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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03161999 - C115 i FHS#19 i TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA a COSTA FROM: Family and Human Services Committee COUNTY �,, DATE: March 19a 1999 SUBJECT= Statue of CaIWORKS and "Welfare-to-Work Implementation (Referral#19) SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) $& BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOlillMENDATIONI S)- ACCEPT the attached report from the Social Service Director on the status of CalWORKs and Welfare-to-Work implementation. BACKGROUNDIREASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: On March 9, 1999, the Family and Human Services Committee received the attached report on Call ORKs and Welfare-to-Work implementation from Bob Hofmann, Assistant Director of the Social Service Department. The report covered the issues of Welfare-to-Work,job placement, CalVl ORKs cases with earnings, exit due to employment, diversions to avoid public assistance, child care program expansion, out-stationing staff at Los Medanos College, transportation efforts, SSI advocacy, pilot program with Children's Services, noncustodial parent project, child support demonstration project, collaborations with business community, Work Investment Act implementation and data development. Mr. Hofmann also reviewed the challenges faced by the department, including federal work participation rate requirements, difficulty of data collection, the need for full staffing, star turnover, lack of space, identification of best practices, integration of department and community resources and outreach to participants to avoid the need for sanctions. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: __._YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR,_-RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S). MARK DESAULN#ER GAYL E S.UIL.KEMA ACTION OF BOARD ON March 16, 129,9 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X_OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A ,,,UNANIMOUS(ABSENT TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES`. NQES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT:-ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact Sara Hoffman,335-1090 ATTESTED March 16. 1999 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc. CAO 1t '`s John Cullen,Social Service 4 1 BY :. 1 4.<,I;s „i ,DEPUTY r FHS#18 BACKGROUNDIREASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS (cont'd): Supervisor Uilkema thanked the department for the report and said it was very useful in her town heli meeting. Supervisor Uilkema also expressed the need for the department to continue to emphasize the expansion of child care capacity. She said that child care needs are extremely broad and that sufficient capacity needs to be available not only in terms of location, but also hours of availability. She suggested the Board look at a policy that would encourage the development of child care at job sites. Supervisor Uilkema also reported that constituents had told her of the difficulty of working during standard hours and still meeting the reporting requirements for CaIWORKs. She suggested that the One Stop Career Centers be open on Saturdays. Mr. Hofmann responded that alternate hours were under discussion with the employee organizations, but that, in most cases, information could be submitted either by phone or by mail. Supervisor DeSaulnier expressed concern about the county's ability to track the employment of former CaIWORKs recipients. He also asked what would happen when the economy slows. if former CalWORKs recipients do not move up the career ladder and stay in marginal jobs, then they could return to the welfare roles. 2 tical eerie D men Cantra Costa un Date: March 3, 1999 MEMO TO: Family&Human Services Committee Supervisors Mark DeSaulnier and Gayle Uilkema FROM. John Cullen,Director3P6� ce Phil Batchelor S`CBKCT. CalWORK.s/Welfare-to-Work Implementation Update This report is presented to the Family and Human Services Committee and the Board of Supervisors as an update on the CalWORK&Welfare-to-Work activities in Contra Costa County. This will demonstrate the accomplishments and many projects of the Department dunng the first full year of implementation of CaIWORK.s. As before, I want to acknowledge the dedicated efforts of the staff in the Department as well as the many partners in the community who have been instrumental in making and supporting our efforts to convert from an eligibility-focused system to employment and support services. JBC/PP:sjb Family and Human Services Committee Welfare I2eform/Ca1WORK.s Implementation Update March 1999 I. CaIWORKs/Welfare to Work Implementation Beginning in March 1998, our new service delivery system became effective and the focus of the Department changed from eligibility determination and benefits issuance to "Work First". For applicants, Orientation and Appraisal and Job Club and Job Search became part of the intake procedure. The primary goals of Pre- assessment (formerly intake) are diversion or employment of every appropriate Welfare to Work participant and the accurate and timely processing of applications. We started to phase in the AFDC caseload to the CalWORKs program on March 10, 1998. This involved staff identifying and enrolling all current mandatory Welfare to Mork participants into the program