Due to a $650,000 cut in federal funding, Southeast\u2019s largest tribal organization is discontinuing employment training and other services impacting more than 230 tribal citizens throughout the region.<\/p>\n
Juneau resident Elizabeth Lindoff, 44, is one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just told this morning that next Wednesday is my last day when I was supposed to be working until end of December,\u201d she said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Lindoff is part of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska\u2019s work experience program, which allows tribal citizens to try out a career while beefing up their resume. The program places people with host employers who give on-the-job training while CCTHITA is responsible for compensation.<\/p>\n
Lindoff has been getting paid about $1,500 a month since June for being an administrative clerk for CCTHITA\u2019s Second Chance Reentry program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was helping me get on my own two feet again,\u201d Lindoff said. \u201cI\u2019m currently staying with my brother and this was going to help me get me into my own place.\u201d<\/p>\n
CCTHITA\u2019s work experience program is just one of the affects of the federal budget cut. CCTHITA has received funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1995 for programs that help low-income individuals get off public assistance through job training and support services. These programs are collectively known at 477 services, which refers to the federal Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992.<\/p>\n
This year, CCTHITA had budgeted $2.6 million for 477 programs. Corrine Garza, CCTHITA chief operating officer, said the budget shortfall stems from a lower than expected congressional appropriation to BIA. She said she only got wind of the $650,000 cut in July and started doing more research into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there definitely should\u2019ve been some kind of notification \u2014 mail, email or an announcement \u2014 because it\u2019s really difficult for tribes to make up that big of a budget cut in the last quarter of the year,\u201d she said. CCTHITA\u2019s next grant year begins in January.<\/p>\n
Besides eliminating the work experience program, the budget shortfall also means CCTHITA is turning away new enrollees to its adult vocational technical program and cutting off those getting assistance with their associate or bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those things were great tools to assist our clients in becoming and staying independent,\u201d William Martin, CCTHITA director of 477 services, said on the phone Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, we\u2019re forced to ask them to be employable, but to handle their own barriers to employment because we don\u2019t have the funding,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
The cut impacts at least 233 tribal members in Juneau, Douglas, Haines, Craig, Klawock, Saxman and Wrangell who are enrolled in the programs and services this month, and others who are being turned away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these programs benefitted our clients in one way or another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Support services were crucial, Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust those basic extras that are needed in certain jobs or to assist them to retain employment, like the child care or get them a bus pass, interview clothing, work clothing \u2014 all those types of things we\u2019re no longer able to provide to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
CCTHITA is still able to provide tribal citizens with basic cash assistance for food, clothing, housing and utilities, Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat 477 programs are designed to do is help them get off public assistance so they don\u2019t need us anymore. That\u2019s made this difficult with this sudden budget cut,\u201d Martin added.<\/p>\n
He said he understands how much the cuts are affecting individuals like Lindoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in their situation before. I have been on assistance in the past so I know what they have to go through and for them to get this news at this time is just heart-wrenching,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
In the short time that Lindoff has been an administrative clerk, she said she\u2019s received training on Microsoft and completed online classes on administrative assistance. She said finding out that she\u2019ll be back to being unemployed again in a week and a half was shocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took 10 steps forward to get knocked back 12 steps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She had hoped the work experience program might transition into a full-time job with CCTHITA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the best places I\u2019ve ever worked and where I\u2019d like to stay,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Getting a permanent job with CCTHITA is still her goal. She\u2019ll just have to work on it sooner than she thought and without the security of a paycheck in the meantime.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n
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