* -«

County of Santa Clara
Social Services Agency

1725 Technology Drive
San Jose. California 951 10-1360

December 19,1997

TO:

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
County Executive

Soci^ Services Agen^

LaJ^Organizatfin^

FROM:

Yolaolcra LenierKinaiao;

Social'Services Agency
SUBJECT: ESI PROJECTS

Attached for your use and information is a chart that shows all of the existing ESI
related work groups and some CalWORKs work groups. The pages behind the
chart briefly describe each group and provide a follow-up contact. This chart will
likely be updated and disseminated several times during 1998.
AL:mer
Attachment

Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage. Blanca Alvarado. Peie McHugh. James T. Beall Jr.. S. Joseph Simiiian
County Executive: Richard Wittenberg

5010

12/97

EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT INITIATIVE PROJEOT CHART
♦

SANTA CLARA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

I
BOARD'S Children & Families Committee

Supervisors Alvarado and Simitian
Citizenship Project
25

OFFICE OF COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Business Caucus

with Supervisors McHugh,
Simitian, Gage

SSA

SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY ADMINISTRATION
Yolanda Lenier Rinaldo, Director

24

Restructuring Task
Force
1

I

State Job Creation
Investment Fund Plan

Child

EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT INITIATIVE

23

Support Pilot

^A/DA/GAIN/EDD Partnership
2

Quarterly
Information

>

Roundtable with United V/ay,

Career Retentiori^

SSA & SV Council NonProfits

& Employment Support Task

2/98

Force

12

3
Client

>

Adult

Leadership Task

Ed/ROPC

Force

Transportation Planning ^

n

Grant wrth METRO Transportation
CaWVORKs

Community n,
Colleges CalWORKs

Implementation

Plans

Task Force

13

.

Commission
4

South
^
County Pilot San
Martin/Gilroy

21

10

Immigration Task

Child ^
Care

Dept, of Labor

Force

Welfare-to-V7ork $ to PICs

5

Collaborative

14

CALWORKS

20

Children & Youth

PLANNING

Task Force
9

CalWORKs

Drug,

Implement Advisory

Alcohol,

Committee to be formed

Planning with United

Mental Health

1/98

Woy/Food Bank

Collaborative

15

Safety Net ^

6

19

United

Instructional & Job ^
Training Plan Colleges,

Diversion

Committee
18

COE, Adult Schools,
Month In-

/

Service Training for
Community Providers,

n

(
Way/Refugee and CountyX
General Fund Welfare-to-Work
\

Collaborative
8

/

NOVA Planning
InitiotYe with City of

PICs/Refugee 1 -3/98

Santa Clara

16

7

SSA/SCV Council of NonProfits

V

Collaboration 1/98
17

y
Prepared by A. Lundeberg

SUMMARIES OF ESI PROJECT CHART

Social Services Agency
1.

Restructuring Task Force
This is an internal Social Services Agency(SSA)work group whose composition is
50% labor and 50% management. This work group has defined an agency
mission statement and is developing pilot restructuring models with the aid of the
consulting firm of Ridenaur/Rivard. Additionally, several unique efforts relating to
welfare reform changes have been launched by Agency staff. These efforts along
with a separate chart will be highlighted in the February, 1998 ESI Update Report.
For more information on restructuring, contact Mary Helen Doherty at 441-5656.

2.

Child Support Pilot
This is a new partnership between the District Attorney’s Office of Child Support
Enforcement, the Employment Development Department, both Job Training
Partnership Act programs, and the Agency’s Welfare-to-Work program, non
custodial parents who are not paying child support and referred for vocational
training and job placement services. An expansion proposal is pending. For more
information, contact Mary Murphy at the District Attorney’s office, 922-1616.

3.

Career Retention and Employment Support Task Force(CREST)
The CREST Task Force is comprised of fourteen (14)organizations and the
Agency’s Welfare-to-Work program that provide education, training and supportive
services for CalWORKs participants. CREST’s focus on employment retention
has resulted in the October launch of the 24-hour advice line “Jobkeeper” and two
Jobkeeper fairs targeted towards cash assistance recipients who are working and
may lose their cash aid due to the implementation of CalWORKs. For more
information, contact Denise Boland, CREST Chairperson, at 953-1437.

4.

Transportation Planning Grant
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has received limited funding to plan
for welfare-to-work. Santa Clara County was selected as the site for this short
term planning project. Outcomes will include the development of enhanced “trip
planning” tools for individuals who work with CalWORKs participants. For more
information, contact Ann Flemer at Metropolitan Transportation Commission, or
Alette Lundeberg at 441-5826.

5.

Immigration Task Force

This long standing task force has been working on advocacy as well as welfare
reform programmatic issues that have affected immigrants. Current projects
include surveying 400 immigrants who lost their food stamps as a result of federal
changes to determine level of need of food assistance. For more information,
contact Richard Hobbs at 299-2206.

6.

Safety Net Planning Committee

The Safety Net Committee, a partnership between the Sociai Services Agency and
the United Way, was formed to address the needs of families adversely affected
by welfare reform. This committee, which includes the Food Bank, private
nonprofit organizations, and churches, has worked to expand food bank
distribution sites and to expand language capacity. For more information, contact
Mary Jane Smith at 441-5707.

7.

NOVA Planning with City of Santa Clara

In August of 1997, the North County Job Training Partnership Act(JTPA)delivery
system known as NOVA, dedicated funding towards a small city planning initiative
in response to welfare reform. The NOVA Private Industry Council selected the
City of Santa Clara and has hired a consultant to develop a welfare-to-work needs
assessment through consultations with key stakeholders during the first phase of
this project. For more information, contact Mike Curran at 730-7248.
8

United Way/Refugee/County General Fund Collaborative

The United Way’s Charitech Civic Venture Fund, along with the County’s Refugee
and General Fund programs, all committed first-time funding for innovative welfare
reform pilot programs. In order to ensure maximum communication and
collaboration, the three funding sources have initiated quarterly collaborative
meetings with all of the funded service providers. For more information, contact
Eileen Stanley at 345-4349.
9.

