Job Training Group Forced to Cut Back

A local group that finds work for poor people is complaining that its funding was unjustly withdrawn by the Job Training Policy Council of Ventura County, an agency that distributes millions of dollars a year to train people for jobs.

Milli Kelly of Arbor Inc., which trains and places scores of adults and youths in various jobs, said Tuesday that she was forced to lay off most of her staff and close two of three offices because she lost her funding.

“We’ve been a good program,” Kelly said. “We’ve served Ventura County for years. It’s going to really create a problem in the areas that Arbor has served.”

Arbor last fiscal year was awarded about $800,000 to train a number of youth and adult clients, but the funding was cut off late last month, Kelly said.

Jobs council officials said the funding was withdrawn because the Port Hueneme-based agency was slow in placing clients into jobs.

“When we evaluated what their contract performance was, it was less than satisfactory,” Assistant Director Phil Bohan said. “They were severely under-enrolled.”

But Kelly said she was behind in signing up clients because of a flaw in the system the job council uses to process its clients.

“We did get a late start due to their systems problems,” she said. “It would not have been a problem to complete the contract. They are using that as a major excuse.”

Arbor Inc., which Kelly said has found jobs for more than 500 people since it opened locally in 1987, has filed a grievance with the the Job Training Policy Council and the state Department of Employment Development.

An independent hearing officer will review the decision and render an opinion within 60 days, Bohan said.