News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 15, 2002
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke accepts national award for Community Jobs program

OLYMPIA – Gov. Locke today accepted a national award from the Council of State Governments for “Community Jobs,” an employment program that provides training and paid work experience for hard-to-employ welfare recipients.

Massachusetts State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, chair-elect of the Council of State Governments, presented the 2001 Innovations Award to the governor in a ceremony at the Port of Olympia, which was recognized for providing work experience to more than a dozen Community Jobs participants.

Community Jobs is part of WorkFirst, the state’s welfare reform program that helps financially struggling families find and keep jobs and build better lives.

“Washington pioneered the concept of turning a welfare check into a paycheck by providing temporary community-service jobs and intense support for those WorkFirst clients who have the toughest time getting a job,” Locke said.

As part of the program, participants “are doing real work and earning real paychecks,” the governor said. “Our objective is to put money into working families’ pockets.”

Community Jobs is the nation’s first and largest program to provide welfare recipients with temporary paid work and training in preparation for permanent, unsubsidized employment.

Washington was one of only eight programs in the country chosen to receive an Innovations Award from the Council of State Governments. Washington emerged the winner from more than 350 applications submitted for consideration in 2001.

Speaking on behalf of the council, Bosley said, “The Community Jobs program is an exemplary and innovative approach to solving a significant problem within state government. Washington’s dedication to customized services and outcomes has promoted thousands of people and directly impacts the success of its welfare reform efforts.”

Washington developed Community Jobs to serve people on public assistance with limited education, poor work history and difficult family situations. More than 7,500 parents have enrolled since 1998. Participants build job skills and improve their communities by working 20 hours per week for up to nine months at government agencies, schools, local businesses and nonprofit organizations. They earn minimum wage and receive mentoring from employees at state-contracted nonprofit agencies.

“If it were not for the Community Jobs program, I would not have this successful change in my life, for my daughter and myself,” said Beau Casebier, who was hired as a permanent employee by the Port of Olympia after his Community Jobs training ended.

Other participants work as bus drivers, office staff, warehouse workers and teacher aids, developing skills for job advancement and quality of life improvements.

Locke said the work sites where Community Jobs clients are placed are able to stretch their staff resources by hiring employees whose salaries are subsidized and who arrive with a strong support network.

A study by the University of Washington and the state found that Community Jobs raised participants’ likelihood of employment by 33 percent. Research by the Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle found that 72 percent of all participants find employment after leaving Community Jobs.

In both studies, participants’ income dramatically increased during and after the program. The most recent research from the Economic Opportunity Institute shows that participants took home $16,220 annually through wages and tax credits just two years after leaving Community Jobs. Welfare recipients who didn’t work took home just $6,552.

“That is amazing progress for a population that has serious and usually multiple barriers that hinder chances for employment,” Locke said.

New research shows 57 percent of Community Jobs participants have never completed high school. More than half suffer from a mental health condition and nearly a third are recent victims of domestic violence.

“For those willing to work hard and learn new skills, poverty should never be more than a temporary condition,” Locke said. “On-the-job opportunities, combined with training and support, can make any entry-level job just the first rung on a career ladder.”

Washington’s Office of Trade and Economic Development, the Employment Security Department, the Department of Social and Health Services and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges administer WorkFirst services. The agencies partner to help low-income families make the transition from welfare to work.

For more information about WorkFirst, see www.wa.gov/workfirst.
Related Links:
- Council of State Governments
- Office of Trade and Economic Development
- Department of Social and Health Services
- WorkFirst
- Employment Security Department
- Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges


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