AsianWORKs: A TANF Program for Southeast Asian Americans in Oakland, California

Achieving economic self-sufficiency through employment is the ultimate goal of recent changes to the welfare program. The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population is most vulnerable to failing in this goal because of language difficulty, low education levels and lack of job skills in the labor market. Many AAPI immigrants, and Southeast Asian Americans in particular, suffer from adjustment and mental health problems due to their experiences as refugees. These are but a few of the obstacles for AAPI welfare recipients to become self-sufficient, making them one of the most “hard-to-serve” populations. The goal of self-sufficiency through employment can be reached if culturally appropriate and adequate support services are provided to meet the unique needs of the population. Few programs, however, are Julian Chow is Assistant Professor (E-mail: jchow99@uclink.berkeley.edu) and Nancy Bester is Graduate Student Researcher, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400. At the time of the study, Alan Shinn was Executive Director, Asian Community Mental Health Services, Oakland, CA. Currently, he is Executive Director, Coalition for a Drug Free Hawai’i, 1130 North Nimitz Highway, Suite A259, Honolulu, HI 96817. The authors would like to thank Esther Wong and Joyce Lim for providing valuable information about the AsianWORKs program, and Thomas Thomas for his editorial assistance and suggestions. Planning and implementation of the program, is credited to the Asian Community Mental Health Services, Oakland, CA. This study was supported, in part, by a Faculty Research Development Grant from the University of California at Berkeley. Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 9(3) 2001  2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 111 targeted at AAPIs. Using key-informant interviews and the case material review method, this article highlights the difficulties of AAPI welfare recipients and describes a unique program serving the Southeast Asian American, particularly the Cambodian, population. The article focuses on the program components of outreach and engagement, day socialization and job readiness, and family support services, and it discusses improvement to service access and lessons learned for the practice of cultural competence. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]