"E&T" up close; a look at food stamp employment & training projects in several areas - Oklahoma, Las Vegas, Delaware, San Diego

Food and Nutrition, Summer, 1988 by Wini Scheffler

Oklahoma

I'll never dreamed I'd find a job in a place like this," says June Hayward, explaining how she came to be a secretary for the food stamp employment and training (E & T) counselor for Canadian County, Oklahoma. Hayward is one of nearly 11,000 food stamp participants who have found employment through Oklahoma's E & T program since its inception in 1985.

Her reentry into the job market seemed to be one frustrating experience after another. She was, after all, starting out with several strikes against her-her age (mid-5O's) , limited work experience, and limited marketable skills.

"I worked in a hospital before my daughter was born," Hayward says, "but they told me they weren't hiring nurses' aides right now."

Hayward had quit work after the birth of her child and devoted herself to the role of fulltime mother and homemaker for nearly 16 years. Her husband preferred that she be at home and he had made a good living, until his health failed.

As her husband's ability to work became less and less, Hayward did her best to keep the family afloat. She tried to work as a housekeeper for a local motel, but the work proved more of a physical challenge than she could handle. "We were lifting and turning mattresses, with two workers to a room," she says. "After about 5 hours, I nearly passed out."

She also worked several temporary assignments as a nontechnical medical worker, caring for elderly adults, but wasn't able to get enough work to make ends meet. Finally, after exhausting their savings, the Haywards applied for food stamps.

A first step in getting help

Things seemed to fall into place once Hayward made contact with E & T counselor Kay Crews. Crews had recently learned of a program whose goal is to provide training and work experience for older Americans.

The program-called AYUDA-will pay salary costs for up to 20 hours per week when participants are placed in training positions with nonprofit or governmental organizations. AYUDA is funded through the Salvation Army, and its ultimate goal is to prepare participants for entry into private sector jobs. Participants must be low-income and at least 55 years of age.

Crews needed someone to handle clerical duties for her, and Hayward seemed like a good candidate. Hayward was thrilled that, in this instance, her age was an asset rather than a barrier as it had been when applying for most other jobs.

Crews is teaching Hayward the various functions of the job-filing, maintaining the appointment log, and keeping thorough records. While she is in training, Hayward supplements her income by running a paper route for the local newspaper.

"She needs a full-time income," Crews says, "and I keep this in mind as I search the community for job openings-both for Hayward, when she is ready, and for my other E & T clients."

Although the people Crews helps face many of the same problems in being unemployed or underemployed, their circumstances differ. Recognizing that the same approach will not work in all cases, the state gives Crews and her counterparts in other counties considerable flexibility in working with food stamp participants.

"We've made a real strong commitment to allowing local counselors the flexibility to deal with clients on an individual basis," says Paul McTighe, an administrative officer with the Department of Human Services' headquarters in Oklahoma City.

"Our overall goal is to place clients into employment through the most cost-effective means available," he says. The state sets the parameters within which to operate, but counselors are not required to use a statespecified formula.

People's needs and circumstances assessed

Crews' initial contact with each participant includes an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. What jobs have they held? What kinds of work are they interested in? Is transportation a problem? Will finding affordable child care be a prerequisite to working a full-time job? Are there physical limitations to be considered or emotional problems to work through before the participant can be expected to be a viable job candidate?

Matching the resources needed to address these peripheral issues is as important as matching potential job openings with the appropriate people, Crews says.

Crews' 13 years of experience with Oklahoma's Department of Human Services gives her a broad knowledge of resources available through the government, but she also keeps up to date on resources available through other avenues within the community.

"A large percentage of our clients lack a high school education," Crews says, so many of their referrals are to GED (Graduate Equivalency Degree) programs.

Crews also makes other kinds of referrals. For example, when one client kept losing his job because of his temper, she referred him for therapy. "He understood he had a problem," she says. "He just hadn't done anything to alleviate it."

Then there are some people who need nothing more than to be told they have something to offer. "They are so down on themselves, they think, 'Why would anybody hire me?"' Crews uses a lot of positive reinforcement to convince them that qualities they may consider insignificant can be tremendous assets. She teaches the to sell themselves to employers.