Imperial County

Department of Social Services

CalWORKs

Welfare-to-Work (WTW) and Supportive Services

In January 1998, the CalWORKs WTW program was implemented in California as a result of the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This law required work as a condition of eligibility for cash aid payments under the CalWORKs program for aided caretaker relatives of eligible children. Currently 55 employees administer the WTW program which consists of the following community partnerships and various work components to assist participants in obtaining employment.

Partnerships

Historical partnerships with the local Employment Development Department (EDD) and Imperial Valley College were strengthened. Partnerships were developed with the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program, local high school districts (Calexico, Holtville, Brawley and El Centro), Center for Family Solutions, Imperial County Department of Behavioral Health Services, child care community, Public Transit System, the Internal Revenue Service to assist participants with filing for their Earned Income Tax Credit and Imperial County Office of Employment Training (ICOET). WTW staff is co-located at two of the One-Stop Centers (Brawley and Calexico) established  and operated by ICOET.

The department is moving toward offering a full range of eligibility and social services at the Brawley One-Stop Center that will enable clients in the north county to apply for and receive Medi-Cal, CMSP, Food Stamps, General Assistance and CalWORKs benefits at that location and provide Children and Family Services and Adult Services as well.

Job Club

WTW participants begin employment search by enrolling in a comprehensive job club led by EDD’s employment professionals. Participant motivation is constantly bolstered during job club which has resulted in success for the never employed, the unemployed and the under-employed.

This past year, 39 job clubs were conducted serving 465 CalWORKs participants. The job club leaders also completed 375 Work Opportunity Tax Credit certifications for those eligible, making the hiring of the individuals more attractive to employers interested in such tax breaks.

Assessment

After job club, if a participant remains unemployed, a comprehensive assessment is completed by the Imperial Valley College counseling staff on an individual basis. The assessment readily identifies the individual’s strengths, talents and interests. It also identifies skill set gaps, labor market challenges, and personal barriers that a job seeker may need to overcome to obtain sustainable employment.

Approximately 600 assessments were completed this past year which led to 215 participant referrals to 32-hour/week English immersion classes and 66 participants were referred to attend classes to obtain a GED diploma. These programs were provided by the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program in conjunction with local high school districts.

Work Experience

Through the work experience component, CalWORKs enters into agreements with local entities that enable WTW participants to gain unpaid work experience and job skills. In return, through this volunteer work, the participants contribute services to the community and businesses. In this year, 664 participants engaged in work experience.

Cal-Learn Program

The Cal-Learn program involves working with pregnant and parenting teens to assist them to successfully graduate from high school; 31 teens were referred to this program this past year and 20 celebrated their graduation.

Supportive Services

Within the CalWORKs WTW program, a variety of supportive services are offered:

¨ Information and referrals are provided to families to obtain basic shelter, maintain stability and advance to more permanent housing. CalWORKs provides short-term crisis intervention and community resource referrals for food pantries, transitional housing programs, domestic violence issues, etc. Of the 135 client referrals this past year, 57 clients were assisted in obtaining permanent housing, 11 were provided with transitional housing and 67 were given pertinent information that addressed their specific concern.

¨ Child care services assist clients with child care costs while employed or attending training.

¨ Assistance with transportation is a major support service available to WTW participants.

¨ Ancillary assistance is available for uniforms, books, tools, etc., when required for employment or training. CalWORKs offers two major support services in the areas of behavioral health services and alcohol and drug problems. In the year 2005, 257 participants received behavioral health services and 12 received alcohol and drug assistance through the CalWORKs Behavioral Health partnership.

¨ Income Tax Filing Assistance is offered at no cost to WTW participants to enhance “financial intelligence”. In 2005, 78 participants utilized this service realizing a total of $181,000 in refunds with an average amount of $2,328.

Outreach Activities

CalWORKs WTW has active outreach to the county business community. This section assists both WTW employers and participants in the job search and recruitment process, matching employer vacancies and job seekers. Services include on-site recruitment, access to screened candidate applications, job fairs, on-the-job training agreements and customized classroom and on-site employee training.

Successful recruitment campaigns were conducted with more than 93 local employers, including Albertson’s, Applebee’s, Aspen in the Desert, Big Lots, Charlotte Russe, Children’s Place, Chili’s, Carl’s Jr. restaurants, Dollar Tree, El Pollo Loco, Hot Topic, IHOP, Italia Express, Jack-in-the-Box restaurants, Limited Too, Lowe’s, Marble Slab Creamery, New York and Company, Pacific Sunwear, Robinson-May, Wal-Mart (El Centro) and Wal-Mart Super Center (Calexico).

Imperial County’s successful outcomes are statistically well-documented in job placement increasing family income and the number of families who end dependence on public assistance.