“We’re trying to improve people’s mobility in Greene County,” Schultze said. “... It turns out to be a low cost way to get these families mobile again.”
The program, which is expected to launch July 1, is funded through an $85,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Job Access and Reverse Commute program.
The JARC program was designed to help low-income individuals and families, as well as those who receive public assistance, get transportation to work in areas that may be difficult to access using public transportation or who may be working late hours when public transportation is not available.
JARC program funds have been consistently declining during the last four years, according to federal transportation data.
In 2009, a total of $183,103,175 in funding was available. That number slashed to $95,047,060 in 2012.
Greene CATS will oversee the program but plans to partner with other agencies such as Greene County Department of Development, Greene County Jobs and Family Services and Community Action Partnership of the Greater Dayton Area.
Community Action Partnership of the Greater Dayton Area, a 47-year-old organization that assists low-income individuals and families with education, employment, job training and affordable housing, will work with the county transit board to establish criteria for the program.
The organization also plans to put mechanisms in place to prevent fraud.
“We’re going to have all kinds of double and triple checks and monitoring of the families,” Schultz said. “We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen. There will be a lot of oversight.”
Montgomery County doesn’t plan to create a similar program at this time because they make more sense in suburban areas, said Mark Donaghy, executive director of the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority.
“It’s not on our radar right now,” Donaghy said.
The loan program is modeled after the Wisconsin-based Work-n-Wheels program which provides loans for low-income workers to purchase and repair vehicles.
“It keeps them from going to the auto loan title places,” said Jeff Segebrecht, the program director. “What we’re trying to do it keep them away from predatory lenders.”
Potential loan recipients are required to take classes related to budgeting, credit repair and banking.
Approval for the 0 percent interest loans are not based on credit ratings. Segebrecht said the agency looks at an applicant’s budget and checks to see if the applicant has outstanding traffic or parking tickets, warrants or has a history of unemployment fraud.
In Wisconsin, single workers earning $22,340, or less annually are eligible for the program. The income for a family of four can be no more than $46,100.
The program, which is administered by Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program, has made 447 loans totaling $1,465,608 since it was created in 2001.
Segebrecht developed Work-n-Wheels while he was working as welfare-to-work case manager.
“I would help people find jobs but they couldn’t get to work,” he said.
Initially, he would give his clients rides to and from work, but knew he couldn’t continue to do it for a long period of time.
On average, the Work-n-Wheels program provides about 50 loans each year and currently has about $350,000 in loans right now.
Applicants who are purchasing a vehicle are responsible out of pocket expenses, such as tax, title and license plates, which can range from a little more than $100 to around $350. They must also pay a 5 percent administration fee, anywhere between $175 to $250, that goes back into the program and helps to pay for vehicle repairs.
“When people have something invested in it, they have a little bit of pride of ownership in it,” Segebrecht said.
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