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Budget cuts could hurt services to unemployed

Brian Wilkinson

(Updated: Thursday, May 19, 2011, 12:00 AM)

Vital services provided to businesses and the unemployed through the Madera County Workforce Investment Board are in jeopardy of being cut July 1.

Headquartered in Madera, the county office also has an assistance center in Oakhurst at 41969 Highway 41, adjacent to El Cid Restaurant, offering labor market information, résumé preparation, job placement assistance, on-the-job training and occupational skills training.

The House Appropriations Committee introduced and passed a bill that could eliminate $3.6 billion in funding for state and local programs under the Workforce Investment Act. Although the bill was defeated by the senate, the program is not totally out of the woods.

"We seem to be a target, not because we are not valuable, but because the Workforce Investment Act has been put on the back burner behind health care, immigration, Iraq, Afghanistan and other issues," said Elaine Craig, executive director of the Madera County Workforce Investment Board. "We have a lot of champions in the house and the senate but this budget is really a balancing act."

Craig said, depending on the federal budget, there is the possibility that the Oakhurst office could be closed or downsized. She said the Madera office is moving from a 15,000-square-foot space to a 6,000-square-foot space to save on rent and overhead.

Craig said the downsizing is unfortunate but it is the "fiscal reality."

"This possible elimination of funding will end America's long history of investment in the nation's workforce development system just as workers and businesses struggle to recover from one of the worst economic downturns in American history," said Bob Carlson, chairman of the county Workforce board for the past four years and a board member for 15.

Carlson, executive manager of services and sales for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Merced, says that for the past 35 years, government-funded employment and funding programs have been available to provide training, placement, services and support to more than 148,632 Madera County residents.

"Since the start of the intense recession that our region and our county are still grappling with ... we can hardly afford to turn our backs on our friends and neighbors at this time," Carlson stated in a letter sent to the Star.

The Oakhurst office has been open for 25 years.

Jasna Kuvacich-Hendershott, vocational and career specialist, and Morgan Voorhis, part time business services representative in the Oakhurst office, have seen the need for services grow in recent years.

"The current labor market has been volatile and depressed, and we are presently seeing between 180 and 240 clients a month, a healthy increase from three to five years ago," Kuvacich-Hendershoot said.

Kuvacich-Hendershott feels it would be a big loss for the Mountain Area if the office was to close. "It would be sad and detrimental to our clients in the Mountain Area if this office was to ever close."

Oakhurst carpenter Chad Nielsen needed assistance during his one year of unemployment when the housing construction industry crashed. With the help of the Oakhurst Workforce office and Veterans Affairs, he was able to attend a Fresno truck driving school.

"I had to find a way to support my wife and two at-home children," Nielsen said.

Nielsen graduated from the five-week trucking school on April 15 and was hired by Knight Transportation on April 18.

He said Kuvacich-Hendershott pointed him in all the right directions to get assistance.

"There is no possible way I could have accomplished this without the help from the workforce office. Workforce paid the $4,000 for the school and for my gas to attend school with the help of a veteran's grant."

Davinder Bhalla, a building contractor who was unemployed for almost two years and did not receive unemployment insurance, said it was the emotional part of being unemployed that Kuvacich-Hendershott helped him with.

"Being unemployed was the low point of my life and I was ready to give up," Bhalla said. "She listens to what families are going through and understands how tough it is. Jasna spent a lot of one-on-one time with me and helped me get out of the depression of the situation and lifted me up out of that dark hole."

Bhalla, a seven-year resident of Oakhurst, is married and the father of two children. He is thrilled that he recently landed a job with a solar company. He also received his Class A drivers license, which enables him to drive a fire truck for Mariposa County -- "a lifelong dream of being a fire fighter."

On the advice of Kuvacich-Hendershott to get involved with the community, Bhalla volunteered as a instructor with the Mountain Area Ski School at Badger Pass.

"It's important to get out a meet people and get involved with your community when you are out of work,"

Kuvacich-Hendershott says the need for the office is greater than ever due to the economy, and the office has many success stories assisting area residents find employment over the years and enhancing their educational skills.

"Some of the people we serve do not have access to the Internet for job searches and because they are out of work can not afford the gas money to go get assistance at the Madera office. It would be a great hardship on those clients if the Oakhurst office was to close."

The Oakhurst office holds a one-hour orientation at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays.

Kuvacich-Hendershott encourages people interested in learning more about the services available to attend an orientation.

Craig said she knows her program, if not totally cut, will receive a reduction for the eighth year in a row.

"My budget of $1.5 million is currently 60% of what it was eight years ago. Workforce Development is still in the president's budget but we have heard the cut may be as high as 17%."

Carlson says he commends congressional efforts to reduce the massive budget deficit but it is also the intent of congress to simultaneously stimulate job growth.

"With that in mind, the Madera Workforce Investment Board urges all businesses and residents to contact local, state and federal leaders to support the continued funding for critical workforce programs."