Garden Grove : Project Started to Help Families Get Off Welfare

A $2.2-million project aimed at helping single-parent families in Buena Clinton and other low-income neighborhoods get off welfare is under way, and city officials are evaluating the first 35 applicants for a job-training program.

For the interviewers screening trainees for Project Self-Sufficiency, the toughest job is selecting applicants who are motivated enough to follow through with the training and, ultimately, become self-supporting, said John Flores, chairman of the task force formed to administer the federally subsidized program.

The 16-member task force is made up of residents, landlords, community leaders and city, county and school district officials.

“We’re encouraged by the applicants we’ve seen,” said Flores, executive director of the Orange County Community Development Council, an anti-poverty agency.

Under terms of Project Self-Sufficiency, the federal government offers rental subsidies to single-parent poor families, and local agencies provide services such as job training, child care and transportation assistance.

Cathy Baranger, Garden Grove housing manager, said there are 3,787 single parents in the city who might be eligible to participate in the project.

The city sent questionnaires to 484 people whose names were on waiting lists for housing assistance. All but 35 families were eliminated from consideration because they had moved or the parent had remarried, lacked interest in the program or spoke no English, Baranger said.

Flores said the project may be changed to make allowances for people who speak Vietnamese or Spanish.