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MASSCAP Statement on Senate Bill 564
We applaud Senator William Keating's proposed legislation to improve the lives of the transitional assistance recipients who fulfill their work requirements by volunteering in non-profit agencies for 20 hours a week, often referred to as community service. Senate 564 establishes a pilot job readiness preparation program to enhance the community service experience.
Unfortunately, community service by itself does not make community service workers job ready. That is, while they improve the productivity of the agencies they work for by performing discrete tasks, very seldom are their own job prospects improved.
What community service workers need in combination with work experience is a program that will help them develop and maintain the basic work skills and habits employers are looking for. State law is silent on the subject of job readiness preparation for community service workers. Senator Keating's bill fills a gaping hole in state policy.
Under the Senator's bill, two hours a week of job readiness preparation over the course of a year would be incorporated into the work experience of many community service volunteers. This includes at least two of the following activities: (1) assessment of basic educational and job skills; (2)pre-employment work maturity skills including career exploration, resume and job application preparation, interview techniques, job search strategies, and professionalism on the job; (3) coordination of the educational/job skills plan; and, (4) coordinatior of the job search process.
Since he introduced the bill in December, many elected and appointed officials have reviewed it. Most agreed that community service workers could benefit from job readiness preparation and that the two year time limit is fast approaching for the first group of transitional assistance recipients subject to the new welfare reform rules.
In addition, some had questions about the cost of the pilot program and how long it would last. In response, the Senator lowered the cost and added a provision for an evaluation with the possibility of the termination of the pilot program if it does not prove effective.
The bill was discharged from the Human Services Committee to the Senate Ways and Means Committee in April. In an effort to make his pilot program a reality for 1,000 of the 4,000 community service workers, Senator Keating and Senator Paul White offered a version of Keating's bill as an amendment to the Senate budget, earmarking $2.5 million dollars for the program. Even though the Senate did not approve the amendment on May 20, we will continue to promote the community service pilot program as a modest proposal to improve the effectiveness of welfare reform in Massachusetts.
Regardless of your position on welfare reform, one thing is clear: welfare reform, along with the community service work requirement, is a reality. Senator Keating's bill seeks to make community service as productive as possible for both the employer and employee.
--Alan C. Sax, President, MASSCAP, and, Joe Diamond, Planning and Policy Director, MASSCAP
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