Lt. Governor says federal stimulus funds will create temporary jobs for youth from low-income families in Hawaii

Video by David Corrigan

About 400 young people who live on the Big Island of Hawaii and meet certain criteria will be able to earn wages this summer, through the 2010 Summer Youth Employment Program.

Lt. Governor Duke Aiona was in Hilo on Thursday, where he announced the initiative while visiting the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Workforce Development Division Office on Kinoole Street.

Although the effort is designed to put money in the pockets of youth from low-income families, Aiona said it is also an opportunity for them to gain valuable work experience in public service jobs.

“Because competition is fierce for any job opening, young people – with their limited work experience – often have the greatest difficulty getting jobs,” said Lt. Governor Aiona in a written release. “This program provides great opportunities for individuals to get their foot in the door with many public sector jobs.”

These six-week jobs are open to young people, ages 14 through 23, who meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Attending a Title I school designated as having a high percentage of students from low-income families; or
• Receiving free or reduced price lunches; or
• In a household receiving public cash assistance; or
• In a household receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp benefits; or
• In a household with a gross annual income at or below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level for Hawaii.

The state listed the Title 1 Schools on the Big Island as Hilo High School; Honoka‘a Intermediate and High School; Kau High School; Keaau High School; Kealakehe High School; Kohala High School; Konawaena High School; Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School; Pahala Elementary; Pahoa Intermediate and High School; and Waiakea High School.

About 1000 summer jobs are expected to be created across the state. The Big Island is allocated 40% of the job slots because Hawaii County’s 10.1 percent unemployment rate is the highest of all counties in the state. The Hawaii state average is 6.9 percent.

The program is a Department of Labor and Industrial Relations collaboration with the State Department of Human Services. DHS is financing the program using “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” federal stimulus funds. The summer jobs pay $8 or more per hour and are offered at federal, state and county government offices and at non-profit organizations statewide.

The state says a minimum of $3 million in TANF funds will go to the program, with funding for Neighbor Islands totaling $1.8 million. Additional federal funds are available if enrollment in the program is larger than expected.

Starts May 24th, and the money must be spent by the end of September.

Plan to streamline welfare would save $8 million, layoff 220

Hilo, Hawaii – Video by David Corrigan

Governor Linda Lingle explains her plan to streamline the Department of Human Services by creating an Eligibility Processing Operations Division, or EPOD, within the Department.

The governor says the consolidation of all the state’s offices into two processing centers – one in Hilo, one in Honolulu – will enable people to ge their benefits (like food stamps, welfare or free medical care) quicker.

During her comments, the governor also dispells concerns that EPOD will make it easier to commit fraud.

Lingle says the state would save $8 million but would have to layoff 220 employees. There would be no layoffs in Hilo.

Lingle says the labor influenced Democrats in the legislature countered with a proposal for an EPOD pilot project on Oahu, but not the neighbor islands.

Oahu Reps. hold hearing in Hilo on “EPOD” proposal

Hilo, Hawaii – Video by David Corrigan

A large crowd overflowed into the hall at the Old Sun Sun Lau Building on Kinoole Street as Department of Human Services employees, and the residents who utilize the state’s services, gathered for a special hearing on the fate of the DHS under a new administrative plan.

The state’s House Human Services Committee, chaired by Rep. John Mizuno, held the special meeting in Hilo to discuss solutions for the situation. Mizuno was joined by Rep. Rida Cabanilla, chairwoman of the House Housing Committee, at the meeting. Both representatives are Oahu based Democrats.

The director of DHS is proposing to create an Eligibility Processing Operations Division, known as EPOD to those it will affect, within the Department. The state says the EPOD would streamline the processing of applications and renewals for public assistance and save taxpayers money. As a result, the state will be able to close 50 eligibility offices statewide, and hundreds of state workers would lose their jobs, saving Hawaii an estimated $9 million.

EPOD is modeled after the ACCESS Florida initiative, which the state says has gained national attention for its efficiency and for satisfaction ratings among both customers and government employees.

The plan has raised fear amongst the employees working under the DHS, as well as those who receive food stamps and other types of assistance. Currently, the Hawaii Government Employees Association stands opposed to the EPOD plan, as the department and the union work on coming to an agreement.

Mizuno told those in attendance that Senate Bill 2650 would block the reorganization effort, and would delay the EPOD in order to have a task force weigh in on the situation. Mizuno said he disagrees with the DHS plan, and even suggested that cases of fraud would increase due to the lack of eligibility workers, who he says provide support to prosecutors as material witnesses in such legal cases.

