National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: Targeted Populations
Valley County Office of Public Assistance:
Hi-Line WoRC Program
The
Challenge:
To help Native Americans on the Fort Peck Reservation find and maintain full-time employment.
The
Solution:
Develop a program that focuses both on job training and on resolving family situations that often keep people from maintaining employment.
The
Partners:
Valley County Office of Public Assistance in Hi-Line, Montana, instituted the Work Readiness Components (WoRC) program to address the needs of the Native American community.
Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) partnered with WoRC to provide GED training and remedial education to program clients.
The
Story:
Sara Lone Coyote, a high-school graduate, could not hold a job. With four children to take care of and pressure from her family to fulfill other obligations, Sara found that it was easier to depend on her mother, her brother, and a monthly welfare check than to support her family on her own. However, when welfare reform came to Montana, Sara knew that life would have to change.
When Sara first enrolled in Work Readiness Components (WoRC), a basic-skills training program, she was shy, withdrawn, and reluctant to participate. Case managers worked closely with her both in giving her the skills she needed to enter the workplace and in helping to resolve family conflicts that kept her from staying in jobs. After a placement in a work experience position in the welfare office, Sara discovered her own talent and commitment to the workplace. She answered the telephone, dealt with other participants at the front desk, and took dictation for the WoRC program case managers. She was an active and ambitious learner whose hard work impressed the entire staff.
Following her work experience placement, Sara was referred to a permanent government job in the area of agriculture - a job that she has now held for over two years. She is well-liked and respected in her clerical position and has become a crucial member of the work team.
In response to the needs of the more than 400 disadvantaged Native American families like Sara's in Hi-Line, Montana, the Valley County Office of Public Assistance instituted the WoRC Program in 1994. The WoRC program includes a number of programs to educate and increase the skills and employability of the Native American population: Learn Quest, the WoRC Quest Academy, Earn Quest, and mentoring.
Learn Quest is the education branch of the program and provides GED training as well as remedial education in partnership with the Fort Peck Community College Even Start Program.
The WoRC Quest Academy provides classes on nutrition, family stabilization, job preparation, specific job training, tradition and culture, and life skills. In order to address the history of dire poverty, mistrust of government, domestic violence, family and peer dysfunction, and alcohol and drug problems within this community, additional classes have been offered, including parenting, drug and alcohol prevention, anger management, family planning, household budgeting, mental health, and home safety.
Earn Quest locates and provides job placements for program participants. According to the tribal business office, the unemployment rate among Native Americans is 58 percent and, unlike the national unemployment figures, includes people who have stopped looking for work. In 1998, the Earn Quest Program started offering a subsidized employment program, which has served 65 people who work in placements for three to six months. Subsidized work is offered to 35 participants working 20 to 35 hours each week. Several cooperating employers participate in the program, including the local nursing home, tribal offices, tribal court, and the tribal ranch. While working, participants have the option to work on their GED or other job preparation training. A caseworker monitors and helps participants during this time. On-the-job training is available for 10 participants through community services programs that offer to teach grounds-keeping, small engine repair, maintenance, some building construction, trash pick-up, and furniture design. Other classes being added are welding, building construction, catering, basic vehicle repairs, basic home repairs, cosmetic and hair makeovers and basic upholstery.
Mentorship programs to help participants gain relevant workplace knowledge and experience, and to help participants balance their new obligations of work and training are integral to the program. They provide support for program participants who are new to the workforce and require a bit of guidance to help them succeed.
A Model of
Innovation:
WoRC confronts poverty in this Native American community by addressing every major barrier to employment. WoRC's several different programs offer education, classroom and on-the-job training, job placement and subsidies, and the crucial family support that is necessary to keep people in their jobs.
Contacts:
Linda Nybakken
Director
Valley County Office
Public Assistance
501 Court Square, Box 9
Glasgow, MT 59230
406-228-8221 (p)
406-228-4030 (f)
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