Private Group to Help Welfare Mothers Work

Just weeks after the announcement of a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the nation’s welfare system, a group said Monday that it is launching a privately financed program that will move mothers in the area from welfare to work.

Even with the added funds for child care and medical insurance that will be available through government programs, a changed welfare program will not be enough to help the transition to the working world, said Lupe Anguiano, a former Roman Catholic nun who has spent 15 years helping welfare recipients help themselves.

Rather, Anguiano said, what is needed is a more comprehensive approach, one that she said her program can provide in the Boyle Heights area with a relatively meager $220,000 budget. She wants her program to prove what she already knows--that young, healthy, intelligent welfare mothers want the dignity and independence that come with having jobs.

“These women want a better life, they want a better future for their children,” Anguiano said.

Anguiano’s nonprofit group, National Women’s Employment and Education Inc., received $160,000 from the United Way and a pledge of support from Southern California Gas Co. Vice Chairman Richard Farman on Monday.

Anguiano hopes to have a staff of seven in place by January to serve 12 to 15 women each month in four public housing projects in the Boyle Heights area.

Five weeks ago, the government announced its first major overhaul of welfare nationally since the 1930s. Under the changes, the government will provide $3.34 billion nationally over the next five years for training and education. Three weeks ago, Los Angeles County began a parallel $43-million yearly program known as GAIN. A major objective of each is to help individuals break the grip of dependence on welfare.

In Los Angeles County, 193,709 families received Aid to Families With Dependent Children in August. More than 95% were headed by single women, according to the county. A total of 544,574 people were being supported by AFDC, about 36% of California’s total.

Anguiano ran programs in New York, Texas, Colorado and Arizona, and she said she believes that government programs alone cannot do the job. AFDC mothers, who have an average 2.5 children, experience difficulties adjusting to the working world after many years of government dependency.

Anguiano’s program will provide job listing, counseling for welfare recipients, a four-week orientation to the working world, references for job training and education if needed, and close follow-up in the first year of employment.