Jim Cooper's Orange County; GAIN: Trading Welfare for Jobs

Jim Cooper's Orange County is made possible by grants from Disneyland Park announcing its new attractions Star Tour is now boarding passengers for a space flight adventure by signal landmark incorporated developer of Southern California real estate and builder of Landmark homes and by Robert have an account Thames providing permanent and temporary accounting financial and EDP personnel with offices in Newport Beach and throughout Southern California. Why doesn't someone help the many thousands of people on welfare in California to get a job with all the benefits and self-respect that goes with it. The idea isn't new. Many programs have tried in the past to help welfare recipients. Often that hasn't worked. But what's new is a word called again that's an acronym for greater avenues for independence. It's a program created by state legislation strongly supported by both Democrats and Republicans to assess the needs of welfare recipients and give them basic education and get them hired on productive jobs. It'll affect some two hundred twenty five thousand people on welfare in the state

and about 50000 in Orange County. It's been called the most exciting effort of its kind in the history of welfare. I'm Jim Cooper. And I look into it in this special program trading welfare for jobs. Can any program break this cycle of chronic unemployment below the scene and many thousands of cases of people on welfare. My guess is that they feel that the new game program can do

that. But first let's look at some people in Orange County who are working to get the local program off to a flying start. The place is the Department of Social Services for Orange County. This is a weekly meeting of the gane Policy Committee. They are literally planning a human salvaging operation. They're working out how this meager program going to affectively get all of people in 15000 welfare cases in Orange County to trade their welfare checks for paychecks. The total number of people affected in all those welfare families amounts to more than 50000. Bob Griffith chief deputy director of the Department of Social Services had been meeting with this team since December 1985. Their target is to get the massive game program up and running in Orange County by July 1998 when fully operational the county program will cost about 30 million dollars a year. But again officials say it will save taxpayers many times that amount by getting people off welfare and onto productive jobs. The program will not have any cost to the county all expenses will be shared by state and federal funds.

So far 11 of the 58 counties in California are in operation by September 1988 all counties must have programs running. This is the headquarters for operations there were 700 people are given vocational training each year supported by the Job Training Partnership Act. It is just one of the training sites where welfare recipients will be sent free of charge to them to take remedial education or to learn job skills. This is a class in computer technology where students learn word processing and data entry procedures. This equipment was donated by IBM and in July. Two hundred thousand dollars in new equipment will be donated. Under again all welfare recipients of AFDC Aid to Families with Dependent Children must join the program unless they have children under six years of age. Free childcare will be provided while parents learn the loss the cost base of the pastor will indeed be the end of ours in the game program each welfare recipient will take a screening test then get remedial education in reading writing or math if needed. A job search then takes place followed by employability

assessments training and classes like this one will then follow if the Sayre record can be passed along to gain welfare trainees. There will be a very positive result because 83 percent of all the graduates each year of operations there are placed in paying jobs. Another big part of the job training picture will be the use of educational programs like those at the regional occupational program P in Santa Ana where 4000 students get vocational training every year. They report a 78 percent actual job placement record from their classes and their internal programs. It is one of four R O P programs in the county that will get welfare trainees under the game program. One of the popular classes created after a local study in the job market needs the dental assistance program. Participants would receive remedial education first if needed then technical training and dental assistant work bilingual instruction is also available here. This is the r o p s medical assistance class instruction is available to help the 200 students per

year who graduate from this course. Much is already known about the 15000 welfare recipients who will be eligible for the gane program. Some 79 percent are women. Average age is thirty to thirty nine percent are white Twenty seven percent are Vietnamese. Twenty percent are Hispanic. Four percent black and 4 percent Cambodian. Only 61 percent of the welfare recipients use English as their primary language. In a new state study it was found that 57 percent will need basic remedial education in reading writing. For man. This is a new course training students in the fast growing sports medicine field trainees for health fitness aid learn proper techniques for management of programs in health an exercise studio placement rates are high in these new careers. Other training facilities including high school adult programs and the county's Community College will also be named as training sites. This is a Computer Graphics class teaching latest techniques of desktop publishing. Overall a four hour OPI programs in the county have a record of about 78 percent successful