by scheduling each participant for an Orientation and Appraisal. Our goal was to complete this transition by December 31, 1998. In order to accomplish the goals of the CaIWORKs and Welfare to Work. Program, 1.83 Eligibility Workers have been promoted to Social Service :Program. Assistants to work with participants in their efforts to achieve self-sufficiency: Because of the significant change in their duties as Employment Specialists, staff participated in extensive Welfare to Work training, averaging 12 sessions and 63 classroom hours. The following are some of Social Service staff's accomplishments over the past few months. Welfare to Work "Bubble" Processed Countywide, 7,977 participants were identified with a Welfare to Work requirement. As of December 31, 1998, 6,598 participants were enrolled into the Welfare to Work activity and of this figure, 6,093 have completed Orientation and Appraisal. District offices have continued to schedule Orientation and Appraisals for participants who have not been enrolled or who missed the sessions and have 1 had to reschedule for various reasons. All current participants should have been enrolled by the end of February, although the reports have not yet been received. Job Placements Continue to Increase During our first year of CalWORKs implementation the number of job placements from January 1998 through December 1998 totaled 2,074. The pace for job placements continues to increase as we move to full implementation of the service delivery plan. The job placements for January 1999 were 310. CalWORKs uses with Earnings Increase As of December 1998, 3,202 CalWORKs families, or 27.40% of all CalWORKs families have earnings. The current rate for 2-parent families is 53.42% or 609 cases. In December 1998, earnings totaled $2,480,000 resulting in grant savings of $905,000. This produced an incentive payment of $650,000 that can be reinvested in CalWORKs services. Besides generating grant savings, participants pay state, local, and federal taxes on these earnings and are eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit. Exits due to Employment Increase For the period 1/98-12/98, 1,255 cash aid terminations have been recorded that are directly linked to employment. Diversions Help Pule Avoid Public Assistance Twenty-eight diversions to enable people to return to self sufficiency without corning on aid have been processed from January 1998 through December 1998; of those, one has come back on aid in this county. These payments covered expenses such as license fees, fingerprinting and living expenses for a participant to obtain employment as a construction worker, and recertification costs for a participant's Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license. A total of $34,075 in diversion payments has been made. A successful diversion is defined as avoiding aid for at least the number of months equivalent to the amount of the diversion payment, plus six months. 2 Child Care Program Continues to Expand During 1998, CaIWORKs and farmer AFDC participants were successfully transitioned from Transitional Child Care, AFDC Disregard, Supplemental Child Care, GAN, and NET child care programs to our new system of Stage 1,2, and. 3 Child Care. Specialized childcare units have been established in all four of the District offices. We are currently paying $586,380 per month in childcare for 2,484 CalWORKs children. from 1500 families. The CalWORKs legislation mandated these families no longer receiving cash aid be transferred to community providers. 365 former recipients have been transferred to community stage three providers. In Fiscal Year 98-99, the Department received $96,000 dedicated to childcare capacity building. To date, 37 homes representing 300 additional childcare slots countywide have been licensed. Classes for Laotian students learning to be family day care home providers are being offered in West County. In conjunction with the Child Care Council, six Health and Safety and Child Development Workshops have been presented to license exempt providers. Additionally, twice a month workshops are offered by the Child Care Council as part of the Job Club/Job Search curriculum to assist participants in making wise childcare choices which will support their new working lifestyles. The Social Service Department, working with a consortium of other agencies including ROP, Head Start, Contra Costa Community Services Child Development Program., West Contra Costa Adult School, Pittsburg Adult School, the Child Care Council and. Housing Authority developed a program to train child care providers. At the end of this five-month training, CalWORKs participants are qualified to be assistant teachers in childcare centers, to apply for home licensing as family day care providers, or to be exempt providers. A total of 57 participants have graduated to date and there is another training program in progress. 