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April 14, 2017

New welfare-to-work program yields results

A vocational skills training program in Augusta called Breaking the Cycle has seen 60 enrollees who successfully landed jobs.

WCSH6 reported the welfare-to-work program kicked off two months ago as a Fedcap program.  According to its website, Fedcap Rehabilitation Services Inc., or Fedcap, is a Manhattan-based not-for-profit organization that provides vocational training and employment resources to those who face barriers to employment. 

Caseworkers provide participants with a vocational assessments, skills training, and employment readiness training, WCSH6 reported.

Jibryne Karter, a recently jobless single father who was receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, went through the program and is now fielding computer and IT job offers, at $25-$30 per hour.

"Ultimately, the pathway is employment and that's the path we want to lead them down. We have a whole great staff here to help everyone,” Chad Leighton, who runs Breaking the Cycle, told the station.

The program comes three years after the release of an analysis of Maine's welfare programs recommended that the state require food stamp recipients to take part in a federal work program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program recipients with extenuating circumstances, such as illness or responsibility of caring for a child under 6, to participate in training or work programs. 

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