Los Alamos' Welfare-To-Work program to be featured nationally

Contact: James Rickman, elvis@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9203 (00-136)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 17, 2000 — Los Alamos National Laboratory’s highly successful job-training program for welfare recipients will be featured at a national Welfare-To-Work conference in Phoenix this week.

Los Alamos’ "Bridge to Employment" program — which has shown a 97 percent success rate in helping welfare recipients become viable, productive workers who hold jobs with better-than-average pay — will be featured Wednesday at the Phoenix conference, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

"Bridge to Employment" program coordinators Mary VanEeckhout and Carol Smith of the Laboratory’s Materials Management Group will showcase the program to a national audience and will outline how the program has provided valuable workforce training and self-esteem skills to people who formerly had eked out an existence on state welfare rolls. With few exceptions, participants in the Los Alamos program have become full-time workers in jobs that pay an average of $10 an hour and offer critical benefits like health-care insurance and retirement plans.

"What is important to us as program coordinators is the difference this program has made in people’s lives and the difference it has made in Northern New Mexico," Smith said. "We figure that for every person we help through this program, at least two other lives are affected due to the positive effect it has on families. Through this additive effect, we believe this program has helped a couple hundred people break free from the welfare cycle."

Los Alamos’ "Bridge to Employment" started in 1997 as a pilot program that was funded entirely by the Laboratory. The pilot program trained nine Hispanic workers ranging in age from 26 to 44. Three years later, all nine original program participants are gainfully employed, seven at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one at the New Mexico State Police and one at the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department.

Based on the success of the pilot, the New Mexico Department of Labor awarded a grant to Los Alamos to continue the program. As a result, 54 people from Northern New Mexico have participated in the training, learning job skills that start from the very basics, such as dressing appropriately for work, and eventually progressing to more advanced skills such as operating a computer. In addition, program coordinators help program participants identify issues that might threaten employment stability, such as child care, money management, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and housing and transportation issues.

"It is extremely rewarding to watch participants gain new skills and grow in confidence," VanEeckhout said. "I feel honored to be involved in this effort. There is nothing like watching someone gain skills and self-esteem."

The Los Alamos "Bridge to Employment" program begins its training at the Laboratory’s mail room. There, trainees learn about the structure of the Laboratory and the importance of consistency and team work. The Laboratory’s permanent mail room employees have reached out to the trainees and have helped inspire confidence and a sense of belonging. The permanent employees also look out for the trainees in other ways on their own time -- from helping them track down leads on housing and childcare to helping trainees fix their vehicles so they have reliable transportation.

In addition to the day-to-day work that comes with earning a paycheck, trainees also learn from VanEeckhout and others about the work world, as well as from mentors who supply valuable guidance on career decisions, educational opportunities and employment advice.

Many of the program participants move into other divisions at the Laboratory or on to other companies associated with the Laboratory or the region. Some Bridge program participants have found clerical positions within the Laboratory’s Travel and Procurement groups and in the Laboratory’s Human Resources, Physics, and Earth and Environmental Sciences divisions. Others have become chemistry technicians at the Laboratory or have worked in disciplines crucial to Laboratory security and safety activities.

As for finding work outside of the Laboratory, VanEeckhout and Smith are quick to point out the value of the Laboratory forming partnerships with area employers; these partnerships have helped make the program a success. Company partners provide employment opportunities, mentors and other resources critical to the success of "Bridge to Employment."

Private businesses that have provided support to "Bridge to Employment" include Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico, Protection Technology Los Alamos, Parsons/Brinckerhoff, Los Alamos Medical Center, Los Alamos National Bank, Española Multi-Specialty Clinic, Hensel-Phelps Co., Gardner/Zemke Co., Fisher Scientific, Neptune Co., and La Tierra.

Smith and VanEeckhout hope that others who hear their presentation in Phoenix will be able to adopt some of the strategies that have been used to make Los Alamos’ "Bridge to Employment" program so successful.

"Because we feel we’ve made a difference in Northern New Mexico, we can only hope that others will learn from our experiences," Smith said. "Then, maybe in our own small way, we can help make a difference elsewhere. Helping people help themselves is what it’s all about."

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