GOOD WELFARE-TO-WORK MODELS ALREADY EXIST

Cape Girardeau County's efforts to create its own model for moving more and more residents into the workplace is being touted around the state and around the nation as something to keep an eye on. The Welfare Reform Task Force wants to prepare former welfare recipients to be good employees and wants to make sure there are good jobs available.

In an analysis of Cape Girardeau prepared for the task force by a Boston consulting firm, the local welfare-to-work effort is shown to have some weak spots, particularly in the area of coordination and communication.

But the good news is that an effort is being made and, in the end, is likely to produce jobs for people who have little or no work experience and who, without the efforts of the task force, would never be employed. There are examples of programs that work already in the community. The task force should focus on them and find ways to expand their scope rather than seek more layers of bureaucratic involvement.