Couple Laud Self-Sufficiency Program Job Training, Saving, Financial Planning Help People Get Off Welfare, Out Of Debt

John and Rose Dailey, recent graduates of a program that gives families incentive to get off the public dole, have a new lease on life.

The Daileys of Port Angeles are debt-free and have improved self-esteem now that they are no longer on government assistance, John Dailey said. Being in the welfare system “was like forever being set down in the mire,” he said. “Now it is a whole new beginning.”

Dailey said his wife was on welfare before they got married, but she now has a good job at Clallam County Physicians Service after getting government-assisted educational training. John Dailey works for New Broom Janitorial Services.

The couple, who received federal housing subsidies for the past seven years, completed the five-year Family Self-Sufficiency program two years ahead of schedule. Through the program, they received training and accumulated enough money to pay off a debt of about $2,000.

Perhaps even more important, the Daileys are setting a good example for their five children.

“I think it will definitely benefit them,” John Dailey said. “Kids that grow up in the welfare system generally stay in the welfare system.”

The program, which is being offered in Clallam and Jefferson counties, is designed to get people off public housing assistance. Once they “graduate” from the program, participants can keep a portion of the money they would have otherwise spent toward rent.

Once enrolled, recipients are assigned to a case manager who helps them set goals and identify barriers to achieving those goals. Because Federal Section 8 housing subsidies require recipients to pay one-third of their income toward rent, they must pay a higher proportion of housing costs after getting a raise in income.

“Some would say that’s a disincentive to make more money,” said Tim Hockett, division director with the Clallam-Jefferson Community Action Council. Hockett’s agency is the sponsor of Jefferson County Housing Authority’s new Family Self-Sufficiency Program.

Fourteen Jefferson County residents are signed up for the self-sufficiency program, said Martin Rowe, housing division director for Community Action. The Daileys are among three families that have graduated from Clallam County’s program, which now has 40 participants, said Pam Tietz, executive director of the Housing Authority.

Dory Hutchins, coordinator of the Clallam County program, said the families have received an average of $2,000 upon graduation.

Here’s how the program works: When a family gets a raise in income from a job, instead of having to pay a higher proportion of their rent, that money is put in an escrow account. For example, if a client makes $1,000 per month, and pays $400 per month in rent, he has to contribute a $333 per month share toward rent, with the rest picked up by housing subsidies.

However, if the client gets a $100 per month pay increase, he has to fork over $33 of that money toward his one-third portion of the rent. Under the program, that $33 is put into an escrow account.

When recipients graduate from the program and become totally self-sufficient that “nest egg” is available. The money can go toward a down-payment on a home, paying off old debts, starting a business or something else worthwhile.

“It doesn’t add up to a whole lot, but it’s an incentive to get off (public assistance), instead of staying in,” Hockett said.

Rowe said clients get lots of guidance and training to increase their odds for success. If clients are having difficulty with money management, for example, they will receive specialized training on budgeting, Rowe said.

Rowe said Community Action tried to establish the program a few years ago, but it never got off the ground because of personnel changes and other reasons.

“We’ve always been working on it, but we’d never reached that point,” Rowe said.

“We are at that point; we have 14 enthusiastic participants. Really, the program is starting to happen.

“We’re really happy to finally be able to turn the corner and make some headway on this,” he said.

Dailey said training that his wife received through federal programs helped improve their family income, and the promise of money after graduating provided extra incentive.

“It’s that jackpot at the end of the rainbow, so to speak,” he said. It “is the best program that we’ve ever been in. It’s the only program that encourages you and helps you get out of the (welfare) system.”