Section I: The Austin/Travis County Welfare-to-Work Coalition
A major welfare-to-work initiative is underway in the Capital Area of Texas. In response to historical changes in the welfare system, community leaders from the public, private and voluntary sectors of the community created the Austin/Travis County Welfare-to-Work Coalition (i.e. the Coalition). The Coalitions primary goal is to move welfare recipients into jobs and to provide them with training and supportive services necessary to keep them employed and moving towards better jobs leading ultimately to self-sufficiency. To meet this goal, the Coalition is creating a system of support and opportunities to help people transition off welfare benefits and secure sustainable employment.
The Coalition is an outgrowth of work initiated by the Community Action Network (CAN). The November 1997 CAN Welfare Reform Task Force report, Welfare Reform in Austin/Travis County: Report to the Resource Council, laid the groundwork for the Coalitions effort. The 1997 report provided critical information and analysis. Key points include:
- descriptions of recent Federal and State welfare reform legislation;
- the impact of welfare reform on recipients and the community;
- descriptions of the major categories of need as they relate to employment;
- recommendations to address the impact of welfare reform.
The recommendations in the 1997 report led to the formation of the Welfare-to-Work Coalition. This report demonstrates the substantial progress being made by the Coalition to implement recommendations made by the Welfare Reform Task Force, including:
A. Establish a group of key community stakeholders to take action to address the various local impacts of welfare reform. The tasks of this group should include but not be limited to the following:
1. Define the full scope of community needs generated by welfare reform and outlined in Section III of this report: Supportive Services, Subsistence Requirements and Workforce Development.
2. Determine strategies that will take action to address the defined needs.
3. Establish an evaluation process to determine which strategies are effective.
4. Promote and support collaborative efforts to address the defined needs.
5. Acquaint key community leaders about the impacts of federal welfare reform and the urgency to take action within three months so as to have a positive effect in the community within one year.
6. Address the requirement to find ways to immediately assist those impacted by federal welfare reform that:
- are not having their basic needs met;
- can not get jobs;
- lack literacy;
- need education and job training;
- need supporting services, e.g., housing, child care, substance abuse treatment, transportation, health care, etc.
B. Establish a mechanism to provide continuing education to the community about the local impacts of welfare reform. Special emphasis should be placed on such efforts in the business community.
The Coalition is working diligently to implement these recommendations. This report highlights the significant steps being taken by the Coalition. Nevertheless, much more work needs to be done in order to make welfare-to-work a success in Austin/Travis County.
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The Coalition Structure
The Welfare-to-Work Coalition consists of more than 80 member organizations from health and human service agencies, educational institutions, private businesses, public housing authorities, communities of faith and nonprofit organizations. All sectors of the community are engaged in the initiative. The large scope and diversity of the Coalition creates a unique opportunity to coordinate services, improve communication and utilize existing community resources in order to help participants move towards self-sufficiency.
As the Chairman of the Coalition, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson presides over the Steering Committee and guides the Coalition. The Coalition members have shown their commitment by participating in weekly meetings and involving their staff members in the process.
Three action committees work on different issue areas: Workforce Development, Supportive Services and Subsistence Requirements. The three issue areas are equally important components of a continuum. Together, they form a comprehensive and coordinated system designed to place participants in jobs and support them in their transition to self-sufficiency.
Over the past several months, the committees identified the specific needs of TANF and food-stamp-eligible recipients as they move towards self-sufficiency. These needs include education, job training, job placement, transportation, health care and case management/mentoring.
The action committees also studied the capacity of the community to serve these residents as they move off public assistance. In doing so, they identified existing service gaps, designed strategies to address these gaps, identified organizations providing services; and began estimating associated costs. The committees work was integrated into a coordinated plan to place individuals in jobs with the support services necessary to maintain productive employment.
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The Continuum of Service Approach
Creating a full continuum of services is an essential part of the welfare-to-work effort. Currently, the community does not offer a comprehensive seamless array of job supports that make earning a livable wage feasible for most TANF eligible recipients. Without support services like child care and transportation, there is little chance a participant will seek or maintain employment.
The Coalition has identified strategies to make the continuum possible by linking the services of community organizations throughout the transition from welfare to sustainable employment. Coordinating services also helps to eliminate duplication of efforts in the community. The Coalition has created a forum in which community organizations work together rather than compete for resources.
The continuum of service approach also addresses the needs of the working poor. These individuals and their families are often one paycheck or one medical emergency away from needing public assistance. They earn less than the livable wage and often work several jobs to make ends meet. Their needs are similar to the needs of many welfare recipients. For example, preventive assistance and transitional benefits are critical to the working poor as they strive to gain self-sufficiency. The Coalitions action plans include the working poor as a target population in need of services.
Homeless individuals are another group in need of the continuum of support offered by the Coalition. The Coalition model addresses the needs of the homeless and offers strategies and action plans to move them into jobs.
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Welfare-to-Work Grants
The need for additional resources fostered the development of a funding-focused subcommittee known as the Austin/Travis County Welfare-to-Work Consortium. Austin Community College and the City of Austin, in collaboration with Travis County lead this group. Similar to the Coalition, the Consortium is a diverse group of 38 community stakeholders. Its members include employers, educators, governmental officials and leaders of community based organizations.
The Consortium is applying for a $5 million welfare-to-work competitive grant administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant would be used to address the long-term employment needs of 750 persons in Austin/Travis County. The participants fall into the following target categories: public housing residents; Section 8 and other subsidized housing residents; individuals needing substance abuse treatment; qualifying non-custodial parents; and learning disabled individuals. While the Welfare-to-Work Coalition would benefit from the grant, its work in the community does not depend on it.
In late August, a $1.5 million welfare-to-work formula grant will be allocated by the State of Texas to Austin/Travis County. The Capital Area Workforce Development Board, which has responsibility for Austin/Travis County, will administer the grant. These funds will help the Coalition implement its plans to move welfare recipients into work and self-sufficiency.
The Austin/Travis County Welfare-to-Work Coalition strives to be at the forefront of Americas journey towards a transformed workforce system. We believe the commitment to a collaborative, coordinated effort with shared responsibilities among all aspects of government, education, community organizations, business and industry is the only way to address this huge community problem.
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