THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120034
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 122 lines
Linda Horsey practices her own welfare reform.
``It's not enough to say to somebody, `You can get a job! You can get out there and pull yourself up by the bootstraps!' '' said Horsey, owner of the Therapy Center, a private counseling and social-work service at 4100 Granby St.
``You've got to give somebody an opportunity to do that.'' Even if you can do it for only one person.
So, in 1994, Horsey asked Norfolk's Division of Social Services to refer five welfare recipients to her to be interviewed for a secretary-receptionist job.
She hired Janet Brown.
``She's been wonderful,'' Horsey said of Brown. ``She's extremely conscientious and very dependable. I never told her this, but I was looking for somebody who could be as committed to making this organization work as I am. And, if I was God, I couldn't have created a better person.''
Brown has worked out so well, that Horsey has promoted her to office manager, a move accompanied by two pay raises.
``Things have come a long way since I've worked here,'' said Brown, 35, the mother of one child.
She now earns $6.75 an hour for her 30-hour week, has moved out of public housing and, with her fiance, hopes to buy a house someday.
Horsey benefited, too.
She found a combination of financial incentives for hiring someone from the welfare rolls: two programs that offset part of Brown's salary for a few months and federal tax credits. The latter has not been renewed by Congress.
``That helped spur me to put my money where my mouth was,'' Horsey said of the incentives.
There also was a personal side to Horsey's desire to help. She'd seen welfare from the inside.
``I had left my husband and I was seven months pregnant,'' said Horsey, who moved here from New York City in 1986. ``I had to go on public assistance because nobody would hire me. Believe me, this was something I never had any intention of ever happening in my life.''
Horsey returned to the workforce with jobs at the YWCA and Norfolk public schools before going into business. Along the way, she earned her doctorate in education administration from Columbia University.
Still, Horsey had some misgivings about hiring someone on public assistance.
Social Services, she said, emphasized that businesses should try to keep former welfare recipients as employees, not lay them off after the financial incentives expire.
``This initially struck me as scary because I was thinking, `What if this person doesn't work out?' '' Horsey said.
Horsey met with Charles Minor, work-experience coordinator for Norfolk Social Services. Minor spoke candidly of the risks and benefits.
``I explained that our clients are like everyone else,'' Minor recalled. ``Some have little or no work histories, others have worked. Some have had a calamity or adversity. But many have had training.''
Norfolk Social Services also prefers to attract employers who want first to provide job opportunities to welfare recipients.
``We want people to hire welfare recipients on their own merit,'' said Suzanne Puryear, Norfolk's human services director. ``We do not say to businesses, `Hire them because you can get a tax credit.' We say, `Hire somebody because of what you need, and oh, P.S., there's this incentive package.' ''
Minor screened the applicants to find those who had the job qualifications Horsey desired.
Important characteristics, Horsey said, included the ability to work without direct supervision and having initiative to solve problems.
Even though Brown was not as good a typist as the other candidates, she fit the bill for independence and punctuality, Horsey said.
Brown's job includes scheduling appointments, billing, typing and ordering supplies at the best prices.
Horsey has enjoyed watching Brown's growth on and off the job.
Brown, 35, the mother of one, went on welfare after losing her job as a receptionist when her employer, a doctor, closed his practice.
Her monthly allowance was $231 plus food stamps.
``People get into bad times for a lot of different reasons, reasons that aren't always of their own making,'' Horsey said. ``A lot of people don't get that opportunity to leave the system.''
Meanwhile, Brown's connections to the local community have brought intangible assets to the counseling service, which specializes in domestic abuse and violence.
``She's come with a lot of hidden talents that I didn't even know about,'' Horsey said, noting Brown's ability to make clients feel at ease in the waiting room and to suggest job sources for some.
Brown and Horsey also have helped each other with problems.
``When my car broke down, Janet let me borrow her car. When she had trouble getting a baby sitter, I said, `Bring your kid in here,' '' Horsey said. ``These are the kinds of things, to me, that increases employee loyalty, that will allow them to do that little bit of extra.''
The two women wish for each other's success. Brown wants Horsey's counseling service to continue growing; Horsey would like Brown to augment her career skills, even if it means moving on.
Brown, who has two years of college, wants to complete her degree and get a job as a social worker or probation officer.
The two have advice for employers, welfare recipients and the government.
Small businesses need to become more aware of the financial incentives available, Horsey said.
The government, she added, should expand medical benefits for people coming off welfare because many small businesses cannot afford adequate health insurance.
Large companies, Horsey said, should design diversity-programs to consider applicants with welfare backgrounds and their needs in adjusting to corporate cultures.
Brown suggests that welfare recipients become more knowledgeable of assorted job-readiness and training programs.
After losing her job in the doctor's office, Brown took free courses through Social Services and the Industrial Development Authority.
She valued her mandated community service. She was assigned to work as a receptionist for the Eastern Virginia Medical School.
While welfare may need to be reformed, Brown said, it's also a necessary service for many people.
And, when it comes to work, Brown said, welfare recipients and employers should remember ``you need to show respect to each other. It has to go each way to have a good work environment.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Jim Walker
[Linda Horsey, standing, hired Janet Brown...]
KEYWORDS: WELFARE REFORM by CNB