Supervisors Seek to Alter Welfare System

Ventura County Supervisors John K. Flynn and Frank Schillo unveiled a proposal Friday to restructure the county’s welfare system, saying that they want to work more closely with private businesses to help get people off the welfare rolls.

Their so-called “One Stop for a Job” proposal would combine local, state and federal job assistance and training programs to make it easier to prepare and place people in private-sector jobs.

The plan also calls for forming a partnership with the business community to more efficiently and effectively match workers and their skills with the right job, Flynn said. This would help reduce the need for government assistance programs and, in turn, boost the local economy, he said.

“People who are on welfare want to be a responsible force in this society, and the present system we have now doesn’t allow them that opportunity,” Flynn said. “We want to change that.”

The number of county residents receiving some form of welfare last year was 92,619, a figure that has more than tripled since 1988.

The supervisors also are pushing for an amendment to proposed federal welfare reform legislation that calls for sending grant money for social services to the states rather than directly to counties. The states would then distribute the money as they wished.

The supervisors said that if this were to happen, the county would end up losing money. They said they are seeking a waiver that would give the grant money directly to counties with populations of 500,000 or more.