The centerpiece of the 1988 Family Support Act (FSA) is the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Act, which directs states to provide a broad range of educational, training, and employment services. FSA offers states an opportunity to design humane and effective programs to assist welfare recipients to move out of poverty. FSA also has…

A study determined the extent to which states spend federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) funds for cash assistance and non-cash services and how this compares to welfare spending in fiscal year (FY) 1995. It also identifed the extent to which states use TANF and MOE funds to provide services…

A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, study focused on two cohorts: pre-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leavers who left in the third quarter of 1996 and post-TANF leavers who left in the third quarter of 1998. Outcomes were examined for about 6,151 adult welfare leavers. Findings indicated the rate of leaving welfare increased between 1996-98;…

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…

States can use Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and state maintenance of effort (MOE) funds to foster access to postsecondary education (PE) for low income parents. Access matters because success of welfare reform depends on helping welfare recipients work steadily and find better jobs; neither of the two most commonly tried…

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…

This guide highlights issues involved in increasing participation in welfare-to-work programs and offers advice and best practices for achieving higher participation levels. Part 1, "Introduction," has three sections that discuss the importance of participation, summarize major points, and introduce the guide. The seven sections of Part…

This report explores promising welfare-to-work programs and practices of states and localities as they balance supply- with demand-side strategies to help welfare recipients and low-wage workers work their way out of poverty while meeting employers' needs for reliable workers. Chapter 2 describes the new environment created by changes in the…

This paper poses a question of direct relevance for welfare administrators, program operators, and policy makers: What management practices, program strategies, and local conditions are key to running effective welfare-to-work programs? To address this question, the present analysis links detailed measures of program characteristics to valid and…

This publication, one of a series designed to help policymakers and TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] agency personnel, offers a baseline for understanding the challenge of serving persons who are being forced off welfare roles but who are hard to place in employment. The following topics are covered: (1) policy issues (who should be…

This report addresses expanding welfare-to-work (WTW) programs to increase work among welfare recipients facing personal and family challenges. Section 1 examines what is known about the impact of traditional WTW program models and policy innovations on employment and earning profiles of these recipients. Evidence is presented showing WTW programs…

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…

This publication, one of a series designed to help policymakers and TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] agency personnel, offers an overview of programs providing publicly funded paid jobs in the public or nonprofit sector to TANF recipients, as well as of work experience programs in which recipients receive welfare payment in return…

This document explains how community work experience programs (CWEP) and publicly funded jobs (PFJ) can be used to help hard-to-serve welfare recipients meet the work requirements imposed by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The document begins with a brief overview of available options for helping hard-to-serve welfare…

Transforming the welfare system presents governors with unique opportunities, hard choices, and creative challenges. Change will require continued commitment to welfare, educational reform, and economic development. Governors can improve the status of private citizens and private businesses. The Family Support Act of 1988 signaled major changes in…