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WILLMAR - A client needs a ride into Willmar to go to work, maybe she can catch a ride on a school bus.

Someone needs clothes for a job interview, there's a whole room full of good quality used clothing available.

The Minnesota Workforce Center in Willmar found many ways like this to help welfare recipients find and hold jobs in the past five years.

Kandiyohi County contracted with the office to provide job search support for the Minnesota Family Investment Program, the state's welfare reform plan.

"When we ask a person to go out and find a job and they do, we have to support that job," said Barbara Kavanagh, financial supervisor for Kandiyohi County.

MFIP steps in with advice in resume writing and interviewing for jobs, as well as help with child care and other expenses.

"It's a complete package now," Kavanagh said.

The program has been in effect since July 1, 1997, and some clients will exhaust their five-year lifetime limit on welfare benefits this weekend.

However, many of those who wanted to and were able to work have found jobs.

"The math works out so you're always ahead working," said Pat Jacobs, who supervised the Workforce Center's program.

Many area counties contracted with workforce centers or Central Minnesota Jobs and Training to provide employment services for their clients.

Clients ranged from "folks that are really clueless about what it means to get up and be at work every day" to people who just needed a little job search advice, Jacobs said.

Job counselors and county financial workers worked closely with clients who had little or no training, she said.

"We don't give up on people," Jacobs said. "If they come in and keep coming back ... we will keep trying."

The staff held workshops on making good first impressions and balancing work and family. Driver education, computer and GED classes were offered.

A clothes drive established a room full of good, used clothing for clients to use.

At a workshop, staff members also displayed their finest thrift shop/garage sale finds - "a good lesson that even when you're working you still have to be frugal," Jacobs said.

Clients' accomplishments are recognized with gift coupons donated by local businesses.

"We kind of are silly up here. We celebrate everything," Jacobs said.

Workers have encountered some people who refuse to cooperate with the program's requirements, and they keep trying to reach those people, she said.

Financial workers and job counselors have uncovered some problems with mental illness, chemical dependency or learning disabilities.

"There was more of that than I expected," Jacobs said. The program finds help for those people, so they have a better chance of succeeding.

Whether those problems are a barrier to employment can depend on their severity. "Many people with different types of learning disabilities are out there working and supporting their families," Kavanagh said.

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