3 The Social Service Department continues to administer the college CaIWORKs childcare programs at Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa Colleges. Social Service Staff Outstationed at the Community College Los Medanos College has contracted with the Social Service Department for an on campus CaIWORKs Coordinator to coordinate services and childcare for CaIWORKs students. Three .employment Specialists from the Antioch office who are also Los Medanos graduates are now on campus. This has allowed for easy access by students and the exchange of information between staff from both partners to identify and address any problems the students may have. Transportation efforts Underway Currently there are several projects under way in the area of transportation for CaIWORKs participants. The Department, with the assistance of members of the Transportation Alliance, is negotiating with a potential provider of children's transportation and information services. We anticipate being able to begin serving program participants in the next quarter. We are also taking steps to bring expertise to the Department to help coordinate and implement the various transportation-related projects. Additionally, the Transportation alliance is finalizing their Welfare to Work Transportation Action flan within the next month. This plan will be presented to the Board of Supervisors early in the quarter. General Assistance Collaborates with CaIWORKs to Help SSI ReciWents Our Department has committed funding to expand our SSI advocacy Services within the General Assistance Division in order to offer advocacy service to CaIWORKs adults who are permanently disabled or who have long tern impairments. SSI is a federal/state program that provides a much greater level of financial support to the disabled individual and provides Medi-Cal services through the linkage to SSI. When the parent/caretaker relative receives SSI the family's financial situation is substantially improved and SSI adults are not counted in the numbers used to determine our work participation rates. Additional Advocacy Social Workers have been hired and assigned to the Advocacy Units and began working with CaIWORKs adults in February 1999. 4 Children's Services/CalWORKs Staff Working To ether to ImDro.ve Services to Families A team of managers, supervisors, and line staff from both the Employment and Supportive Services and Children's Services Bureaus have been identified to work with the Bay Area Academy to form a Children's Services/CalWORKs pilot project. The purpose of this project is to develop with staff' and families a set of values and operating procedures to enhance communication and collaboration to improve service delivery to families who are being served by both programs. The pilot project will be implemented in the Muir Rd office beginning in April or May 1999. Non Custodial Parent Proiect Begun The County Opportunities and Obligations Program (CO-OP) or Non Custodial Parent project is designed to provide employment, supportive, and parenting services to the non-custodial parents of CaIWORKs children. These services began in November 1998 at the Richmond One Stop Career Center and Concord and Pittsburg are expected to begin serving this population soon. Our department along with six other counties is requesting that CRSS move to expand the eligibility criteria for participation in the program. Department Wins Approval for Child Support Demonstration Proiect The Social Service Department won state approval in February 1999 for the Child Support Assurance .Demonstration Project, known as the ;Bast Bay Family Service Program. This innovative project designed to move CalWORKs families to self- sufficiency is collaboration among the Social Services and the District Attorney Family Support Agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. This project is a bridge program designed to support the efforts of the working poor that need help to progress to a "livable wage" once employed. Among the goals of the project are helping to increase the earnings of custodial parents, to offer a regular, assured child support payment to the custodial parent while making effort to establish regular support from the non-custodial parent, and to provide incentives for single-patents to assist the DA Family Support Agency in obtaining a support order and/or establish paternity for their children. In Contra Costa County, services will be offered through the County's One-Stop Career Centers, employment service centers staffed by a variety of county and non- 5 profit agencies. These centers offer intensive case management, on-line access to CaIJOBS and EastBay WORKS and comprehensive services to Bay Area job seekers.. Collaborations with the Business Community Underway Our Employment Services Analyst is working with employers and CBOs throughout the county that have initiated contact with our department. The analyst coordinates and promotes joint partnerships to establish special employment projects involving collaborative partnerships. The goal of these projects is to offer countywide training and employment opportunities and not limit participation to geographic areas. Examples of these successful collaborations include Retail Works, SunRise Health Care and Project Employ. The Retail Works partnership involves the Social Service Department, Wardrobe for Opportunity, Macerich Company, Adult Education Departments, ROP, PIC, Federated Stores and other retail stores and partners. This is an eight-week training and employment program that will occur at the shopping plaza. Highlights of the program include paid work experience, mentoring, career path identification, and instruction, hard skills for successful performance, and soft skills for successful retention. SunRise Health Care is a collaborative with Sunrise, PIC, and the Social Service Department. This is a paid training with hire