Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 31, 1997
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke announces job partnerships as WorkFirst enters new phase

EVERETT - Gov. Gary Locke joined today with BF Goodrich Aerospace of Everett to announce a new partnership designed to place about 200 welfare recipients in jobs over the next year as Washington's new WorkFirst program shifts into high gear.


Earlier today, the governor announced a partnership with the Washington Restaurant Association and also praised efforts by the Spokane Chamber of Commerce to devise a welfare-to-work strategy for the Spokane area.


The state will provide a variety of services under the partnership agreements, mainly to identify and assist WorkFirst participants who are qualified for the jobs. Locke said the two agreements and future partnerships with businesses will play a critical role in the success of the state's groundbreaking WorkFirst program, which enters a new phase Friday with the start of a new five-year time limit on public assistance.


"This is the start of a new era for our state as we change the focus of welfare from an entitlement to a path of hope and opportunity," Locke said. "I'm very pleased the business community has recognized the opportunities presented by WorkFirst and has stepped forward to make this new program a success. The goal of these partnerships is to help thousands of people move off welfare and into the workforce. That is the primary goal of WorkFirst, since jobs open doors to a better life."


In its new partnership with the state, BF Goodrich Aerospace (known locally as TRAMCO) plans to hire approximately 200 WorkFirst participants and train them as service technicians to help refurbish airplanes. Beginning in September, the Everett-based company will pay the new workers more than $7 per hour and provide health benefits. The state will pay half of the job training costs. After about six months, when they are integrated into the company's regular work force, participants will receive regularly scheduled pay raises and the opportunity for further training.


"Our goal is to do more than just hire WorkFirst participants into jobs. We want to help them gain the skills they need to move into higher paying jobs and succeed in a career," said Bob Avery, TRAMCO Group vice president.


Earlier, while in Spokane, the governor joined with the Washington Restaurant Association (WRA) to announce a major initiative to connect welfare recipients with local restaurants willing to hire and train workers for food-service jobs. WRA begins its job-match program Aug. 1 in Spokane and King counties. Plans call for expansion of the initiative statewide next year.


The state's role in the new partnerships includes providing child care subsidies, transportation services, training in employment skills, and other means of support outlined in the WorkFirst legislation approved by the 1997 Legislature. Information about how WorkFirst can work for businesses and other organizations is available from local Job Service Centers or the Employment Security Department at 1-888-734-WORK.



Since April 17, when Locke signed the historic WorkFirst bill into law, state agencies have mobilized for a complete overhaul of the state's welfare system. WorkFirst no longer treats public assistance as an entitlement, but rather as a temporary step toward employment. By providing new incentives to work, the state plans to reduce public assistance caseloads from approximately 100,000 families a year ago to less than 85,000 by June 1999. The state also is providing $100 million in additional funding over the next two years to augment existing child care and other support services necessary to help people enter the work force.


"The underlying philosophy of WorkFirst is that the best way to succeed in the work force is to join it," Locke said. "WorkFirst is designed to help people get that first job and give them the support they need to become economically self-sufficient. Then everyone will have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream. This is a fundamental change in the way our state approaches public assistance. It's not going to happen overnight, but we are committed to making it happen."


Below is a summary of the key changes that take effect on Friday.


- Five-Year Time Limit: Aug. 1 begins the new five-year lifetime limit for all new and current welfare recipients.

- New Orientation: All new applicants for public assistance will be informed of the temporary nature of WorkFirst on the day they meet with a state case manager to determine eligibility for public assistance. Alternatives to public assistance also will be explored with the applicant. Once a person's eligibility is determined, all applicants will be required to sign an Individual Responsibility Plan, outlining a strategy for becoming self-sufficient.

- Case Management: Unlike the old system, most WorkFirst clients will work directly with a single case manager. The manager will conduct the initial screening and make referrals for work search activities and - if necessary - child care and additional training. To date, the Department of Social and Health Services has retrained approximately 650 of its employees as case managers. The department implements the new system in regional offices around the state on Friday.

- Work Search: When applicants are accepted into the WorkFirst program, most of them will be referred to a 30-hour work search training session offered by the Employment Security Department (ESD) in regional offices around the state. They will receive instruction in resume writing, interviewing skills, and locating job openings with on-site computers. The new work search program becomes mandatory for new WorkFirst applicants on Nov. 1, by which time ESD expects to serve 10,000 new and existing applicants per month. Only single parents caring for children under 1 year of age, those caring for an incapacitated adult, and college students in approved job training programs that end by June 1998 will be exempt from work search activities.

- Higher Resource Allowance: To help make work pay, WorkFirst participants will be allowed to keep 50 percent of their earnings before the state begins reducing their assistance payments. WorkFirst participants also may possess a vehicle worth $5,000 (up from $1,500) and $3,000 in savings (up from $1,000) to help them become financially stable.

In preparation for these changes, the state has already taken steps to expand the availability of child care to those in need, using approximately $100 million in additional funding appropriated by the governor and Legislature, for a total of $300 million this biennium.


To address the problem of unpaid child support, which often leads single parents to seek public assistance, the Department of Social and Health Services recently began sending warning notices to 55,000 parents whose child-support payments are past due. Under the new WorkFirst law, the state is authorized to suspend driver's licenses, professional licenses and other types of licenses if a person falls six months behind in his or her child-support payments.


"WorkFirst sets a higher standard of personal responsibility and involvement for everyone - parents, the state, the business community, and especially those who receive assistance," Locke said. "It's great to see public employees and private businesses step up to that challenge. Every citizen will benefit by making WorkFirst a success in Washington State."

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