Cali Readers, Is This True, Let Us Know
Posted by familycourtreform06 on January 27, 2008
By JAMIE GENTNER
Photo by Deborra Brannon – Siskiyou County Human Services Interim Director Katherine O’Shea, left, and Program Manager Debbie Walsh, right, give the annual CalWORKs report to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 4.
Daily News Staff Writer
SISKIYOU COUNTY – The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors were recently given a year-end review of one county Department of Human Services program that aims to make people feel valuable and self-sufficient once again, according to Program Manager Debbie Walsh.
That program is the California Work Opportunity Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), California’s Welfare to Work program.
’The program is individual-based so that families get what they need,’ Walsh said. ’We tailor the plan to them so we can help them through whatever they are facing.’
Eligible families are given a monthly cash aid allotment based on their family size, as well as assistance with transportation, clothing and job skills.
But clients only receive what assistance they want and are willing to work for.
’This is not a handout; they have to work for it,’ Walsh said. ’It’s their plan, not ours. They have to want it. We just help them make the steps to get through what they need to and to see just how successful they can be.’
To be eligible, clients must meet work requirements of 32 a week for one-parent families or 35 hours a week for two-parent families, have dependent children, meet deprivation requirements (a deceased or absent parent, incapacitation, etc.) and have resources and income that falls within program regulations (no property over $2,000).
After determining eligibility, clients meet with Human Services staff to develop a plan that is geared toward their needs.
To do so, Human Services partners with the county’s Department of Behavioral Health, Workforce Connection, the Siskiyou Child Care Council, Siskiyou Domestic Violence and Crisis Center, College of the Siskiyous, family resource centers around the county and other county organizations.
Walsh said the program has had ’great success.’
The number of cases Human Services deals with each month has been cut in half in the past 10 years. Walsh shared several success stories with the supervisors, and she said many clients have gone on to get degrees in their desired fields.
’We try to provide them the opportunity to follow their dreams,’ she said. ’We’re here to get them through tough times and get them back on their feet.’
In order to fulfill that commitment, Human Services staff members brought a proposal to the supervisors in December requesting staffing changes they felt would allow them to better serve their clients and raise program participation rate.
To find out why that is, look for the second part of this story in Monday’s edition.
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2008/01/25/news/7110408news2.txt
