The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project is the most comprehensive effort thus far to ascertain which approaches help welfare recipients and other low-income people stay steadily employed and advance in their jobs. Launched in 1999 and slated to end in 2009, the ERA project encompasses more than a dozen demonstration programs and…

On February 5, 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the final rules implementing changes in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). While these rules do not affect the overall statutory limitations on counting education and training toward the…

Due to federal budget cuts in 2005-06, 11 family literacy programs in Pennsylvania switched from federal Even Start to state (Act 143) funding. Simultaneously, state welfare requirements stipulated that in most circumstances adult education is not an allowable work activity for welfare recipients over age 20. This study examined how these policy…

The research reported in this paper examined the role of welfare reform in increasing the availability of entry-level workers to meet the rising demand for long-term care employees. Findings from national and statewide evaluations of welfare programs show mixed results in the extent to which beneficiaries could be shifted from welfare caseloads to…

This chapter describes the educational possible selves of low-income mothers as they make the transition from welfare to work.

This article critically appraises the success of the Back To Education Allowance (BTEA) in removing barriers to participation in 3rd level education for welfare recipients in Ireland. The paper is based on empirical data from focus group and in-depth qualitative interviews with 3rd level students on the BTEA. This study argues that it is…

This study assesses the extent of residential segregation among 15,246 people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities and receiving Medicaid (MA) in Philadelphia, and an identically sized group of MA recipients serving as matched controls. Results indicate that overall levels of residential segregation among this group were modest at their most…

The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the extent to which three groups of stakeholders in the welfare-to-work process judge a selected list of workplace topics as important for inclusion in the curriculum. Topics were derived from the 1991 report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). A 45-item survey…

Personal narrative embeds the expertise of subordinated groups in stories that seldom translate into public debate. The authors describe a community writing project in which welfare recipients used personal narratives to enter into the public record their tacit and frequently discounted knowledge. The research illustrates the difficulties and…

This study explored the experiences of African American women as they transitioned from welfare to work and develop economic self-sufficiency. The barriers to self-sufficiency included the "work-first" philosophy and case management practices, labor market conditions and employment practices, and personal history. HRD can help minimize…

This paper addresses the question: How does implementation influence the effectiveness of mandatory welfare-to-work programs? Data from three large-scale, multi-site random assignment experiments were pooled; quantitative measures of program implementation were constructed; and multilevel statistical modeling was used to examine the relationship…

This paper compares the incentives inherent in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the U.S. welfare system in place after the 1996 reforms, with those of TANF's predecessor, AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), using the experience in one state, Wisconsin, as an example. Is the new program successful in avoiding the "poverty…

Young unemployed persons are a prioritised group in active labour market programmes. Such programmes can be regarded as "integrative", facilitating integration into the labour market for young people in accordance with their own preferences. However, such programmes can also be regarded as "defensive", discouraging young…

This article describes the evolution of full service schools. Full service schools stress prevention, collaboration and systems change. Prevention is geared toward corrections, mental health and welfare, all topics of keen interest to people working in and studying criminal justice. By providing mental health services at the school for both…

Today, a college education is increasingly viewed as the gateway to the American Dream--a necessary prerequisite for social mobility. Yet recent policy reforms in the United States effectively steer former welfare recipients away from an education that could further their career prospects, forcing them directly into the workforce where they often…