Welfare employment committee presents awards for excellence

The Governor’s Welfare Employment Committee announced the winners of its 2018 TANF Employment Awards of Excellence April 25. It recognized 33 employers in Delaware who hire, train and maintain positive working relationships with employees who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits, and 33 TANF clients who have succeeded in the workplace despite challenges they have faced.

Nominations for the awards were submitted by individuals and organizations from communities across the state, and winners were selected by committee members. One award is presented to an employer and an employee from each county, as well as one statewide winner from the employer and employee categories.

“People want jobs,” said Delaware First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney. “And the second thing is people want to be good parents.” She thanked employers for giving their new employees a chance to succeed.

The number of TANF cases, in which eligible parents receive time-limited monthly grants, continues to decline in Delaware and across the country. In Fiscal Year 2017, there were 4,884 cases in the state, representing almost 2,000 adults and a little more than 8,000 children. The average grant was $269 a month. To get a monthly TANF benefit, most clients must work or participate in work-related activities for 20 to 40 hours per week, depending on the number of parents in the household and the age of their children.

The Sussex County employee winner of the 2018 TANF Employment Awards of Excellence is Letitia Bessicks.

AutoZone is the Sussex County employer winner, and United Parcel Service is the statewide winning employer.

The event was hosted by the Governor’s Welfare Employment Committee, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Labor and DART. All nominees were invited to the ceremony.

Attendees heard personal success stories from Nancy Tellado, a former TANF client who now works as a management analyst for DHSS’ Division of Social Services near New Castle, and Lindsey DiCarolis, a senior social worker for the Division of Social Services at the Adams State Service Center in Georgetown. Tellado credited a DHSS staff person at the Porter State Service Center in Wilmington who helped her apply for TANF and other benefits after she and her children became homeless.

Now as a DHSS employee, she said, “I encourage you to never give up.” DiCarolis said taking her three sons and leaving an abusive relationship so she could start over was difficult. “There were a lot of rough times, but I told myself I had to do it for them,” she said.

Sussex County employee nominees were Leona Delli, Letitia Bessicks, Theresa Chacon, Shane Sellers, Candace James-Waples and Heather Weist.

Sussex County employer nominees were Addus Health Care, Burger King, Mountaire Farms, IHOP, Premier Staffing Solutions, The Curiosity Shop, AutoZone, Royal Farms, Perdue, QSI and Laurel Senior Center.

To hire a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipient or to learn more about the TANF employment initiative, call the Delaware Department of Labor at 302-761-8085.

TANF is a time-limited program, and work-mandatory clients can receive TANF benefits for a maximum of 36 total months in their lifetimes. To learn more about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Delaware, go to www.dhss.delaware.gov.