at successful graduation as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Career path identification, strong on the job mentoring, on the job training assistance for the employer and full support for the client occurs during this training process. Clients participating receive school support and classes located at the job site. Project Employ is a partnership between the Social Service Department, Contra Costa Housing Authority, St. Vincent de Paul, PAL (Police Activities League), and AIM (Advance Integrated Methods in Walnut Creek). This is training in basic computer skills with a strong focus on job retention, soft skills, and barrier elimination. At the end of the training, participants are prepared for entry-level positions requiring computer familiarity. An additional premium to the program is professional business English and office etiquette. At the end of the program St Vincent de Paul, AIM and our job developers coordinate job links for successful graduates. 6 Our District offices have job developers working as liaisons with all staff. Their focus is to assist in the final screening process with clients to match employer expectations. Additionally our job developers link with community businesses to identify entry-level positions and other positions appropriate for participants. They identify specific requirements and prerequisites for successful job matching. Workforce Investment Act Implementation Being Planned The staff'from the Social Service Department have participated on the Workforce Development Advisory Pane'l (WDAP) to develop the strategic plan for implementing the mandates of the Workforce Investment Act. Under the WIA, 'department of Labor money will be delivered through the one stop system. Four of the seven one-stops in the county have been opened, two in Richmond, one in Concord, and one in Pittsburg. Collaboration with SPHERE Institute and Bgy,Area Partnership_ of the Northern California Council for the Community (BAP) Be ing The Social Service Department has recently committed to work with the SPHERE Institute and BAT' to enhance our understanding of the circumstances faced by low-income families in our communities. This will include those families currently enrolled in our programs, those who are also former participants and those persons who may be in need of our services at some time in the future. This information is a vital component of evaluating welfare reform and will help in developing and tailoring our programs and services to better assist families in meeting their needs and overcoming barriers. Cour participation in this project will include involvement in the overall planning of the study, the design of the survey questionnaire, identification of target communities, and integrating the multiple data collection process. 11. Future Challenges Although the advance planning and collaborative efforts of the Social Service staff in partnership with other county departments, community and faith based organizations, the public and participants provided a strong foundation for the implementation of CalWORI .s/Welfare to Work, we have faced or are facing a number of challenges. We have actions underway or planned to address these challenges in the conning months. 7 Federal Work Participation Rate Poses Formidable Challenge The federal requirements for the numbers of persons engaged in a work activity continue to increase. As of October 2002, 50% of all families must be participating in work activities a minimum of 30 hours per week, and 90% of 2- parent families must be similarly engaged a minimum of 35 hours per week. Currently in California, approximately 21% of all families and 25% of 2-parent families meet the current Federal participation rate. Meeting the 2-parent rate, especially in counties such as Contra Costa, and states such as California is a formidable challenge because a large number of these families are composed of immigrants and refugees who tend to have experienced longer periods of dependency on public services and longer periods away from the labor market. Data Collection Difficult Our ability to obtain accurate information from the Case Data System (CDS) and GAIN Information System (GIS) continues to be problematic. These multiple systems lack data sharing and tracking capabilities. The current systems are difficult and time consuming to utilize for data collection and tracking. The Department's Master File Extract project was designed to augment the current system reporting capabilities. Additional training programs for staff is being developed. The system and program guidance is being integrated into handbooks that will be more "user friendly". System "experts" in the District offices are being established to troubleshoot and assist staff using the GIS system and staff will be receiving more feedback about the information recorded in the system. Full Staffing,Not Yet Achieved. Contra Costa continues to implement its employment-focused service delivery model. This has allowed for the promotion of staff`to the Employment Specialist classification but has unfortunately created vacancies in the other benefit programs. In the last three months 71 people have been hired to fill entry-level positions in the District offices. Bringing staffing to adequate levels due to these changes is a priority and may necessitate requests for additional positions for trainee slots. Movement of