News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 5, 1998
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Job trainees and children to gain from welfare savings

OLYMPIA - As the number of families receiving government cash assistance continues to drop, Gov. Gary Locke announced today he is putting much of the savings into helping more families move and stay off public assistance by strengthening training, child care access and additional support services.

A year after the five-year lifetime limit on cash benefits became law, Locke announced he is putting $37.4 million into bolstering vocational training programs, child care access and other supports to help families become self-sufficient.

Locke said that while he's pleased with the caseload reductions, the next challenge is to get people permanently off welfare into good paying jobs and to make sure those who leave welfare don't fall back onto the public assistance rolls. "Work is still the first priority under WorkFirst," Locke said. "The WorkFirst model is working, with 34,600 participants entering the job market during the first year of the program. That's a 72 percent increase from the previous year."

"Now we must help people hang onto those jobs and move up the career ladder, so they can support their families in the long run without relying on cash assistance," he added. "That will require targeted supports, particularly work-based training and access to good-quality child care."

By June 1998, the caseload for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families had fallen by nearly 16,400 families in the past year, which represents a decline of 18 percent. The lower caseload frees up resources that will be used to help newly employed WorkFirst participants keep their jobs and increase their income through better jobs, Locke said.

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges is working with campuses across the state to expand training programs for WorkFirst participants, including:

* Part-time training to 5,000 participants, who are working part-time, to increase their employment skills;
* Short-term vocational training for more than 4,000 WorkFirst participants and other low income students to gain job skills for specific industries in growing markets;
* Providing 3,200 participants with specialized training developed with specific employers for placement into good paying entry level jobs with career advancement potential; and
* Employment training combined with literacy and life skills offered to an additional 500 participants.

The Department of Social and Health Services is fine-tuning the child care assistance program to provide greater access to licensed care for WorkFirst participants as they enter employment or training, including:

* A higher hourly rate paid for child care provided outside the standard weekday work hours;
* Special payments for providers of infant care; and
* Increased child care provider rates to buy more and equal access across the state.

In addition, the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) will expand the Community Jobs program for an additional 580 participants. These subsidized jobs, often in non-profit community organizations, provide work experience and one-on-one support to WorkFirst participants who have failed to find work during their job search.

CTED will offer startup or expansion loans to child care centers or family child care homes that accept DSHS child care subsidies. The department will also assist non-profit organizations that are creating services for WorkFirst participants who have the most serious barriers to employment.

Complementing these reinvestment initiatives, the Employment Security Department this week has launched the WorkFirst Post-Employment Labor Exchange, or WPLEX, to assist current and former WorkFirst participants who are working to upgrade their employment. They will receive job search, placement assistance and connections to training.

WorkFirst is administered jointly by four state agencies: Department of Social and Health Services; Employment Security Department; Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development; and State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

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