by Frank Mejia, Employment Services Division Chief
This CalWORKs/Welfare to Work (WTW) participant's letter, sharing his perspective on the difference our JOB$ program has made to him and his family, really drives home the importance of our agency's work. Please read on for the letter, followed by a brief overview of how the program works.
Client letter
My name is [redacted]. In October of 2016 I was detained by law enforcement and my two boys were placed with family. The charge I received, after a couple of weeks in jail, required I complete a six-month outpatient program. At the time, I was homeless and unemployed. A CWS case was also opened.
Up to April 2017 I struggled with sobriety, unemployment, and finances. My continued involvement with the JOB$ program landed me a job at [redacted] as a general maintenance worker in early April 2017. Being employed there provided me with stability and introduced me to a whole other group of supportive people.
From that point on, I excelled. I remained sober, completed my treatment program, and was released from a live-in sober living home. My CWS case was closed, and I gained full custody of my children. I now live with them in a stable environment I am capable of maintaining, and the three of us are very happy.
If not for the JOB$ program and the employment opportunity the program offered me, I would not have had the opportunity to return to being the father figure I was before for my children. I am very grateful to the program, and appreciate each individual's involvement in helping me achieve and reach the point in life I'm at today.
Thank you on behalf of my children and I.
--A Client
About the program
Santa Barbara County’s Paid Work
Experience Program, also known as JOB$, offers local businesses an opportunity to have
extra-help in the workplace while offering important real life work experience
to our WTW participants. We have many work sites throughout the county at
various public and private organizations to gain real life work
experience. Program participants are mentored by wonderful and caring
site supervisors, and have an opportunity to learn basic workplace habits from
co-workers at the site, all while earning a minimum wage. The funding to
pay for their salaries comes from a separate pot of funds we receive from the
state.
Subsidized employment programs from across the nation have been studied and evaluated for many years, and the results continue to consistently report that a paying job (including subsidized jobs) has greater success in ultimately ending the cycle of dependency on welfare. In Santa Barbara County, we have greatly expanded the use of this program component quite successfully.
Subsidized employment programs from across the nation have been studied and evaluated for many years, and the results continue to consistently report that a paying job (including subsidized jobs) has greater success in ultimately ending the cycle of dependency on welfare. In Santa Barbara County, we have greatly expanded the use of this program component quite successfully.