What are California Counties Planning for Community Service?
Most counties are in the process of developing their community service plans. Thus, few plans have been finalized. To our knowledge, San Francisco County is the furthest along in the process. The county indicates that it will operate a two-year pilot program, beginning in January 1999, that will provide a sample of their caseload (200 recipients) with wage-paying community service jobs in the private nonprofit sector. In the San Francisco pilot, three intermediary contractors will develop jobs with private nonprofit agencies throughout the county. The county Private Industry Council (PIC) will serve as the employer of record and will process the payroll. Recipients will have their grants diverted to the PIC and paid out to them at the minimum wage. In addition, recipients will be eligible for the federal earned income tax credit (EITC). Based on the results of the pilot, San Francisco will determine its community service approach for the entire caseload.
