Opening Doors by Building Bridges

Program Helps Welfare Clients By Identifying Factors That Keep Them From Working

Crystal Numan has a nice-size office with lots of morning sunlight that brightens the stacks of papers on her desk and drawings from her three children tacked on the wall.

It's a tidy space to do her work as a site leader for a Fairfax County social services office, but the office is also a symbol of how far she has come in a short time.

Two years ago, Numan left the welfare rolls after completing a program that works with recipients to identify their needs and move them into the workforce efficiently.

The program, Bridges, is designed to identify mental or physical disabilities that welfare clients have that might prevent them from getting and keeping jobs. When she entered the program in 2005, Numan was recently divorced and suffering from depression. She was looking for a little assistance to get her life back on track.

Numan, 28, now supervises a staff of two and, at nearly $40,000, makes more than she ever has.

"Depression had a hold on me," Numan said. "It was an up-and-down struggle. I had gotten to the point where I didn't leave my room. And when it was time for me to get back into the workforce, I was totally unprepared. I didn't have anything to help me do that."

The program is part of the county's welfare system, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It's paid from a block grant Virginia receives from the federal government. It works with about 150 welfare recipients a year, focusing on factors that might prevent them from getting into the workforce.

Research conducted over the past decade has shown that a significant share of families receiving welfare assistance include an individual with a disability, such as mental health conditions, learning disabilities and physical health problems. Most of the time, the mental or physical disabilities are not so severe that that person cannot work. In many cases, people might need special services so they can stay in jobs and off welfare.

"People are astounded that they had depression or [attention deficit disorder] or that their childhood issues . . . could affect them in a serious way," said Diana Reing, director of the Self-Sufficiency Division for the Fairfax Department of Family Services.

She said women with a history of domestic violence also become clients as they seek to overcome the psychological effects of abuse.

The issue is of special importance because states must step up their efforts to meet tighter work rules approved by Congress in 2006. The rules have been phased in over the past two years. Now it's crunch time for states, which must prove they continue to keep people off Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Although political leaders continue to hail welfare reform as a law that helped draw many single mothers from dependency into the workforce, many national experts have found that recipients, particularly mothers who struggle with disabilities, have not been able to keep jobs.

To address such issues, the Bridge program stresses individual counseling and therapy for clients, who are screened when they enter welfare to see whether they would be a good fit for the program. Staffed by two workers, the program works closely with the Department of Rehabilitative Services, a state and county agency that works specifically with the mentally and physically disabled to help them gain job skills and find employment. The program stresses group workshops, volunteerism and job-seeking skills.

Across the county from Numan, Danielle Diew works for the Department of Public Affairs, greeting customers on the phone and face-to-face at the Government Center. Eight months ago, Diew, 33, had just moved back from North Carolina, divorced and without a job or much savings. She had some skills; she had worked in sales. She was living with three children and suffering from post-partum depression, which led her to welfare.

Seeking a fresh start, Diew entered Bridges, taking advantage of the group sessions that refocused her job skills and counseling to get her back in the workforce. After 10 weeks, she was off welfare and had a job. She is planning on going back to get a college degree in January.

"When I got back to this area, I was still recovering and in transition," Diew said, between answering the phone and directing people to offices in the Government Center. "But these last months have been a drastic change. I didn't think it was going to happen this fast."