Workfare eases loss
of welfare for some

The training program has helped
a handful who lost their benefits

By Gordon K.Y. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Rochelle Domagsac is thrilled about her $7.50 an hour clerical job at Paradise Food and Beverage.

The single mother from Nanakuli, who was laid off from a job in January, today is responsible for helping put out the company payroll.

Equally happy is Ramona Crawford, jobless for seven years while raising four children on her own.

Not only is Straub Hospital paying her $10 an hour, she has taken her first step toward her goal of getting a permanent job in the medical field.

The two were among 900 Oahu residents who lost welfare benefits this spring and took advantage of the city Workfare Job Training Program.

Domagsac and Crawford were among the fortunate few to stick with their assigned companies or government agencies.

The city could not provide immediate statistics, but officials said fewer than 10 percent of participants were hired after completing the training program.

The program was created by the administration of Mayor Jeremy Harris in response to a reduction in federal aid to welfare families.

Georgina Yuen, deputy director for the Department of Community and Social Resources, said the intent of the $420,000 program was not to find jobs for all the participants.

"We have to go back and look at the original purpose of the program, which was to provide them with job-readiness opportunities," Yuen said. "We gave them training to get back into the employment network."

Ernie Martin, special projects planner for the department, said the initial apprehension by some companies was quickly eased.

"The reports we got back were that all of them were very pleased with what we provided them."

Each participant received pre-job training sponsored by the city and was paid for working once a week in either a commercial, nonprofit or government agency.

Martin said the key to the project was the pre-employment training, because many participants had been out of the job market for a while or had never worked.

"Some of the skills, like showing up on time, dressing appropriately for the job ... made a difference," he said.

Crawford said she was pleased by the program. "There are people out there who are willing to give the chance, but we have to be able and willing to make an effort to make it work," she said.

Handsford Chock of Kaiser Permanente's human resources department said the medical company hired six of its roughly 35 training program participants.

"We were impressed with the quality of these people," he said.

About 45 businesses got involved -- from banks to hospitals to fast-food chains. Twenty-one nonprofit groups also took in participants, as did 29 federal, state and city agencies.

But not all were happy with the progress of the Workfare program. Councilwoman Donna Mercado Kim criticized the project for not offering enough training.

"We need a more long-range and comprehensive type of training that will ensure a higher place percentage," she said.

Kim said she wants to know what happened to the 90 percent of participants who did not get permanent jobs.

Yuen said about $200,000 remains unspent from the Workfare program. The administration and the mayor must decide what to do with the remainder, she said.