A study assessed the needs of Wisconsin single parents, homemakers, and displaced homemakers and identified barriers they encounter in obtaining education, training, and employment. A total of 770 new participants from 15 vocational/technical colleges responded to the written survey; 335 responded to the program completers' survey; 15 lead staff…

It is becoming increasingly clear that "work first" solutions to welfare reform such as Wisconsin Works (W-2) are problematic for families with a disabled parent or child. Wisconsin's existing policies are especially ill-tailored to meet the special needs of the following broad categories of low-income families: (1) W-2 families that…

Wisconsin's welfare reform program, which is called Wisconsin Works or W-2, emphasizes work over education. Wisconsin's welfare reform policy caused the numbers of Wisconsin welfare recipients attending college to shrink by thousands in the mid-1990s. In contrast, increasing numbers of states are coming to realize how much flexibility they really…