Welfare Reform a Struggle in Some Areas

Aid recipients in Orange County’s more affluent cities are getting off welfare at a significantly faster rate than those in working-class communities, according to a Times analysis of county records.

Orange County has reduced its welfare rolls by about 32% since 1997 and is considered one of California’s success stories in the historic effort to move recipients from welfare to work.

But within the county, some communities are doing better than others--with ethnically diverse areas struggling the most.

In central, urban cities such as Stanton, Santa Ana and Westminster, the number of people on welfare has dropped by 20% to 30%. By contrast, the welfare rolls in more affluent cities such as San Clemente, Brea and Mission Viejo have declined by 40% or more.

“The ability of certain people to obtain work has not been [as great as] others,” said Angelo Doti, who, as associate director of the Orange County Social Services Agency, oversees welfare reform in the county. “Of course, it depends on where you live.”

Language appears to be another key factor in the disparity: Recipients who speak English have gotten off welfare at nearly twice the rate of those who don’t, according to the county records.

Toan Hoang of Westminster, for example, believes that poor language skills have tipped the balance against him in his search for permanent work.

The former officer in the South Vietnamese army, who survived eight years in a war camp, said he is comfortable performing manual labor. In June, he was laid off when the bicycle assembly plant he worked at closed. He has applied for more than a dozen jobs with no success and now receives government aid.

At 63, with little English ability, he worries about finding work.

“I am fortunate because the economy is prosperous, and it is easier for many people to find jobs,” he said through a translator. “I’m old, though, and there’s not enough time for me to learn English. But I’ll try. I want to work anywhere.”

Hoang’s case helps explain the geographic divide within Orange County when it comes to welfare reform. Consider:

* In the western part of the county, there are more two-parent homes than elsewhere. Two-parent households traditionally have better luck getting off welfare than families with one parent, Doti said.

* More affluent South County areas offer higher-paying jobs than other regions.

* Many people on welfare do not have cars, so those living close to key bus routes have a better shot at finding jobs.

* In the central county, undocumented workers have encountered particular trouble finding jobs.

“Illegal immigration is a barrier to people who want to work and are able to work,” said Pam Boozan, who directs the county’s Santa Ana regional welfare center. “Those individuals do find ways to make money. Usually, though, it is not a way that leads to self-sufficiency.”

The county does not provide aid to undocumented workers. But it is responsible for assisting needy children who are citizens--even if their parents aren’t here legally.

Boozan’s office covers both Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. She said that while both cities have made strides, differences remain clear.

Costa Mesa generally has a more stable, less mobile population than Santa Ana, she said. Moreover, heads of households tend to have been educated in the United States and hold papers that allow them to work legally. Santa Ana tends to have more undocumented workers.

Welfare rolls in Costa Mesa dropped 38% compared with 27% in Santa Ana.

Some South County cities saw reductions of more than 40%. Officials said the needy in that area tend to be more educated and have more work experience at skilled jobs than those from communities to the north.

Up the freeway in Garden Grove, Dung Nguyen, 50, has been struggling to find her place in the United States for years.

She once lived a comfortable life in Vietnam. But after the war, she was forced to make her living by selling candy at a roadside stand. Then in 1996, a year after she immigrated to the United States, her husband was struck and killed by a car.

Now, she is trying to find steady work.

She attends English classes and has taken job-training classes. But she has no car and her job resume is thin. She said she is intimidated by competing against more fluent English speakers.

“I don’t know where to begin,” she said through a translator. “But I’ll take any job that I can.”