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	NYC Cans ‘Psychic’ Training City Stops Recruiting Welfare Recipients for Psychic Jobs
	New York City officials should have looked into the crystal ball before they offered welfare recipients the chance to be psychics. After a newspaper report, the city canned the idea. (PhotoDisc)

The Associated Press
N E W Y O R K, Jan. 28 — Somewhere, Dionne Warwick knew this would happen.
     New York City officials, sensing bad publicity and worse jokes, announced today that they would no longer funnel welfare recipients into jobs with the Psychic Network. The telephone pay service offered clairvoyance at $4.99 a minute.
     The decision to pull the plug on the psychic connection came hours after the hiring policy became public knowledge. Since last April, network instructors had taught 15 welfare clients to read tarot cards and offer their callers a peek into the future.
     “Though HRA believes people should have the freedom to choose their own employment, HRA’s Business Link has decided to not include the Psychic Network as one of its participating employers,” said a statement from Human Resources Administration Commissioner Jason A. Turner.
     This leaves welfare workers applying for employment with a less interesting selection of jobs from a variety of companies: Rite Aid, Madison Square Garden, Macy’s.
     Not quite the psychic gig, eh?

Good Pay, Working Conditions
Initially, HRA spokeswoman Ruth Reinecke said the jobs, while odd-sounding, were actually not strange at all.
     “The pay is rather good, and it’s attractive to work out of the home for the mothers who have young children,” she said.
     The qualifications were a high school diploma and the ability to read, write and speak English; the pay starts at $10 an hour, plus bonuses.
     The city refused to provide any information about the Psychic Network, citing a confidentiality agreement with companies that participate in the “workfare” program.
     The HRA offices received a large number of calls about the plan after The New York Times first reported it. A Pittsburgh radio reporter trying to track down an HRA spokeswoman said the report was the subject of “great mirth” in the Steel City.

Laughter on the Phone
A woman in the HRA offices today was laughing when she answered another reporter’s call. “Is this about the psychics?” she intuitively inquired.
     While the 900-number services are a quirky business, they are legitimate. Their ads must run with a required disclaimer that the calls are strictly for entertainment value.
     Trying to track down the owner of the Psychic Network could require the use of tea leaves. The only phone listing under the name is a Florida bookstore that has no connection to the telephone business.
     In New York, there was no listing for the Psychic Network. Attempts to reach the company telepathically were also unsuccessful.
     The psychic phone lines, often advertised on late-night television or via informercials, haven’t drawn this much attention since the Psychic Friends Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 1998.
     The Psychic Friends — actually Inphomation Communication Inc. — were best-known for the 30-minute informercials hosted by singer Dionne Warwick.

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