The budget for the U.S. Department of Labor for Fiscal Year 2010 includes a total of $45 million to support and study transitional jobs. This paper describes the origins of the transitional jobs models that are operating today, reviews the evidence on the effectiveness of this approach and other subsidized employment models, and offers some…

This article examines the employment and child care responses of families participating in 10 experimental welfare reform programs conducted in the United States between 1989 and 2002. For the programs analyzed, child care use increases by about the same amount as the increase in employment. Most of the increased child care comprises informal care…

The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) is intended to enhance welfare recipients' employability through education, training, and job placement activities, and provision of Medicaid benefits and child care subsidies. The JOBS Observational Study compared outcomes findings to those from the New Chance Observational Study to…

This report presents an assessment of the implementation and the two-year impacts of a program in Texas that aimed to promote job placement, employment retention, and advancement among applicants and recipients to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The program in Texas is part of the Employment Retention and Advancement…

Findings are reported from the evaluation of the Work Incentive Program which trains women welfare recipients as electronic technicians. The participants completed the training in numbers consistent with expectations, and most graduates were placed in training-related jobs. The importance of support services is noted. (TJH)

An evaluation addressed whether Project Independence, Florida's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program, had reduced welfare costs and increased the employment, earnings, and income of welfare recipients. It examined the experiences of more than 18,000 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) applicants and recipients from 9 randomly…

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with block grants to states, called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Consistent with TANF's philosophy and goals, Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence) emphasized job search…

The 2-year evaluation of the Displaced Homemaker Program in Washington focused on the primary purpose of the program--to assist displaced homemakers in attaining independence and economic security. Approximately 2,042 eligible displaced homemakers completed the intensive instructional services component; the program served a total of 34,659…

A study obtained information on examples of county or local Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) or JOBS-like programs that emphasize job placement, subsidized employment, or work experience positions for welfare recipients. It also identified the extent to which county JOBS programs nationwide used these employment-focused activities and…

An assessment was made of the initial efforts of the states to implement the Aid to Families with Dependent Children--Unemployed Parent (AFDC-UP) program in accordance with the requirements of the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988. A mail survey was conducted of each of the 50 state welfare departments. Results indicated that, nationwide,…

This guide focuses on these two key challenges that states and localities have identified as important for the long-term success of welfare reform and work force development efforts: helping low-income parents sustain employment (steady work) and advance in the work force (better jobs). The guide consists of five parts and is structured to…

Wisconsin Works (W-2) is a time-limited employment assistance program that, in September 1997, replaced cash entitlements provided to low-income families under Aid to Families with Dependent Children. W-2 provides subsidized or unsubsidized placements for participants, based upon their level of preparedness for employment. Participants in both…

Successful welfare reform requires quickly moving welfare recipients into jobs. Components to this challenge include the following: a poor fit between where jobs are located and where many welfare recipients live; recipients who lack experience and skills and do not know how to seek, find, or qualify for jobs; childcare and transportation needs;…

Connecticut's Jobs First program, which began operating in January 1996, combines a time limit on welfare receipt with generous financial work incentives and requires recipients to participate in employment-related services targeted toward rapid job placement. The impacts of the Jobs First program were examined by following several thousand…

Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP), which was implemented in 1994-2001, required that single-parent welfare recipients who could not find wage-paying jobs after receiving cash assistance for 30 months accept work in subsidized, minimum-wage community service employment (CSE) positions to satisfy their work requirement and improve their…