CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) is a welfare-to-work program operated by the State Department of Social Services that gives financial aid and provides services to needy families. The CalWORKs program is designed specifically to help parents prepare for and secure sustained employment. PORTALS is a contracting CalWORKs provider agency, charged specifically to assist those parents whose mental health issues can hamper and slow their transition from public assistance to paid employment.

The PORTALS CalWORKs program provides counseling to CalWORKs members and their families, plus vocational skills training and job placement services for parent participants. With help from trained staffers at each of PORTALS’ three Clubhouse Recovery and Wellness Centers, CalWORKs members can explore varied employment opportunities, search for jobs, obtain competitive employment, and maintain that employment.

From 2003 through 2005, the PORTALS CalWORKs program:

• Provided mental health services to 195 members and their families;

• Provided vocational and job skills training to 62 members, and
• Helped 10 members secure and sustain gainful employment.