job placement. Again students will be on the program from a few months up to two or three years to get them hired or more for the 15000 AFDC welfare cases involving lives of more than 50000 people in Orange County who will be part of the game program there is a hope of a new life in a cornucopia of new skills to be learned. Dan or Churchill or the retired deputy director of the social services agency in Orange County and is now a consultant for gain. She has served as a professional overseeing welfare programs for 31 years. What makes you feel so excited about the opportunity for the game program to change lives. Or dresses long term reasons as to why people are unemployed go Kristal well for. Little addresses the issues of the need for both. The need for help with childcare and the need for the development of resources for childcare for transportation needs

long term underlying issues I regressed in the game program. And you feel that those nurturing things if they're done will be responded to by the recipients of welfare to change their lives. I do I think they will then be able to take advantage of the opportunities that the program also offers in terms of occupational training. And now let's meet our guests. SENATOR BILL GREEN Democrat representing the twenty seventh district in Los Angeles and one of the authors of the game legislation. He was formerly an assemblyman and prior to that he was a consultant a former speaker Jesse Unruh of the family the chairman of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee and also serves on elections and reapportionment and Senate Finance Committee. He's also a member of the joint Oversight Committee on game. Larry layman has been director of the social services agency for our study for the past five years. He's also served as director of the Orange County Community Services Agency and event in county government for the twenty five past 23 years as agencies responsible for the implementation of the game

program in Orange County. Charlie Meeks was appointed by the governor as special assistant to the director State Department of Social Services for southern California. He was from any game program contract consultant and have previously been responsible for public outreach on a game program. She's a statewide spokesperson for the game program on behalf of the State Department of Social Services. What comes across to me in working on this program is that we have on our hands here is a great dream a dream that's been taken out of somebody's head in our hearts and put into the legislative process. Senator I'd like to hear not what they want to be and frankly what we were up to. Let me give you a little bit of the history of again. Again came together with the Democrats and Republicans coming together the major the administration came in with a workfare Bill mandatory legislation. Democrats of the Senate we said forget it. You might as well go fly a kite if you're talking about really putting together a program which will do something for the citizenry out there that needs to come along the same

route to you in any of your listeners and what have you. We said then we're your people. That's how the game came together. David's for education and I notice you use remedial education that is part of the problem we're getting into with the administration of remedial education and basic education are two different things. Remedial is just a remedy if you have not finished high school you're not talking about really your education about beta it's getting that. It came together with that with our saying if you're serious about a program that will make it possible for people to to get the tools that they need to compete in society like anyone else pride will collaborate that's how the game came together. A problem is coming together now though it looks like we've signed something on paper with the administration and very worried about the level that which they're going to implement. We have counties throughout the states as your company here where your leadership is ready to go. They're excited they're putting it together and what have you. But we have a state administration

which is not delivering for them. We have a state administration which wants to come in and whack away their plan and it is providing it's not providing the leadership there that it should. And then when the cuts come in the you know it's welfare as usual in the conversation in how it's being handled but we've got to get away from that welfare usual mentality. That's the problem. The legislation that. The legislature is willing to do it but the budget this year for example is submitted by the administration is just next door to being welfare as usual. We're in committee hearings now where the administration came into my committee 733 budget fiscal review 8 billion dollars of the state budget we have that ever since 1907. They came in they could not give us a breakdown on the cost per potential. So what happens now. Well we're going have to change the budget we're going to have to rewrite the budget. And it's really it's it's it's it hasn't gone over yet but it's really getting to the point where it's going to really be an

