Program Helps Aid Recipients Find Jobs

Michael Carter needed a reminder that when you are trying to make an impression, it is often the little things that count.

That is why, when he was ushered into an interview last week with a representative from the Volt Services employment agency, he reached for a handshake, made meaningful eye contact and waited for an invitation to be seated.

When he walked out of the interview he had a job. Nothing fancy--temporary general labor at the Convention Center for $6 an hour. But for Carter, 42, a welfare recipient in the county’s general relief program for the past two years, it was the chance he’d been looking for.

He credits a new job skills training program designed for general relief recipients for his success.

“I had been out of work for a while and didn’t know how to fill out an application,” said Carter, who ran his own handyman business before falling on hard times. The training program staff “worked with us like we were family, and it’s made a big difference in how I present myself,” he said. “I have my feet in the door in the job market, and I feel like I can move on from here.”

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Skills most people take for granted--some so basic they may not be seen as skills--can be major obstacles for people whose psyches have been battered by unemployment. A long stretch of joblessness can crush confidence and wreak such havoc on self-esteem that the simple act of dressing neatly for a job interview sometimes has to be relearned.

The job skills program grew out of official recognition that many people on general relief need gentle coaxing, a supporting hand and retraining in the fundamentals of presenting themselves effectively.

The program began last month and is the first such effort aimed at Los Angeles County’s 80,000 people on general relief--single adults who do not qualify for most forms of federal public assistance.

The county-run program stems from a Board of Supervisors decision last June to limit eligibility for the $221 monthly general relief grants to five months in any 12-month period.

For many people on general relief, the clock began ticking on their 12 months in February. County officials hope many of them can be helped to find permanent jobs or at least, as in Carter’s case, get their feet in the employment door before their benefits run out.

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To receive the monthly cash grant, general relief recipients must put in 40 hours each month in a workfare project, often at city or county agencies. Many relief recipients have protested that these workfare jobs--mostly clerical or maintenance work--have made them little more than a pool of cheap labor. They have demanded that they be considered for full-time positions.

But word is also beginning to filter through their ranks about the job skills program, and more than 600 recipients have enrolled at the seven training sites. The voluntary program includes a five-day skills workshop and training in searching for jobs.

Each training center provides phone banks for contacting potential employers and one-on-one help from job developers who pass along referrals. Recipients can continue to use the centers after their training and their general relief grants end.

At a recent session downtown, participants were briefed on writing resumes and filling out applications. In other sessions, a client might be videotaped practicing job interviews.

The center also has collected clothing--mostly from its own staff--for participants headed out to job interviews. Officials are trying to tap dry cleaners for a steady supply of ties, shirts and dresses, and they are also looking for a source for shoes, said program director Tony Iniguez.

Each day’s session includes doses of motivation and injections of self-esteem.

“We work with them on goal-setting,” said Jill Eastman, a job developer with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which designed the training curriculum. “We want them to perceive what their barriers are and how to overcome them. They come up with their own answers and solutions.”

Tyrone Finley, 31, who was in his second day of classes, said he was already reaping benefits. He had abandoned his T-shirt and jeans for a pressed white shirt, patterned tie and corduroy slacks.

“I’m enjoying it. I think it’s helping,” said Finley, who has been on general relief for four months after on-again, off-again work as a warehouseman and shipping and receiving clerk.

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“I could probably call an agency and get something, a temporary job right now. But finding something permanent is the hard thing. I’m hoping this will improve my skills.”

During class, some trainees brought up the subject of how to handle what for them is the delicate issue of past criminal activity. Iniguez acknowledged that criminal records might hamper some of them. He said participants are urged to always be honest about their past, whether it involved criminal activity or substance abuse.

“It concerns us because some participants do have that profile,” said Iniguez. “They have to deal with it. All we can do is help them prepare for interviews, to present themselves in a way that is positive--’Yes, I have a conviction. But I’ve paid my dues, and I’m ready to participate in society.’ ”

Most participants are employable, and welfare officials say they are trying to schedule recruiters at the centers three or four days each month. On one day last week, the Volt agency took 103 resumes and hired 32 people on the spot.

One of them was Yolanda McCullough, 37, who got a job as a telemarketer. She said she has 12 years of retail experience, but after going through a difficult period had lost nearly everything, including a home.

She has been on general relief for three months.

“On a lot of the interviews I’ve gone on, people have thought I was overqualified,” she said. “But with this program, I’ve been able to recover some self-esteem. If you don’t feel you can achieve, you won’t achieve. You have to believe in yourself.”