Children and Youth Task Force

This task force has been focusing on the needs of young children and youth.
Work has focused on a variety of issues, including a current effort to move the
approximately 200 out-of-school AFDC/TANF teens back into school. For more
information, contact Jolene Smith at 441-5613.

2

10. South County Pilot

This ongoing project was developed largely by the Gilroy Collaborative. A site for
a multi-service center is in the works for Gilroy. In the meantime, a center was
recently launched in San Martin.
11.

Client Leadership Task Force

This task force was formed by Betty Siemer, the Executive Director of Second
Start, and has been a very valuable asset in ESI planning. Task force members
have served as advisors to many of the ESI projects and have worked with the
media to dispel negative stereotypes of welfare recipients. This task force is
undergoing transition as many of the original members have moved into

employment and new interests. For more information, contact Betty Siemer at
371-5881.
12.

Quarterly Information Roundtables

The ESI Coordinating Committee is no longer in existence. The United Way and
the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits have generously agreed to host quarterly
sessions where information and ideas can be exchanged. The first session is
targeted for February, 1998. For more information, contact Ernest Guzman at
260-3915.
13.

Community Colleges CalWORKs Plan

All of the community colleges serving Santa Clara County welfare recipients
received TANF/CalWORKs funding and were required to submit plans to the State
in November. These plans can be reviewed by contacting each college, or
through Alette Lundeberg at 441-5826.
14.

Department of Labor Welfare-to-Work Funding
Congress approved welfare-to-work funding to the states that will be administered
through local JTPA Private Industry Councils. Local allocations and final
guidelines have not yet been received. For more information, contact Ravi
Ravindran at the Silicon Valley PIC at 953-1522 or Mike Curran at the NOVA PIC
at 730-7248.

15.

CalWORKs Implementation Advisory Committee

This committee will be formed by Agency staff in early 1998. Key stakeholders will
be invited to meet monthly to discuss the progress of CalWORKs implementation.
For more information, contact Alette Lundeberg at 441-5826.
3

16.

Instructional and Job Training Plan

As a part of AB 1542, the legislation that established CalWORKs, counties are
required to develop and submit an Instructional and Job Training Plan to the State

Department of Education by March 31, 1998. This plan must be developed by all
stakeholders in education and training. For more information, contact Alette
Lundeberg at 441-5826.
17.

Monthly In-service Training for Community

In January 1998, the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits will host monthly training
sessions that focus on technical changes to the welfare system prompted by
CalWORKs implementation. These sessions will be tailored for service providers
working with CalWORKs participants. Training will be provided by the Social
Services Agency Staff Development Division. For more information, contact
Ernest Guzman at 260-3915.
18.

Diversion Committee

The Diversion Committee is a public/private partnership between the Santa Clara
County Social Services Agency and the UWSCC Emergency Assistance Network
Agencies. The purpose of the committee is to develop a county-wide Diversion

Services Program to divert families from CalWORKs cash assistance and prevent
them from developing dependency on public aid. For more information, contact
Mary Jane Smith at 441-5707.
19.

Mental Health/Alcohol and Drug Services Collaborative
The Social Services Agency in May 1997 brought together representatives from
the Santa Clara County Mental Health Department, Alcohol and Drug Services,
Public Health Department and Probation Department to understand each other's
system of service to the community and to form a design team that would develop
a comprehensive service delivery system for CalWORKs recipients. For more
information, contact Debra Dake at 441-5625.

20.

Child Care Collaborative

In October of 1997, the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency entered into a
collaborative partnership with the three major Alternative Payment Providers, the

three city Child Care Coordinators (Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and San Jose), Co
chairs of the Local Planning Council, and staff from the County Office of
Education. The collaborative's purpose was to develop a three-stage child care
payment process between agencies that is mandated by CalWORKs legislation.
The Collaborative has worked very diligently to create a referral system that allows
4

j

for the smooth transition of families who are currently receiving child care
payments under the old system, and a long range plan of referral for families
entering the payment system after January 1, 1998. For more information, contact
Jolene Smith at 441-5613.
21.

Social Services Agency CalWORKs Implementation Task Force
This is an internal SSA task force that is working on implementing all of the
technical changes the welfare system required by law. This includes massive
internal planning, instructions development for line staff, as well as training. For
more information, contact Susan Chestnut at 441-5590.

22.

Adult Education/Regional Occupational Training Plan

In November, the eight adult education school districts and three regional
occupational training programs in Santa Clara County gathered to determine the
appropriate service mix for CalWORKs participants. This information was
transmitted to the California Department of Education. For more information,
contact Adrian Vargas at 928-3516.
23. State Job Creation Investment Fund

The Job Creation Investment Fund was created by state law to complement
CalWORKs activities. All fifty-eight(58) counties have received preliminary
notices of allocations from the State Trade and Commerce Agency and are
required to develop and submit a plan. For more information, contact Jane Decker
at 299-2424.
24. Business Caucus

Supervisors Gage, McFlugh and Simitian have engaged key industry
representatives in a dialogue regarding strategies for developing an effective
welfare-to-work system in Santa Clara County. For more information, contact
Jane Decker at 299-2424.
25.

Citizenship Project

This project has received both county and private sector funding which has
resulted in major community efforts that have enabled thousands of immigrants to
submit citizenship applications. For more information, contact Richard Hobbs at
299-2206.

5