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Program aims to find new jobs for low-income

A pilot program designed to help low-income Wisconsin residents find permanent jobs started Thursday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

At this time, the pilot will focus on three counties: Kenosha, Marathon and Milwaukee, with Milwaukee having the largest share of individual participants at 83.

If the program is successful, it will expand to a statewide program.

“The program could definitely become broader,” said Hector Colon, executive assistant at the DWD. “It is the governor’s goal to expand it statewide.”

The program, an offshoot of the state’s W-2 welfare system, will subsidize employers who agree to employ some low-income workers.

The employers who agree to employ W-2 recipients are expected to keep the new hires as full-time employees after the training period has passed. Between the training process and promotion to full employment, the employees of these companies will continue to receive W-2 benefits.

“This pilot will provide a weight subsidy to employers,” Colon said. “It will also provide intensive onsite support to those individuals participating in the program.”

Colon said Gov. Jim Doyle hopes to expand the program if it is successful in the pilot counties.

Doyle said this program would give W-2 recipients a chance to improve their independence in the workforce.

“This pilot will enable W-2 participants to take an all important step toward becoming employed and self-sufficient by working in a real job, developing their skills and gaining valuable work experience,” Doyle said in a statement. “By earning a paycheck, rather than receiving a W-2 stipend or grant, these individuals will be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a benefit that will help them support their families.”

The plan, which was approved last year in the biennial budget, is an offshoot of Wisconsin’s W-2, or “Wisconsin Works” program, a system of welfare reform introduced by the state in 1997 that aims to enhance independence of low-income and low-skilled workers.

The initiation of this program coincides with the announcement of another similar but unrelated program that intends to improve economic condition in Milwaukee’s inner city. In this plan, the brainchild of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Milwaukee will test a program that aims to teach inner-city entrepreneurs effective means of economic development.