State Cracks Down on Job Training Program

Chicago - Workers enrolled in a state-funded program to provide job training tell Fox Chicago News they instead spent their time gathering signatures on petitions for political candidates.

A Fox Chicago News investigation found several Earnfare workers who said they were told to pass petitions for Cook County Board President candidate Dorothy Brown, among other candidates.

"That's our job description for every day, go out and do petitions," said one worker who wished to remain unidentified.

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The workers said they were assigned to do clerical work and maintenance for the Mother's House social service organization at 49th and Ashland on Chicago's south side. When Fox Chicago News visited the agency on Tuesday, we found stacks of blank political petitions on a table in the office.

We also found Hassan Muhammad, a political field director for Brown's campaign. He denied the Earnfare workers were being used for political work, and then pushed a Fox Chicago cameraman out of the office.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, which administers the Earnfare program, said the agency has launched an investigation into the workers' allegations. Earnfare is designed to provide clerical, maintenance and social service work to people on public aid to help them hone their job skills.

The workers said they have been collecting between ten and fifteen pages of signatures per day for the past several weeks. There are 20 lines for signatures on each petition. "They gave us a brochure of Dorothy Brown and told us to sign it then put our names at the bottom for signatures because we're the circulators," said one worker. "And (then) come in the following day and turn the sheets in."

In a statement Brown denied the allegations. "This is clearly a political hit job," said Brown. "I have no knowledge of any kind of inappropriate activity taking place, and would never condone it."

The Earnfare program members said they were frustrated to be sent out to gather signatures when they thought the program would be teaching them needed job skills. "You know, better myself," said one worker. "Petitions ain't putting food on my table."

The workers also said they knew they shouldn't be doing political work on state time, but were afraid they would lose their welfare benefits if they said no.