The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program offers a chance to provide training and employment opportunities for people traditionally locked out of the labor market. It can stimulate greater cooperation among agencies and provide the impetus for creative approaches to serving the disadvantaged. It can boost enrollments and inspire new…

Despite welfare reform initiatives emphasizing job training, the complexity of dealing with county, state, and federal agencies and regulations often forces low income women to choose between working/training and keeping child-care assistance. Adult educators can advocate for policy changes in financial aid, child care, and other support services.…

Analyzes the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 on labor markets, especially the low-wage labor market. Because family stability requires that someone do family work, cutbacks that have been justified by invoking traditional family values will almost surely contribute to the continued erosion of family life.…

Explores the impact of the new welfare reform bill on female heads of households, arguing that the push for welfare recipients to end welfare dependency and enter the job market ill-prepared presents challenges in the home and the workplace. Suggests that adult educators' role in preparing low-skilled mothers for the workplace is central in…

A 3-year study of welfare reform in Ohio's 29 Appalachian counties surveyed human services agencies, county commissioners, poor families, and employers and found that rural barriers to employment included lack of jobs, lack of child care, poor health, lack of education and job skills, and transportation problems. Many former welfare recipients…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to examine the effects of welfare reform on children. Although effect sizes were generally small, the findings suggested the potential value of welfare-reform approaches that emphasized long-term human-capital development. Positive effects of support services on earnings were strongest…

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…

This report contains highlights of a seminar which focused on young unwed fathers and welfare reform. Comments by these panelists are summarized: Rikki Baum, legislative assistant to Senator Patrick Moynihan; Linda Mellgren, from the Office of Income Security; and Margaret Boeckmann, Director of the Office of Employment Policy, Maryland Department…

In order to predict the earnings of single mothers under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program and the success of welfare reform in reducing poverty, a study was conducted of single mothers' work behavior, welfare receipt, and other sources of income. Data were generated from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and…

Until the 1996 welfare law (which conditioned eligibility on citizenship status) was passed, legal immigrants were generally as eligible for public benefits as citizens. The immigrant restrictions have proven to be extremely controversial. In 1997, Congress restored Supplemental Security Income to most immigrants who were already in the country…

In the 5 years since welfare reform was enacted, the Watching Out for Children in Changing Times initiative in Philadelphia has been meeting with families receiving welfare and listening to their experiences. This report is the third in the series and details the experiences of 40 families. Information for the report was based on interviews…

This working paper is the fourth in a series examining what has been learned since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. Following an introduction describing the legislations initial impact, the paper details reauthorization-related activities during 2001 and 2002, and describes…

Presentations at this conference dealt with the transformation of the child welfare system through community partnerships, and the presenters explore various aspects of forming partnerships among public agencies and community organizations. There are some excellent examples of such partnerships, but evaluation findings on "best practice"…

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, and the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds that states are required to spend in order to draw down their full TANF allocations, are potential funding sources for youth corps. Youth corps address the goals of the new welfare law and are eligible to receive TANF funds. TANF and MOE funds…

This paper examines conflicting evidence regarding the impacts of welfare reform on children's wellbeing. Research shows that poverty rates, teen crime and fertility, and child maltreatment are down. Lack of appropriate state-level data on indicators of child wellbeing precludes serious analysis of the role of welfare reform for most indicators.…