Goodwill Joins Welfare Reform’s Job Push

Goodwill Industries of Orange County, which has long helped people with disabilities find work, is teaming with the county to help welfare recipients get good jobs. With $1 million in state funding, Goodwill, with offices in Santa Ana, is aiming its services at some of the county’s most difficult welfare cases, offering education, training and employment programs as well as job placement assistance.

Under welfare reform law, all aid recipients are required to work. Goodwill officials said the welfare program is a natural extension of the nonprofit organization’s normal activities. “We train people with disabilities to work all the time,” said Nancy Quarles, Goodwill’s vice president of education, training and employment services. “We believe everyone can work. Individuals on welfare are no exception.”

To qualify for employment assistance, individuals must have been on welfare for at least four years and have been exempted from work under the old welfare rules due to a disability, health issue or other problem.