issue. That's one reason I was not here to be on your show. It's not it's not about the money. It's not about the money in fact they probably have too much money this year for what they can realistically realize. So it's not about the money. What it is about is about implementing gain. As a program which is designed to move people off of welfare rather than a welfare program as you do they are still in the welfare mentality. So how do we get them out of that mentality and get them to say this is a whole new ball game. Well that's one of the reasons I'm here. I think we're going to just have to speak about the public and then people know what's going on that we were about to hear but I think that that's why I think this is the first public appearance I've made since 85 since we elected the legislature in the past it's been our tag those with a Democrat been very valuable he was the leader whatever but he is also part of the welfare mentality and the Senate members Assemblywoman Now Lawson city councilman Gloria Molina Assemblywoman the layout of San

Diego city to get him in the Senate the gym the assumed Senate today Roberti myself we are the ones that said we want to change all of the rest of them wanted to create a better welfare program that came together to create again. But again again says in so many words that you're going to do just what you said and I don't attend incidentally and this is one important thing that your listeners the to the people what the gain is not only mandatory on the recipient it's mandatory on the system as well. Seven years ago we had a Mr. Serrano that took is a went into court and said that the school district did not deliver the services for his son that they should have. A welfare recipient will be able to go into Court of the state of California. And again good to see you got a ruling. All right now let's talk now about Orange County. Larry your people had that infusion of spirit that this is not just another Band-Aid. This is something that is going to be a major fundamental way we look at welfare.

Well yes we do Jim. Naturally a concern such as a senator's concern us but we are operating under the faith and commitment disappeared we are that only the administration that the resources will be there to implement again in the counties of the counties that have implemented again to date have had a mixed bag of results that have caused other counties such as Orange County do. Be convinced that taking a very slow methodical approach and planning and analysis and preparing a good sound budget of our needs will pay off. We are very excited about the program. We hope the senator is proven wrong when we submit our plan and our budget later this year after the Board of Supervisors reviews it wrote it if you feel your board you provided our power structure in Orange County are they behind it. Very much so. Boards of all counties were very committed to the game concept with one cabbie it was that the

cabby it is as you know counties are reeling from lack of funds to meet state mandated programs and the requirement was the program must be 100 percent state funded but they say it but they say this program has federal money and state dollars. It's not County dollars right. So how does that how does that present a problem then add to the count at this point it presents no problem and the test will be when we submit our budget to the state later this summer and negotiate the actual funding bill that included a let me know it because he makes a very important point. We have colonies cutting boards of superbugs throughout the state. Very excited about it. We don't want to lose them we do not want to lose the excitement they are the people that are going to go with the good will. How the state does business with them is key. I think if they are doing business with them in a whole attitude. If the state doesn't show the same level of enthusiasm the same level of commitment. How can these people maintain it. How can their boards of supervisors. I mean this is just this is

reality. What about that let's hear from you we haven't heard from you yet and then what about that fire that has to come from the State Department Social Services. The fire is coming from the State Department of Social Services in the sense that we have a staff of people just like each county is preparing their plans yet and gearing up for again and working in the spirit of the legislation. So is the state. We have been hiring new people we've developed again division we have again implementation. Bureau and we also have again speakers bureau so that we can get out into the counties and assist them in any way we can. I personally have been working with Los Angeles County but I also went in to be where they often don't have the getting off the ground well they're working on their plan right now and they're developing it and submitting it for review in the in the labyrinths of the whole department social services. Is this a high pick priorities it's a big deal. Or is it a kind of a so-so deal. No it's a big deal. It's a big deal and it's one of the most important programs that we've ever worked on. And because of its importance and because of the commitment that the director

has put towards this program we're really getting the excitement within our department that we want to spread throughout the state of California. We want to assist the counties our goal is to help the county succeed with gain. You want your success you heard the senator he has some knock some coffee as you know and concerns. What would you say back to him. Well I'd say to Senator Greene that we are working in the spirit of your legislation. We appreciate the ground work that you've done and getting the legislation for gain up and going. And what we're trying to do is work to implement it. Where are you sorry we gave you a mandate and you're not delivering on that. Having a speakers bureau doesn't mean anything. We've had speakers. You should have people who are out there working with these districts keping put it together. You should know you've had since 1985. You don't even have a work plan by which you can even measure people's assessment of the work force in their community of the labor market needs in their community. Having a speakers bureau is window dressing. You

