Welfare-to-Work Program

Re “First Things First in Welfare Program,” Commentary, Oct. 5:

Beginning April 1, the managers and staff of the Department of Public Social Services began transforming an agency of over 10,000 employees, which for decades was focused almost exclusively on issuing welfare payments, into a client-centered service organization with a much broader mission--to help families become economically self-sufficient.

We are proud of our new welfare-to-work program and the DPSS staff, but most of all, we are proud of the success of the participants. Just since April, over 19,000 parents who enrolled in the program have gotten jobs.

It is disturbing that representatives of organizations that have actively participated with us in designing and implementing the program and are aware of the size and complexity of the task chose to submit such a misleading and negative article based on just a few months of experience. For example, while it is clear that serious family and medical problems will need to be addressed in some cases, the data presented in the article on domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health problems of welfare recipients were cited out of context and do not necessarily reflect the current needs of our population. Also, the authors failed to mention that beginning last month, we began pre-screening for substance abuse and mental health problems on the first day a new participant is enrolled, and treatment is mandatory if a professional clinical assessor recommends it. Finally, since the program began, it has been our policy to immediately refer families for specialized services if we know they are in crisis due to domestic violence.

The article also inaccurately stated that no employment services are provided until a participant is rejected by 50 employers. All enrollees attend a full-day self-esteem workshop followed by 40 hours of classroom instruction on job-hunting skills. Implementing the welfare-to-work program has been a monumental task and has involved not only DPSS and other county departments, but hundreds of other groups, including community-based service organizations, cities, community colleges, the faith community, individual businesses and business organizations.

LYNN W. BAYER, Director

DPSS, L.A. County