All recipients receive an assessment and an employment plan that outlines mutually agreeable steps necessary to become self-sufficient. Two parent families are required to participate in employment services immediately. Single-parent families are required to participate within six months of receiving assistance although counties have the option of requiring single parents to participate sooner. The program expects participants to take responsibility for supporting their families within time limits or their benefits will be reduced. They do not go off public assistance until they earn up to 120 percent of the poverty level.
Participants are always better off working due to financial incentives.
Please refer to the WestMetro homepage for a list of service providers. The objective of this program is placement into unsubsidized jobs with potential for achieving self-sufficiency. The Hennepin County Drug Court began in January 1997, as a direct response to increased numbers of drug-abusing offenders, and the devastation caused by substance abuse and related crimes. The Drug Court provides extensive and coordinated case management of offenders under the direction of ongoing judicial supervision. The Hennepin County Drug Court is part of a coordinated approach to enhance public safety by reducing substance abuse and the cycle of related criminal activity.