Career Centers May Be Built at Colleges

Hoping to bolster welfare reform efforts, Ventura County supervisors on Tuesday will consider giving tentative approval to building career centers on the county’s three community college campuses.

Supervisors will look at opening some of the seven job and career centers the county is planning as part of its CalWORKS welfare-to-work program at the colleges.

Before a final agreement is approved, however, officials would meet with Ventura County Community College representatives to hammer out a detailed development plan.

The centers would be built by the college district. The county would then make lease payments to the district at fair market value, and the money would be used to offset the district’s construction costs.

In a report to the board, Ventura County Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester wrote that both the county and the college district would benefit from building some of the centers on campuses.

The colleges would get new buildings and the county would get to place its job centers near vocational classes and child-care facilities in areas with libraries and campus security.

Because only some of the seven facilities would be located at colleges, Koester wrote that the plan would not contradict the general aim of CalWORKS, which is to help as many people as possible get off public assistance and enter the work world.

If CalWORKS is successful and the county finds there is no longer a need for seven job centers, it can simply close down some of its facilities, which will be leased on a short-term basis anyway, Koester wrote.