By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Long lines formed as people waited for to use the computers with free Internet access at the NOVA Career Connection, which opened July 15.
The North Valley Private Industry Council created this new career center to assist people who may not need retraining to find new jobs.
"It gives us the opportunity to target new people who may just need access to a computer and some job listings," said NOVA Director Mike Curran. "People who can will be able to help themselves."
The center also offers résumé writing and interviewing workshops.
Curran said the computerized setup may leave more funding available for NOVA to focus on individuals who require training to land a job.
Last month, NOVA received a $5 million grant from the state that will enable about 1,000 dislocated workers to receive a full range of re-employment services. The program comprises about half of NOVA's annual budget.
"The state invested a sizable sum of money in our agency, which is strong testimony that they recognize that NOVA works," Curran said. "We are constantly evolving around the changing needs of customers. Even in a good economy, there is still a need for job retraining for dislocated workers who might need to upgrade technological skills."
Last year, NOVA received $5.7 million in funding for an 18-month period.
Yet the passage of a welfare reform bill by Congress that awaits President Clinton's signature may put a heavier burden on NOVA to creatively distribute its funding.
The bill would put a five-year lifetime cap on welfare recipients, who may seek assistance from local agencies such as NOVA for job training when they are no longer eligible for federal income support. NOVA already serves several hundred mothers on welfare through its Greater Avenues for Independence program.
There will be potentially less money available for the lowest income population in California, so intense pressure will be placed on job training partnership agencies like NOVA to devote more resources toward helping people on welfare to find jobs and training, said Virginia Hamilton, director of the state Office of Workforce Policy.
"The money is categorical in nature," she added. "You can't spend certain kinds of money on welfare recipients just because you want to. It's up to each community to assess the needs of its population and design programs around those needs. The governor can't designate welfare recipients as a community's top priority."
Curran said NOVA is also preparing itself for the passage of block-grant legislation in Congress in the next few years, which could give each state less money to work with, while also giving each governor more latitude on how to spend money.
"We, in turn, will have competing interests. Do we provide summer youth employment or retrain parents when they get laid off?" Curran said. "Our new choices will center around how we invest our limited resources in a number of employment training options. I hope the American public is willing to put a priority on sufficiently funding this new employment agenda."
With the stalls that occurred in this year's Congress, Hamilton predicted that block-grant legislation will not be passed in the next two years.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.