Atta COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAM Program Summary The County's employment and training program for former welfare recipients operates in the following manner: Department of Public Social Services determines whether an applicant would be eligible for General Relief (GR) subsidies and is employable. Instead of providing the person with a GR grant, the person is referred to the County Employment and Training program operated by the Department of Community Services. Department of Community Services carries out an assessment and provides the person with one or more of the following services, as appropriate: 1) job placement; 2) targeted job search; 3) vocational classroom training; 4) work experience; 5) remedial education or English As a Second Language (ESL) training; 6) specific skills training, and 7) referral to appropriate support services available in the community to facilitate work training. Department of Community Services provides each participant in the program with a maintenance stipend, funds for transportation, and vouchers to meet emergency needs as necessary. Program Benefits During 1982-83, the Department of Community Services, with Chief Administrative Office, Private Industry Council and Board approval, and in cooperation with the Department of Public Social Services, developed and implemented a pilot program to offer employment and training opportunities available under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act program to approximately eighteen hundred (1,800) General Relief and State AFDC-U welfare recipients. This demonstration effort achieved positive results, both in terms of improving the employability of the participants and in achieving a financial benefit to the County. Based upon the success of this effort, the Department of Community Services proposed that the program be expanded for 1983-84 to provide employment and training opportunities to all persons receiving General Relief as of October 1, 1983 and all eligible employable persons applying for General Relief during the program period. This proposal was approved by the Chief Administrative Office and by your Board during 1983-84 Budget Deliberations. There are 3 number of benefits to be obtained from such an effort: - Achievement of economic self-sufficiency for individuals who would otherwise be dependent upon welfare subsidies. Increase services to targeted groups, such as youth; Improvement of the general economic outlook of the County as former welfare recipients become taxpayers, consumers and contributers to local productivity. By utilizing a portion of the allocated Job Training Partnership Act funds, the County has avoided the expenditure of County General Funds that would have otherwise been spent for public assistance. The benefits of this program for the participants are obvious. This is the only opportunity many will ever have to break the cycle of welfare dependency and achieve economic self-sufficiency. The benefits to the public, while not as obvious, are important. As these persons who would otherwise be on welfare obtain employment, they infuse their personal and financial resources into the economy. The County Employment and Training Program for General Relief referrals was developed for four (4) major reasons: Because the ability to get and retain a job is a major factor in the definition of self-worth in our society; Because General Relief recipients are among those most in need of assistance in becoming employable; Because welfare is a drain on the productivity and solvency of our economy, in addition to the sense of failure it can create in able bodied individuals; and Because such a program can mitigate County welfare costs. Program Goals The performance goals of the County of Los Angeles are to: Provide employment and job training opportunities to eligible residents; Reduce the number of persons receiving AFDC, State or local public assistance; Reduce the number of persons unemployed; Enable participants to acquire employable skills; Train participants in those occupations that are responsive to current labor market and economic conditions; - - - Provide the necessary related support services necessary to keep a participant in the program; Increase involvement of the private sector through participation in the development of the County's employment and training programs; Better coordinate and develop linkages with those agencies providing related services to ensure that programs are coordinated and non-duplicative. Reduce educational deficiencies; Assist participants in obtaining permanent unsubsidized employment. Specifically, by providing appropriate employment and training services to the target client population, the County will be enhancing their employability, their marketable skills, and therefore, their potential for higher wages. In addition, participants will receive employment services which include job development, job placement and job retention skills. By the end of the 1983-84 program, the Department of Community Services expects to have placed a large number of persons in unsubsidized employment. These persons would have had the potential of remaining on welfare. Targeted Population In the Job Training Partnership Act Interim Plan, the County indicated that it, ..."plans to serve targeted welfare recipients, specifically General Relief (GR), Aid to Families With Dependent Children-Unemployed (AFDC-U), Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Family Group (AFDC-FG), youth (ages 16-21), and other JTPA eligible individuals during this nine-month interim program. The targeted welfare client population, all of whom are unemployed, will make up a large portion of the client population to be served." The County developed this program as part of an extensive effort to develop self-sufficiency among welfare recipients, reduce welfare dependency, and lower County, State, and Federal welfare costs. As the County prepares for the upcoming Family Economic Security Act, it will be able to draw upon this experience to provide a comprehensive system for integrating the existing welfare system with available training and employment services. The County's approach is consistent with the Job Training Section 141 of JTPA states that, "...each job training plan shall provide employment and training opportunities to those who can benefit from, and who are most in need of, such opportunities and shall make efforts to provide equitable services among substantial segments of the eligible population." In defining the eligibility requirements for services, the Family Economic Security Act includes, "persons who are receiving or would, in the absence of services provided under this division, qualify in the county of application for benefits under that county's general assistance program....' The former General Relief recipients, and those participants who would have been eligible to General Relief without this training and employment resource, represent every significant segment group targeted for services under JTPA. These include women, veterans, the handicapped, and each of the age and ethnic categories. As indicated in the State Employment Development Department (EDD) review of the County JTPA Plan, "Neither JTPA nor FESA prohibit an SDA Plan from targeting its employment and training opportunities for an identified segment of the eligible population, so long as youth, recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and school drop-outs are properly served. It is concluded that this Plan contains provisions to satisfy the employment and financing services to the groups identified in JTPA.' Training for Non-General Relief Participants As indicated on Attachment II, 87.3% of the total funding available for training and employment services in the Los Angeles County geographic area (including all 8 Service Delivery Areas) is directed toward non-General Relief participants. Within Los Angeles County's own SDA allocation for Title II JTPA funds, approximately 58% is available to groups other than former General Relief recipients. The 58% is made up of 44% of the JTPA funds set aside for youth and 14% available for services to adults who are not General Relief referrals. Federal law requires that at least 40% of the JTPA funds be used for the training of youth. In addition to Title IIA which provides program funding for economically disadvantaged adults and youth, JTPA includes Title Summer Youth Employment and Training Program and Title III - Employment and Training Assistance for Dislocated Workers. IIB fb/38:d |