Nebraska's Employment First (EF) program allows parents who receive TANF cash assistance to pursue education and training that improves their ability to secure employment and long-term economic success. A parent must negotiate and sign an Employment First contract, facilitated by a case worker, between the participating parent and the state of…

Workforce development programs provide training and education to welfare recipients to prepare them to obtain and retain employment in their communities. Federal, state, and local investments are made to develop and implement programs. But, do these programs have relationships with local employers to obtain their input to provide the education and…

During 2002, there were disputes about most aspects of the participation rate structure for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The Administration put forward, and the House adopted, a proposal to raise TANF participation rates to 70 percent over 5 years, require families to be in selected activities for 40 hours per week to be fully…

Adults with limited financial literacy skills must cope with understanding the interrelationship among wages, social security, and welfare systems. Radical adult education can help them make informed decisions about the financial consequences of moving from welfare to work. (SK)

A significant number of current and former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients have various barriers to finding and maintaining employment. Among the most common barriers are physical and mental health problems, domestic violence, low skill levels, lack of adequate or affordable housing, and limited proficiency in English.…

This report focuses on an effort by Los Angeles County to transform its welfare-to-work program, Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN), from one that emphasized basic education to one focused on speedy entry into the work force. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the original program; reasons for a shift to a work-first model and description of…

Three presentations are provided from Symposium 37, Workforce Development, of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) 2000 Conference Proceedings. "Unemployment and Low-Literacy among Welfare Recipients: Continuum of Literacy Program Models" (Larry G. Martin) presents a continuum of four types of literacy programs--academic, situated…

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;…

Riverside Community College (RCC), in Riverside, California, launched New Visions in 1999, a program designed to help welfare recipients prepare for college and move to better jobs. The program is a partnership between RCC and the Riverside Department of Public Social Services (DPSS). New Visions provides a 24-week program of academic instruction…

WorkFirst is Washington State's welfare-to-work program. The program's mission is to help citizens get "a job, a better job, a better life." Inaugurated in 1996, it is based on the 1996 federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) welfare reform legislation. As part of this new program, the community and technical college system…

An evaluation was conducted of Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP), one of the earliest statewide welfare reform programs designed to increase work and reduce reliance on welfare. To assess the difference WRP made, parents applying for or receiving cash assistance in Vermont from July 1994 to December 1996 were assigned randomly to one…

This guide describes how Neighborhood Networks centers can identify, provide, and use local partners and center staff to deliver effective follow-up retention services to residents who have just made the transition from unemployment to employment. (Neighborhood Networks, a community-based initiative, encourages the development of resource and…