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…

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, changing the culture of welfare from a system of dependency to one of personal responsibility and economic self-sufficiency through workplace participation. Through the expert views of case managers and area employers of Wisconsin, this research…

Used administrative (for 20,237 adults) and survey data (from about 200 leavers per month) from Georgia to examine risk factors for recidivism among welfare leavers and the relationship between recidivism and leavers' ability to find sustained employment. Results show a threshold of earnings that welfare leavers need to survive at the poverty…

Describes the impact of Wisconsin Works (W-2), a work-first welfare reform effort that has created significant welfare enrollment reduction. While critics claimed it would devastate inner cities, poor families are faring better. W-2 built on diversion and incentives, opening up welfare administration to competition. Despite many successes, W-2 has…

This paper analyzes the approaches that states can take to address the needs of families facing the loss of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits due to time limits. Ways in which these approaches can be funded with state or federal welfare funds are discussed. The paper examines how states can use federal TANF or state…

The welfare initiative signed into law in August 1996 replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The federal responsibility to match state expenditures on cash assistance to low-income families with children has become a fixed block grant to states with requirements that focus on a…

Welfare caseloads across the nation have declined dramatically since welfare reform became law in August 1996. These declines have been interpreted to mean that welfare-to-work strategies are effective, but not enough is known to make such an assessment. In the rural South, unique social and economic conditions may affect the implementation and…

"Confronting the New Politics of Child and Family Policy in the United States" is an 18-month project designed to help states, local governments, and the voluntary sector as they respond to the social policy debates and changes precipitated by the 104th Congress. The project's main vehicle, aside from exploratory and analytic work, is a…

This paper explores the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 on the work training being provided to welfare recipients by community colleges. This bill changed the approach for addressing poverty from a human capital perspective, which emphasizes the need for training and education to…

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…