Staff Continues to Test Staff Development's Capacity Training for both entry-level and higher skilled employment positions has been enhanced and "fast-tracked" to ensure the achievement of basic skill levels for 8 entry level-staff and continued skills development for more senior staff. In December 1998, 28 employees were graduated from the training class, also in December 1.998, 22 temporary eligibility workers were hired, and in the first week of .April 1999, 29 persons are expected to graduate from training. During .April another 24-30 persons will be part of the new training class that is scheduled to graduate in early July. In addition to technical training, Staff Development continues to prepare and deliver sessions to move the organizational culture farther long the path of employment focus as the primary service need for most cash aid applicants and program participants. Lack of Space Poses a Problem for District Offices As additional staff is hired and trained, space issues in all the District offices move to the forefront. The District offices have little or no room to add the staff that has already been authorized. Existing space is being reconfigured, conference rooms are being converted to house staff and short-term space is being sought pending acquisition of permanent space. Midcourse Review Task Force Being Formed A Midcourse Review Task Force is being formed in March 1999, of Managers, Supervisors and line staff chosen by their respective employee organizations to assess our current service delivery model. As we enter the second year of Welfare Reform in Contra Costa County, we will identify "best practices", discuss operational adjustments, and pursue greater consistency of operations across the county. Integration of Department and Community Resources Continues As the service delivery model becomes fully operational, there is a growing need to connect job seekers to services such as substance abuse treatment, domestic violence services, job skills training, employment retention/self sufficiency services and other activities, which support the participant's, work efforts. The emerging challenge is integrating the wide array of available community resources with the existing and evolving needs of welfare to work participants. 9 Outreach to Non Participants is Necessary There is an identified need to perform outreach activities to ensure that participants avoid sanction if possible and have support and assistance to fully engage in the services offered. Participant education is needed to explain the transitional benefits (child care, case management, Medi-Cal and other employment supports) that accrue from full-time employment. Community agencies will be enlisted to complement the efforts of Department staff in this area. 10 Local Office Activities WTW Attachment ANTIOCH Approximately 2,850 participants were initially identified as needing WTW orientation and appraisal. To date all have been scheduled. As of February 18, 1999, 2,416 participants have received their WTW orientation and have been appraised.. This is a result of a plan that began in late July and efforts were significantly increased in late September. We have approximately 434 participants that have been rescheduled, some more than once, to receive their WTW orientation and appraisal. Currently we have one Employment Specialist assigned to addressing our non-compliance process with participants that fail to show for their appointment. Participants have been given more than one opportunity to cooperate prior to the non-compliance process starting. Participants who fail to cooperate during the non-compliance process have been or will be sanctioned. In order for our office to address the large number of participants needing WTW orientation and appraisal many staff members needed to be redirected to duties on a temporary basis to meet our goal. Staff worked a tremendous amount of overtime in the last three months of 1998. We conducted a Saturday session on December 5, 1998, inviting approximately 200 working participants in order to offer this opportunity on a weekend rather than during weekday work hours. Staff conducted non-English orientations in December with the assistance of many staff member from the Hercules office. Some appraisals still need to be completed. Plans are currently being developed to accomplish this. Throughout the efforts to complete orientations and appraisals we continued to conduct Job Club/Job Search sessions in our office and were also assisted by the Antioch Adult School. This partnership with Antioch Adult School began in September 1998. We have approximately 834 WTW participants appraised but not assigned to an Employment Specialist. As an Employment Specialist transfers or discontinues a case from their caseload, we expect to assign these unassigned participants to an Employment Specialist. Flans are currently being made to insure this occurs and that the transition is not cumbersome. HERCULES Hercules has approximately 1,850 families with a Welfare to Work requirement. The orientation and appraisal sessions begun in July of 1998 continue. The schedule now consists of six orientation and appraisal sessions per week, to which about 60 people are invited. Two sessions per week serve Southeast Asian participants. Spanish-speaking participants are served on an as needed basis. At of the end of January 1999, all current participants