The working poor are employable people who have found low-paying jobs and barely scrape out a living. By removing many forms of federal aid, the Reagan administration has locked the working poor into poverty. In saving a few dollars today, we are penalizing the next generation. (CS)

Uses a systems approach to reframe welfare assistance as well-being for the many, not welfare for the few. The framework outlines the state of family economic functioning (crisis, at risk, safe, thriving), type of welfare assistance (entitlement, subsidy, self-sufficiency, sustainability), poverty levels (below, at, 150%, 200%), and supports…

This booklet contains the proceedings of a Congressional hearing held to review the broad policy implications involved in defining poverty and income, and to gather information on the relationship of the poverty definition and eligibility for public assistance, revenue sharing, block grants, and other programs. Addressing the general question of…

The current non-system for dealing with the mentally disabled is expensive and inefficient and is the primary cause of a substantial proportion of all homelessness. A comprehensive national policy and the delegation of greater administrative responsibilities to private agencies would help to address the problem of the homeless mentally ill. (GC)

This fantasy looks back from 1999 to chronicle the imagined scenario of welfare reform in the presidency of Forrest Gump (and the vice-presidency of William Bennett). The decline in government assistance is matched by an increase in private sources of aid and a heightened sense of personal responsibility among Americans. (SLD)

This report describes an array of innovative strategies and practical ideas for helping low-income families with children. There is a window of opportunity for these new strategies as many states have tremendous financial resources available. The Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) program rules have been clarified, and families are…

The welfare system was designed with good intentions but has been manipulated to the detriment of those who were intended to benefit. The many drawbacks of the welfare system and some suggested reforms are described. One definite starting point is education. (SLD)

Recent reforms assume that welfare recipients can achieve employment if welfare agencies just give them a "push". Over the next ten years, the "employment solution" to welfare faces the following three challenges: (1) employing all employable welfare recipients; (2) helping them get and keep good jobs; and (3) reconstructing a…

Coordination between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-related programs and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)'s one-stop centers increased since spring 2000, when WIA was first implemented. Nearly all states reported some coordination between the programs at either the state or the local level. Most often, coordination took one…

In Pennsylvania where 30 percent of the adult population is functionally illiterate and another 24 percent has only marginal competence, no state funds are appropriated for adult basic education and general educational development (ABE/GED) programs. All programs are supported by federal aid. Information shows that economic revitalization and a…

The three sections of this document provide: (1) an overview of welfare work requirement policies from 1935 to 1988; (2) a discussion of the education-related provisions included in the Family Support Act of 1988; and (3) a summary of the likely effects of the increasing emphasis on education for welfare recipients. In the first section, the…

Work requirements in welfare reform proposed by the George W. Bush administration would impose much tougher work requirements on welfare recipients. Seventy percent of all adults would be required to work 40 hours per week, versus the 50 percent who are required to work 30 hours per week currently. In addition, states would be given little leeway…

The 1996 welfare reform law--the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act--has contradictory aspects. It gives the states greatly increased fiscal flexibility and at the same time sets extensive and elaborate new behavioral requirements. The dynamics of welfare since the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 have been…

Describes the lack of child-care systems as a deterrent in recruiting welfare recipients into the work program. Asserts that if community colleges could gain federal, state, and industrial support, they would be able to establish large and well-equipped child-care centers. (VWC)