Mizuno heard from a number of workers and residents at the meeting, including emotional testimony from Albert Nakaji, a local orchid grower who questioned DHS Deputy Director Henry Oliva face to face, a few weeks ago in the same building, as a member of Governor’s Council of Neighbor Island Advisors for East Hawaii.

Honolulu, Hawaii - A controversial Department of Human Services proposal to consolidate public assistance services may meet a stumbling block in the form of Senate Bill 2650, a house draft to be discussed at the House Human Services Committee.

The amendment, which seeks to stop the DHS from closing all but two eligibility offices across Hawaii (one in Honolulu and one in Hilo), is being introduced by  Rep. John Mizuno (District 30 Kalihi Valley, Kamehameha Heights, Fort Shafter), who is also the House Human Service Chair. It is being heard on Thursday, March 11 at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room 329 of the Hawaii State Capitol.

According to a Mizuno press release, the bill “prohibits the use of private contractors and vendors for intake and eligibility of welfare or public assistance services in Hawaii until a report is completed by a task force to determine the impact to the 300,000 needy Hawaii residents and whether any federal regulation or policy will be violated by the EPOD proposal.”

EPOD is short Eligibility Processing Operations Division, a proposed new division that the state says will streamline operations by to handling all benefit applications, ongoing cases, and renewals for the entire state.

“I am shocked by the proposed plan by DHS to eliminate 232 employees who provide vital services to over 300,000 needy residents,” said Rep. Mizuno in the media release. “I find that the department failed to inform or work with its employees prior to this proposed plan. The department also failed to study the adverse impact to Hawaii’s needy population or determine if such a plan, which took years to implement in Florida, would violate any federal regulations or policies.” 

Sanford Chun, a Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA) representative, said that laying off the eligibility workers would “devastate an already severely understaffed department, one of the hardest hit by hundreds of layoffs last year.”
 
“Combine that with an increase in the demand for services provided by DHS as a result of the current economic downturn,” continued Chun in the media release, “and the state may find itself in non-compliance with federal or state laws, rules and subject to sanctions if eligibility functions are not performed in a timely manner. There is potential for tremendous negative impact and harm to the public served by the department.”

A few weeks ago, Big Island Video News covered a tense meeting in Hilo, where DHS employees confronted thier department heads about the EPOD proposal.

Hilo, Hawaii – Video by David Corrigan

Employees under the Department of Human services voiced their concerns, face to face, with one of their own department heads during a sometimes heated meeting in Hilo on Wednesday.

Department of Human Services Deputy Director Henry Oliva and national consultant Sandie Hoback briefed the Governor’s Council of Neighbor Island Advisors for East Hawaii about the proposed eligibility reorganization and reduction-in-force within the department. The meeting, held at the Old Sun Sun Lau Building on Kinoole Street, was well attended by the employees who will be directly affected by the proposal, many of whom caught wind of the briefing only hours before.

The State of Hawaii is proposing to create the Eligibility Processing Operations Division (EPOD) within the Department, which would streamline the processing of applications and renewals for public assistance and save taxpayers money.  EPOD is modeled after the ACCESS Florida initiative, which the state says has gained national attention for its efficiency and for satisfaction ratings among both customers and government employees.

“Given the unprecedented rapid and steep economic downturn since 2008″, said executive driector Randy Perreira in a January request for consultation to the Hawaii Government Employees Association, “soaring State revenue shortfalls, and increased applications and enrollment in DHS public assistance programs, it is imperative that we change the way DHS conducts eligibility functions as soon as possible. We must produce significant improvement in customer service, timely and accurate work productivity, and general fund savings.”

The state says the eligibility functions are the required means by which members of the public can qualify to receive DHS benefits, including but not limited to financial and nutrition assistance, like food stamps,  and Medicaid health insurance.

The state says the proposed new model would create two centralized “Processing Center” sites in Honolulu and Hilo.

“Locating one of the two Processing Centers in Hilo would not only produce some much-needed economic stimulus to Hilo,” said the Department in the consultation letter, “it would result in fewer job losses in an area where it is more difficult to find other employment.”

The site for the Hilo Processing Center has yet to be determined.

The HGEA has said that 200 state workers could lose their jobs under the proposal, and at least 50 eligibility offices statewide could close.

The workers in attendance, many of whom belong to the HGEA, believe they will face layoffs under the proposal, which is still being negotiated. They also believe such a streamlined initiative will take the “human” out of human services. The meeting was their chance to speak out.