had been invited to orientation and appraisal. About 600 of those invited have not yet attended and will be re-invited. Saturday sessions continue as needed for employed participants, (there was one on February 20, 1999). WTW cases are carried by Employment Specialists, (currently capacity about 975 at 75 per ES), and Senior Employment Specialists, (current capacity about 525 at 75 per SES). We continue to experience a flow of cases into and out of these caseloads because of sanctions and discontinuance. We also continue to experience a 50 percent failure to appear at Orientation. Senior Employment Specialists continue their activities of assisting with appraisals, conducting Job dubs, providing intensive services and doing assessments as well as providing basic employment services to WTW participants. We continue to enroll new applicants into the WTW program. Since July of 1998, 1,011 applicants have been invited to orientation and appraisal. The total number of applicants and participants invited to orientation and appraisal from July 13, 1998 to February 12, 1999 is 3,409. 098 of the applicants and 1,053 participants have completed orientation and appraisal. Of the 1,751 who have completed the enrollment phase of the WTW program, 72.2 have been scheduled for Job Club. Participants are not scheduled for Job Club for a variety of reasons. Many are already employed and others have temporary good cause or may be in a self- initiated education or training program. The current Job Club schedule calls for starting one Job Club/Job Search on our site every two weeks. We add an additional Job Club from time to time as needed. Our staff continues to work in a team format with Serra Adult School teachers. We now have one EDD employment counselor co-located in Hercules. The EDD office is in our public access Resource Room. The room has a personal computer that provides public access to Cal JOBS network. 2 Hercules continues to experience a decline in its CaIWORKs caseload. As of November 1, 1998, Hercules had 2,521 active CalWorks uses. The number of active cases on February 1, 1999 was 2,376 which represents a 5.75% decrease in just three months. MARTINEZ The ?Martinez Employment Services office completed inviting all of its 'Welfare to Work participants to an orientation. In December and January special orientations were held for non-English speaking participants. Staff, ROP and the Center for New Americans worked together to provide information to those speaking Spanish, Vietnamese, and Farsi. Participants speaking other languages, such as Russian and Laotian have had one-on-one orientations with the help of interpreters. Those who chase not to. attend are either in the conciliation process or have already been sanctioned. Once sanctioned, an individual must agree to participate in Welfare to Work activities in order to re-establish financial eligibility. Approximately 100 people have had their grant amounts decreased for failure to comply with WTW components. Martinez is now offering four Job Clubs per month. Each of the one week sessions is open to both Ca1WORKs and General Assistance participants. The Job Search room is open every day for those who are in the Job Search component and for those who have completed it but need to access the services there. Some employers are starting to send recruiters to Job Search classes. 'Many more have agreed to make presentations about their companies and what they expect of potential employees. RICHMOND Since October, orientations are being held three times per week with and average of 25 participants per sessions being invited. We presently have a 71% show rate for the orientation participants. This number has increased by 23% since October. We attribute this increase to the number of people who were previously sanctioned for failures who are now willing cooperate, and the word out on the street is that our success rate for employment is steadily increasing. We are in the process of developing our Resource Room that will be available to all clientele Monday through Friday during business hours. We have ordered four computers that will have access to the Internet, EASTBAY Works and Ca1JOBS. 3 Participants will be able to enter resume information directly into the system and forward resumes via Internet. There will also be a fax machine, job leads board, community resource and support information f©r participants. EDD staff will be available to offer support for interview techniques, job referrals, and to communicate with E.S. staff regarding supportive services that are needed such as clothing referrals, ancillary payments, etc. There will be motivational banners, telephone banks, newspapers, and a comfortable atmosphere for the participants. EDD staff is also currently networking with other community resources to develop a list of other computer availability sites for participants that may have transportation issues. Marina West is also working with EASTBAY Works, Rubicon and PIC in referring the hard to serge participants so that they can have more intensive Job Club/Job Search curriculum to deal with barriers and retention. We have E.S. workers outsta.tioned at the EASTBAY Works One Stop in Richmond which will allow us to work together as a team to achieve the same goal of the participants self sufficiency. A job developer from the PIC site is stationed in our office to achieve this