"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

Cornwell feels that resistance to attending even the mandatory workshops is fading. "Word is getting out that we can help them make it on their own," she says.

Unit combined several programs

The Las Vegas service unit was formed in February 1987. "What we did," says Vince Fallon, Las Vegas district office manager, "was to consolidate all of the state's job search and training resources into one unit to better serve the clients and bring all of our resources to bear on the problem of putting people to work."

According to Fallon, five programsCommunity Work Experience, WIN, Title 20 Employment, Refugee Employment, and the Food Stamp Employment and Training Programwent into the Employment and Training Services Unit.

The "A-Team" staff realize that simply requiring people to actively seek employment is not going to put everyone to work. For some, additional education or training is needed. Others need work experience.

Lana Lanahan is one E & T participant who needed help in sharpening her work skills and lining up a job where she could use them. Lanahan had worked in an office before her baby was born. When divorce sharply reduced her family income, she turned to food stamps and AFDC.

Occasionally, she found work in fast food restaurants at minimum wage. It had been 5 years since she worked in an office, and although she looked long and hard, she had no recent job experience to recommend her to would-be employers.

Through a friend, she heard about the people at the E & T service unit and went to them with her problem. Within a few days, Lana was enrolled in a federally funded program called the Community Work Experience Program. She was put to work at a welfare office near her home to hone her office skills.

Fortunately, a few days before her 3-month work experience program ended, an administrative assistant job opened up and she was hired full time. Now, part of her job is to staff the information desk where she encourages food stamp applicants with her personal success story.

Staff actively seek opportunities

Counseling, encouraging, and preparing people for jobs is only part of what the E & T service unit does. Actively seeking and recruiting potential employers and gaining community and institutional support are also high priorities.

"We deal with two types of clients," says Liliam Hickey, field supervisor of the E & T service unit. "Those who need training or education, and those who are ready to work right now."

Hickey is responsible for locating and negotiating with potential public and private sector employers and those who can help train or educate food stamp and welfare recipients. A welfare worker for the past 17 years, Hickey typifies the enthusiasm for the work of the E & T service unit. "It's the most rewarding job I've ever had," she says.

Working with business and civic leaders, Liliam and other "A-Team" staff have convinced a number of local businesses that they can supply good, dependable workers.

Through their work in the community, more than 40 different kinds of contractors have been signed up as employers and providers of training and job experience opportunities.