This evaluation of Massachusett's Employment and Training Choices (ET) program indicates that instead of saving taxpayers money, the program has been costly and has contributed little or nothing to reduce the state's welfare caseload. ET offers welfare recipients a wide variety of employment services, including career planning and job search,…

An evaluation identified the separate effects that the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare's Employment and Training Choices Program (ET) and the healthy Massachusetts private economy have had on welfare caseloads. The analysis was limited to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) portion of the ET program. Regression equations…

This brief summarizes information collected during visits to Massachusetts in 1999 and 2000 to document changes and progress since 1997, updating a 1997 report on the state's benefits and services and the economic and political context shaping Massachusetts' agenda for serving low-income families. It profiles Massachusetts' economy and population,…

This report defines policy and practices for child care assistance for welfare recipients in New York, and explores ways in which the state could use the newly enacted federal welfare reform legislation to create opportunities for children of welfare recipients. The six sections of the report are based on a survey of child care policies and…

Asset development is an emerging approach to promoting self-sufficiency for low-income workers. By promoting and rewarding savings, asset development strategies encourage individuals to set long-term economic goals. Asset development strategies can accomplish the following objectives: (1) give low-income workers the knowledge required to navigate…

Conversations with seven Boston-area adult basic education (ABE) program coordinators revealed the severe adverse effects of Massachusetts' new restrictive welfare reform law on literacy education programs for the poor. The new law limits cash assistance to 2 years for most welfare recipients and requires most recipients whose youngest child is…

These matrices summarize the content of the certification/chartering requirements established by nine first-round and three second-round implementation states to deliver services in One-Stop Career Centers. Seven areas or dimensions of design/operations are compared. The narrative accompanying the matrices is divided into two sections--a matrix…

This periodical provides accessible, in-depth profiles of programs and policies that have made measurable differences in the lives of children and families. A particular focus is on initiatives that have helped reform child-serving institutions and systems and that have strengthened the physical infrastructure, economic vitality, and social fabric…

This document examines microenterprise development as an employment option for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The document begins with a brief discussion of the feasibility of self-employment as an option for TANF recipients, particularly in a slow economy. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the…