goal. The Job Club leaders at the Marina West building continue to hold. Job Clubs every two weeks with an average of 50 participants being invited and 20 participants showing. The Job Club/Job Search leaders have been very successful with participants in motivating and encouraging them. They have also been successful in identifying, and helping participants overcome their fears, developing a plan to empower them to become self sufficient for the sake for their family, but more importantly for themselves. After gaining the trust of the participant, we have also identified barriers that further allowed us to refer participants to the CalWOFKs counselor for mental health or substance abuse problems. The participants that complete Job Club/Job Search have developed a support system amongst themselves also. They exchange telephone numbers on graduation Clay and once they have obtained employment for themselves, they find out other jobs available in their agency and contact the support group and Job Club leader to keep all informed about job leads. Additional E.S. staff have been hired to accommodate the number of participants who have been motivated and are seeking self-sufficiency. This will allow us to more efficiently serve our large population of unemployed participants. 4 Local Office Activities to Date Attachment R Participant Succus Stories Central County #1. Bob, a CalWORKs participant, attended Job Club/Job Search classes in our Martinez District office. He has a wife and four children ages 2,5,7, and 10 years. He and his family are homeless and he does not have a current driver's license. Although faced with these challenges, Bob had many strengths on which to focus. He had a good work history and quite a bit of general labor and construction skills. The Job Developer contacted California Detaining Wails, an employer who had hired another participant experiencing some of the same barriers. Bob was hired full time at $8.50 per hour. Since then Bob encouraged his wife to volunteer to attend the Job Club/Job Search classes. She is now attending class and is an enthusiastic and eager participant. The goal of Job Developer and Employment Specialist is to help the family locate housing and continue working with this family toward self-sufficiency. 42. Roberta is a young mother of two children who had not worked in the last six years. She started the Job Club/Job Search series and had great attendance. She received training in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Roberta found an entry level clerical position at the Veteran's Hospital for six months. She is presently working as an office assistant with an Alamo law firm. Roberta has just won the Soroptimist Scholarship for "Woman as Head of Household who has Overcome". West Coin In West County, Betty owned and operated a restaurant that served a small neighborhood in Richmond during the 1980'x. unfortunately, traumatic family issues impacted Betty's ability to keep her cafe open and in the late 1980'x, she had to close. Eventually, Betty had no income and had to apply for AFDC for herself and her four children ages 7,9, 11, and 12. 5 Betty enrolled in Job Club/Job Search. Her attendance was impeccable and her willing personality was contagious. She took a job at a local retail store, and after working for six months, she has been offered a management position, which will begin this month. Her optimistic outlook and pleasant smile are missed in Job Search, and she has been invited to speak at future classes whenever she is available. East County Tori, a single mother of one child faced many challenges when she got involved with staff at the Antioch district office. She had never had a job and admitted to having'a serious drug problem for the last five years. She has now been clean for about seven months. Tori has participated in Job Club/Job Search and has used the Resource Room and the supportive services offered at the Antioch office. She has secured a job at Staples and while her pay is low, she has good benefits. "I'm, so excited about this whole thing. This job is a job to remember." #2. The CaIWORKs staff` is excited for one of our students who, through Los Medanos College's Lottery System, was recently accepted into the Licensed Vocational ',Nursing Program for the Spring Semester. We have had the opportunity to help this student since last spring first when she was having difficulty getting her childcare plan approved. We were able to intervene on behalf of the student and provide the necessary documentation to get the plan approved and her childcare processed. This enabled the student to continue working on her nursing pre-requisites. Just before school started this past summer, she had a minor accident prior to the summer session and her ability to walk was severely restricted for a couple of weeks. Her transportation plan to get to school and deliver her child to daycare was to walk. Public transportation was not a workable option because of the route and time schedule involved. The Department's Coordinator of the Volunteer Service Program, found funds to allow this student two weeks of taxi service. We are grateful to Volunteer Services for their assistance in helping this student reach her goal. We are so happy overcoming obstacles she has faced, to see this student reach her first goal of being accepted into the Nursing Program. We will be there to provide 6