need people that are going to roll up their sleeves and go to work. You need people that are going to be at meetings putting their intelligence together putting the putting together the resources such as we saw in the film clip it is business as usual Mr. Cooper. It's welfare thinking it is not the thinking of the people who say that we have finally arrived at the juncture where we know what's needed. You have people who are like myself. Who didn't understand this 10 years ago we're there now. Whatever we know we need to be there and when you get there and other folks it's window dressing I mean what about what I have right now this is a nice community for this because Bill we're getting we're getting a that's not what we're talking about. You don't put together a business that would you like to donate if you were running it what would you do more than what they're doing I would have the people out there at those at the county that that is not me that will be sitting down with the people there would be people that would be working with Mr. Lehman's people right

here in Orange County. They would be on the scene. Maybe I'd be on the scene. I'm not going there and I have not done one of mine every home I mean I can strike a middle ground here. You know we are getting we are getting support and assistance of the state and deference the State Department Social Services they had to hire new people and get geared up. All of us would have liked to seen it move perhaps quicker. You know the state administration would. I could sit here and complain a little but I can also give the state a lot of accolades for the support they've given us today I think the test though as I said earlier is going to be when we submit our plan and budget and whether we want to supervisors to the status to the state whether we get a bureaucratic shuffle and it takes months of example to happen but we get response that will happen around the 1st of September. The Board of Supervisors will have to play Am I going to actually have I don't want to hear about it and the actuality that they're going to get I think I got your appendix shuffler not when I know they're not going to get a bureaucratic chef it was a little slow at first obviously because we have new staff

people and we have new plans. Each county has a unique plan the plan applies specifically for that county although they have to incorporate the the rules and regulations of the legislation. They are in charge of making sure that that their plan includes a labor market assessment that they've included childcare that they've been included the development of childcare to meet the needs of gain and in order to do this it takes quite a bit of time and of course in order to review what's been submitted and make sure that this plan is going to work in that county it does take quite a bit of time. It was a little slow but our people are getting this in gear now with reviewing the plans and they're being approved much faster Mr. Guber they have a budget before me right now when I get off this you know I go get the play go back segment at three o'clock. I would drop the gavel on budget hearings. Got a buddy before me right now it's second day two hundred sixty nine million dollars and seems to budget for this year and they've done by putting together a plan we're allocating money now so then fine if if you don't have a plane

there you say we don't give you the money is you know that is where our what I spent it over the line is what we're dealing with. You get a good example from just seeing this little exchange. But we're told that the law is only an active In 1985 September. This is only made nineteen eighty seven. How about it. It didn't take the legislature I have a staff of four people I've put together in two months what they have been able to get it into writing that agronomy can only review the plans as fast as they come in. You have or you are not going to tell any one plan one of the probably there or it's going to what you really need. You probably do result but you have a study that they're planning on bringing in counties I will say Orange County you're going to be one of them where they're going to purposely take some people. And prevent them from going into again regardless of what their wishes are so they can do a study on. The IQ I grew up in and want to be a participant again we get to talk for the love we can't go to get so they can do this without that lariat and an orange county I understand is under consideration.

