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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 27, 1998

                        U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
                    WELFARE TO WORK COMPETITIVE GRANTS
                              MAY 27, 1998

Today, the President will announce the first round of competitive grants from the $3 billion Welfare-to-Work program he fought for in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The $186 million in grants from the Department of Labor will support 49 innovative welfare to work efforts designed to move long term welfare recipients into lasting, unsubsidized jobs. These awards are the first of three to four rounds of competitive grants to be awarded in 1998 and 1999. An additional $525 million of competitive grants funds are available for the remainder of Fiscal Year 1998 and in Fiscal Year 1999. 25 percent of the Balanced Budget Act's $3 billion welfare to work funds are to be awarded on a competitive basis, with the remaining 75 percent to be allocated by formula to the states to be used by Private Industry Councils to help welfare recipients with significant barriers to employment obtain and retain jobs.

Approximately 70 percent of the competitive funds will go to urban areas with concentrations of poverty and the remaining 30 percent will be distributed to projects in rural areas. Community-based groups, faith-based organizations, workforce development organizations, private for-profit and nonprofit employers, educational institutions, cities and counties, among others, may apply for these competitive grants. Grants will be awarded to projects in areas with the greatest need for assistance and operated by units of government and organizations with a successful track record. Projects must emphasize innovative, collaborative and sustainable strategies designed to attain quality employment, earnings, and other desirable outcomes. Community partnerships are a vital component of successful proposals. Grant awardees will have up to three years to spend the funds. Below are a sampling of the array of services, strategies,innovative collaborations and partnerships that the Department of Labor will be funding in its first round of Welfare to Work competitive grants programs.

CHARO Alliance WtW
Cynthia Flores, Executive Vice-President 4301 East Valley Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90032
(213) 266-4326
Funding: $3,999,650

The Charo project will help limited English-speaking Hispanics retain and advance in jobs through job clubs, work experience, temporary employment, on the job mentoring, and a series of professional development workshops. A portion of the WtW funds will be used to develop a project implementation manual which document the strategies, program design, processes and materials used during the demonstration phase. The project includes partnerships with the LA County and city Private Industry Councils, government and nonprofit agencies, community colleges, One Stop Agencies, and 15 supportive service providers.

Los Angeles County Private Industry Council Kenneth Kessler, Director, Employment & Training Los Angeles County Community & Senior Services 3175 West Sixth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 738-2620
Proposed Funding: $3,000,000

Los Angeles County's Noncustodial Parent to Work (NCPtW) Project will assist long-term TANF recipients end their welfare dependency by increasing child support payments from l,625 noncustodial parents of TANF-supported children. The NCPtW project will help unemployed noncustodial parents find unsubsidized employment, and underemployed noncustodial parents increase their earnings, thus enabling them to begin or increase their child support contributions. Key innovative elements of this project include: developing both parents' capacity to financially support their children; bringing together a wide range of public and private agencies; addressing noncustodial parents' legal issues, providing noncustodial parents with access to information concerning child support; and providing peer support groups to work to change noncustodial parents' attitudes about child support and child rearing. This is one of several grants awarded that target noncustodial parents of children receiving TANF.

In providing its services, the LA County PIC has formed alliances with the County Department of Social Services, the District Attorney's Bureau of Family Support Operations, the Los Angeles County Community and Senior Services Department, the Department of Social Services and the Los Angeles City and Long Beach One-Stop Centers.

Private Industry Council of Philadelphia, Inc. Mr. Kenneth Hill, Philadelphia PIC Chair Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce 1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 1300
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 963-2110
Funding: $4,351,247

This project will help create upwardly mobile career paths for two specific populations: teen parents receiving TANF and noncustodial parents. The project will assist teen parents in overcoming physical, emotional and financial barriers so they can maintain jobs, balance the demands of work and motherhood and matriculate from degree or certificate programs that support career advancement. The project will provide job readiness and skills assessment, career counseling readiness, job placement, outreach and recruitment as well as individualized case management and job retention services. The PIC will implement this project in partnership with the Community College of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, the Family Court, the Philadelphia County Assistance Office, and the Mayor's office.

Private Industry Council of San Francisco, Inc. Steve Arcelona, President/Private Industry Council of San Francisco 1650 Mission Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94103-2490
(415) 431-8700
Funding: $4,189,231

The project, "San Francisco: New Ways to Work", takes an ambitious approach to address the barriers related to city's infrastructure as well as TANF recipients' personal barriers. Transitional employment will be provided for those who need it, and people will move into jobs with decent wages that do not require long-term education and training prior to employment. The project will also look to place participants in the building trades to meet the needs of the city's construction boom. Participants will have access to hard skills training in targeted industries, on the job training, adult basic education, substance abuse and mental health counseling, child care and child care planning services as well as transportation services. The San Francisco PIC is working in conjunction with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, San Francisco Housing Authority, Building Trades Council, United Way of the Bay Area, The Small Business Network, PG&E, United Airlines, Pacific Bell, Black Data Processors' Associations, San Francisco Labor Council, CalWORKS and community based providers.

The Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development Roger W. McCauley, Executive Director
P.O. Box 787, 1 Pinchot Lane
Athens, OH 45701-0787
(740) 594-8499
Funding: $5,000,000

Designed to serve rural communities across 30 counties, this project will include the following service components as part of a comprehensive "Work First" strategy to move hard-to-employ TANF recipients into lasting unsubsidized employment: community work experience, family-focused case management services, asset building services through the use of Individual Development Accounts, development of responsive transportation and child care services, pro-active involvement of private non-for-profit entities, job creation strategies, integrated work and learning, job development and placement into unsubsidized employment, and retention and post-placement services.

The Corporation will work with Community Action Agencies, Departments of Human Services, Child Support Enforcement Agencies, Private Industry Councils their One-Stop, Veterans Affairs Offices, Adult Vocational Education providers, Community and Technical Colleges and universities, Head Start, transportation systems, substance abuse treatment and mental health providers, Small Business Development Centers, Public Housing authorities, as well as Enterprise Development Corporations.