Arc's Work Opportunity Center funding cut

Arc's Work Opportunity Center funding is cut
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Too old for school but too young to retire. That's the situation faced by individuals served by The Arc of Monmouth's Work Opportunity Center (WOC) in Long Branch.

CHRIS KELLY staff Joe Carbin was one of The Arc clients who went to Trenton to protest funding cuts to the Work Opportunity Center, where he is employed.
The WOC in Long Branch is one of many work centers that have had their funding cut due to the state's current economy slowdown.

Funding for the center's $750,000 budget has been cut by $73,000, and $440,000 has been cut from its transportation funding.

"Seventy-three thousand dollars is a lot of money to get cut," WOC Director of Vocational Services Linda Porter said last week. "All of the 160 people who attend this program do not drive. Over the 22 years that I have worked in this program, we have only had a handful of people served that could drive."

Porter said funding for WOC and similar centers across the state comes from the Division of Developmental Disabilities and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services of the N.J. Department of Human Services.

According to Porter, $1.8 million has been cut from employment centers across the state.

On April 30, six members of WOC's Self-Advocacy Group, a group made up of individuals served by The Arc, traveled to Trenton to attend a rally held to protest the cuts in funding.

Mary Jane Torrez and Joe Carbin were members of the group who attended the rally with Porter.

"We yelled out 'Save our jobs,' " Torrez, 23, said.

"A lot of people were rallying," said Carbin, 25, who is currently employed three days a week at Fort Monmouth. "Some speakers were talking about cutbacks."

Porter said the reaction to the rally was positive. Although Gov. Jon Corzine was not present during the rally, David J. Socolow, commissioner of the New Jersey Labor and Workforce Department, was.

"The governor wasn't there," Porter said, "but everyone was sympathetic to our situation.

"These are young, healthy people," Porter added. "They want to work; they have the right to work."

The Arc of Monmouth, based in Tinton Falls, is a nonprofit organization providing services and support for individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and for their families, according to the website.

In 2007, The Arc of Monmouth served 1,015 persons with cognitive disabilities, 54 with cerebral palsy, two with epilepsy and 71 with autism. The Arc's recreation department provided services to 710 people, 382 received transportation, 148 received supported employment services, and 437 received medically related services, the site continues.

The WOC provides diagnostic services to individuals with developmental disabilities.

A written report is generated that highlights areas of strength as well as areas that may need additional training. Community job samplings are conducted in this service.

This training assists individuals with developmental disabilities to develop the vocational skills and social behaviors necessary for successful employment. Areas of concern that are identified in the vocational evaluation are addressed through counseling, vocational training and additional job samplings, according to The Arc website.

Porter said the WOC, which serves approximately 160 adults daily, allows businesses to subcontract certain jobs including hand assembly, hand packaging, shrink wrapping, heat sealing, bulk mailing, mail preparation, and delivery to the post office.

In addition, WOC workers assemble and deliver customized health care kits to hospitals and state correctional facilities in New Jersey. WOC also services New York City and the surrounding boroughs as well as Philadelphia and the surrounding towns.

WOC Contract Packaging and Fulfillment provides businesses with timesaving production assembly, freeing the businesses' employees to perform other tasks and help meet customer deadlines.

But since the economic downturn, the work has been coming in at a lower volume.

"Our orders are down," Porter said. "There is not enough extra work. We are not getting our regular orders anymore."

"We haven't had a lot of work in the summer," Carbin said. "Things have been kind of slow."

While the orders coming into the WOC have slowed down, Porter and the advocates have tried other ways to keep busy during the day.

The group has led informative sessions on a range of topics, including swine flu, bullying, interview skills, and other day-today skills.

"For the last four months, we have had little or no work," Porter said. "We try to use the time to train them in other skills, like using public transportation, using vending machines and using the phone."

"We have talked about swine flu," Carbin said. "Washing your hands and keeping yourself clean.

"We talked about what to do when a bully comes up to you," Carbin said, "how to react when someone comes and pushes you around.

"Should you walk away?" Carbin added. "What should you do?"

One of the more practical lessons was the job sampling and practice interviews.

Porter said that some of the advocates were able to work with local businesses for a day to get a feel for the work world.

The interview practice paid off for Torrez, who interviewed for a position with McDonald's a few weeks earlier.

"I just looked him in the eyes and talked loudly," said Torrez, who has yet to hear whether she got the job. "It made me feel more comfortable."

With the cuts being in effect July 1, there is some worry about what is going to happen at WOC.

"I don't expect us to close our building," Porter said.

While Porter dismissed the notion of closing the WOC full time, she did say that employees will be given furloughs and will work fewer hours.

"I have cut the hours of staff by a halfhour daily, [which accounts] for 1.33 days per month," Porter said in an interview. "Less staff means reduced attention to each person served to meet their vocational goals."

Another option may be to close the building for a week at a time.

WOC currently employs 22 full-time employees, but that number was 25.

"I have two positions that I cannot fill," Porter said. "The money simply isn't there.

"I am looking to hire a part-time secretary," Porter said, adding, "That was once a full-time position."

Porter said the WOC gives young men and women an opportunity and a chance to mature. She does not view the WOC as a permanent place for anyone.

Carbin and Torrez agree and see themselves elsewhere 10 years from now.

"Maybe one day I'd try to have my own business," Carbin said. "No, I don't want to be here all my life. I can get out in the community and go out on my own."

"I want to be married with children," Torrez said. "Maybe work for a day care center."

The WOC is located at 395 Warburton Place in Long Branch and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. More information about The Arc or WOC can be found on the website http://www.arcofmonmouth. org.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.


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