,043 Child Care $11,748,775 TANF Incentives 3,549,110 TOTAL 48,281,762 The allocation for FY00/01 is still unknown. The Governor plans to severely cut the incentive dollars; the basic eligibility and Employment Services budgets have not been agreed on; and the formula for determining the allocation is not fully developed. We expect to have more definitive funding identified by September. While funding for CalWORKS has been good in our early years, questions remain regarding the federal and state Government's commitment to continuing the job that has been started. Both the federal and state Governments will soon begin discussions on reauthorization of the Welfare Reform laws. With so much positive press on early returns,we fear that Washington and Sacramento will declare victory and abandon serious efforts to continue reform policies or provide necessary funding. We will continue to work together with National and State organizations, elected officials, and service partners to better define and advocate for continuing support for services that support people moving off welfare, into a job and out of poverty. June 13,2000 17