I would hope that you and the citizens of this county would tell you no board of supervisors to tell you to go fly a kite. The legislation doesn't recall for that that you know and I am damn I now live or study directing public policy which is a mandate on the law. What about that the legislation does call for an evaluation from a right as a couple to restructure the loans in the structure as I understand it is up or designed to be to exempt some people for the study as I am from goes does it to set aside a group of clients and 10:51 county would not receive gane services and compare their their outcome two or three years down the road to those that receive gain the theory being the difference between the outcome of the two groups will evaluate the impact of gain. The bottom line issue of that is from a research design it is a very sound methodology to have what's called a control group from a standpoint of social policy to exempt a group of alliance from services is a very volatile issue and I think we've heard some of that knowledge delivery they don't like if you have a lot of they

have my sister or my brother would on one of those over again did I say wait a minute the state wants to have everybody have that opportunity. And you're exempting some people from the applicant of the state is advised that Orange County is being considered as one of those counties in the state department of so I would hope that you would reject it. Does it have any authority to tell us what turn to another area here that that I'd like to talk about we had just a few minutes left. There are two specific parts of this program one is to give the person what you call basic education. The other part of an avid is to give them job education now. We committed to take whatever it takes to give that person the basic education he or she needs and whatever part of needs on the job education. What about that. Yes committed prepared to do that. Yes we are in fact working with the counties in order to have that work. What I think we're finding out in this is something that no one really fully projected is the fact that we have a need for a great deal of reading writing and arithmetic are Damman percent that's exactly right as basic education.

Let's look at the basic education. That's right basic education and then also the need for remedial education in the sense that the people are not prepared to deal in the labor market. They need that guidance they need the consulate they need our job club and job search element. They need the other gentlemen in the additional training for your question related to jobs and job training. I tell you I have the budget before us now. They have no plan in the budget for it this year. So it's right there in black and white. Their budget is submitted to us. The Legislature. Representative seriously whatever they want to but in black and white you can check it. I mean here it is right here. It's not by me but analysts. There's a lot of protective so they say one thing but say they know the public doesn't know what goes on I mean I'm in a green but they have no plan. But they want 269 million dollars what about that and I would like to respond to your ONLY Donna times we're just real in the hearing process and in fact we are going to

finish work Friday if you don't have a running car Williams is not here because he is preparing that car Williams isn't what it was before Zim was not prepared Larry when you have a name of a company Larry point out we want to go after all this this is still a great a very merry one point in our way to the well we're going to we're going to. Well why don't we go to the public to push this administration because they say one thing in public and I don't do it with a 22 percent cut is that going to hurt again or not brought you reference possible. If it comes to pass it could impact our ability to serve the welfare clients would gain services as well as our other service. I think one thing about the differences that we've heard every one of you are committed to what this thing is and what it's going to be states all over the country. All the other 49 states are watching California and what can be one of the one of the president is that is what I think anybody knows how something gets started as a lot to do with it.

If we get off to two weeks of study so you're going to see how little example sounds like gender you're going to keep fighting for and that's going to go out of my daughter and I get you one of the fighters for I didn't work to help develop it to walk away from you. You're saying Going to an agent administration are no leads in this. OK Larry what's your last dream for this thing to give you a chance here Card our dream first of all as we're having a public hearing on June 24th at 2:00 pm in the Board of Supervisors hearing room our first dream is to have a good turnout for that hearing. I say it again the year that Eddie until June 24th 2pm the Board of Supervisors hearing room and Santana. All right administration building. And then to move the plan through the board to the state with a sound budget. Get it funded and implemented in 1088 and then you can invite Senator back and let him see an ad in a town the very first success how about you give you an. And my goal is to work with the State Department of Social Services to ensure that again works in California. That is our personal commitment and that's what we're going to do that and we're going to work with Senator Greene and answer some of his question Is it a top priority.

It is a top priority and the priority time's almost up now and I want to thank all of you for your discussion on the promise and the dream again. Please join me next week at the same time and I'll examine the issue of a new airport construction job for Orange County. I'm Jim Cooper. Thanks for being with us. Jim Cooper's Orange County is made possible by grants from Disneyland Park announcing

its new attractions Star Tours now boarding passengers for a space flight adventure by signal landmark incorporated developer of Southern California real estate and builder of Landmark homes and by Robert Half an account temps providing permanent and temporary accounting financial and EDV personnel with offices in Newport Beach and throughout Southern California.