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Welfare to Work

Consider the case of Carol Brown (not her real name), a single mother participating in a Bay Area county welfare-to-work program. Brown completed a six-week job-training program and obtained a position at a shopping center a few miles from her home. The problem was she had to be at work by 6 a.m., but buses to the shopping center did not begin running until 8 a.m. The result: Brown was forced to give up her job because of the lack of transportation and is now back to square one, being retrained at the center for another job.

To avoid such unfortunate situations, MTC has been leading an effort for the past two years to help implement welfare reform in the Bay Area. Focusing on the vital role of transportation for welfare recipients as they become wage earners, MTC is collaborating with transportation providers, social service agencies, employment training centers, community organizations and other stakeholders in the nine Bay Area counties to identify transportation barriers and help develop solutions that will assist welfare recipients access jobs.

In December 1999, MTC and county social service agencies hosted a regional welfare-to-work summit meeting that drew more than 100 transportation and social-service policymakers to discuss transportation issues faced by welfare recipients and other low-income persons when they join the workforce. The expense of public transit, difficulties of carting children to and from day-care centers and after-school care on the bus or train, and problems of traveling to early- or late-shift jobs or jobs that require multiple transfers on transit were among the issues discussed.

"One of the most important results of the summit," said MTC project manager Deidre Heitman, "was recognition and agreement that the transportation and social service agencies need to work closely together on ways to improve access to jobs and other support services for welfare-to-work participants." She said MTC plans to host a follow-up summit meeting in the coming months.

In another initiative, MTC is creating a series of GIS (geographic information system) maps for Bay Area counties to show concentrations of welfare recipients' home addresses, potential job sites, licensed child care facilities, subsidized housing sites, job training locations, major medical facilities, and transit routes and bus stops in each county. The maps indicate how well existing transit services are meeting the needs of welfare-to-work recipients and pinpoint gaps in the services.

MTC also is providing funds to help counties develop transportation plans for their welfare reform programs, and is producing resource guides for county social service workers that provide detailed information on transportation services in all Bay Area counties. MTC now intends to develop a regional plan that will identify transportation services needed by welfare clients traveling to jobs across county borders or transit districts.

In a related effort, MTC is coordinating Bay Area applications for job access grants that will be awarded through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The FTA provides 50 percent matching grants to local governments, transportation providers and nonprofit organizations to develop new and expanded transportation services connecting welfare recipients and low-income persons to employment and support services. Last year, four Bay Area transportation projects received grants totaling approximately $1.1 million. The Commission will select proposals in March as candidates for this year's round of FTA grant funding.
-- Marjorie Blackwell

Contents

• Front Page
• Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century - Funding Prospects
• Interview with State Senator John Burton
• Welfare to Work
• Legislative Hearings
• Project Updates
  • San Mateo Bridge Widening
  • Tasman Light-Rail Line Rolls Into Operation
• News Briefs
  • Bridges on Display
  • MTC Awards "TLC" Grants
  • Region Pays Respects to AC Transit General Manager