The impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on working families was analyzed. The analysis established that the EITC is, on balance, a highly effective program that meets its primary objectives well. The following benefits of the EITC were identified: (1) it reduced the poverty rate in 1999 by an estimated 1.5 percentage points; (2) it is…

A study analyzed the ideological messages about welfare recipients promoted in two welfare-to-work educational programs. Data were collected through interviews with students, teachers, and administrators at an adult literacy classroom serving unemployed women on welfare and an employment preparation program designed to increase job skills of women…

In January 1998-March 2000, a new statistical assessment and referral system to improve the job retention of welfare recipients participating in welfare-to-work programs was piloted in the welfare-to-work program serving two counties in southwestern Michigan. The assessment and referral system is based on statistical methods and uses…

This paper reports on the development of the Community Computer Center (CCC) at Hibbing Community College (HCC) in Minnesota. HCC is located in the largest U.S. iron mining area in the United States. Closures of steel-producing plants are affecting the Hibbing area. Outmigration, particularly of younger workers and their families, has been…

Job placement, unemployment insurance, and active labor market policy in Germany were reviewed. The following were among the review's main conclusions: (1) measures of active and passive labor market policy are still regarded as important to combating unemployment and improving the matching function of the German labor market; (2) the many…

An evaluation was conducted of the Hawaii Food Stamp Employment and Training/Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program Conformance Demonstration, known as PRIDE (Positive Response in Developing Employment). The impact analysis examined client participation patterns, services, and employment outcomes. A pre-post/demonstration-comparison site…

During the 1920s, progressive women activists invented welfare to help mothers and their children survive when breadwinning fathers either died or abandoned their families. During the 1930s, the local mothers' pension programs of the Progressive Era became part of the emerging national welfare state, which was conceived to relieve poor single…

This document begins with a summary of the state and federal educational issues of access, finance, workforce and economic development, welfare reform, and administration. The legislative program follows, with further discussion on these issues. The district intends to increase access to education by providing more financial aid, eliminating…

The Social Network Study was conducted in 1996 as part of a larger research project that looked at the experience of men and women with different racial, ethnic, educational backgrounds, and career paths in the Philadelphia labor market. Data were gathered through a survey focused on the relationship between work experience, training, and the…

This book analyzes the responses of five states (Florida, Mississippi, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin) to challenges posed by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to alter state welfare programs and management systems. Using case studies, the book highlights similarities and differences in the states'…

The impact of California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), which was passed to increase California welfare recipients' participation in welfare-to-work (WTW) activities, was examined. The impact study consisted of a nonexperimental program evaluation that used statistical models to estimate causal effects and a simulation…

This publication highlights key messages and themes of a conference to discuss critical questions, challenges, and opportunities facing California's welfare and workforce development systems. It is intended as a resource manual that presents the most up-to-date thinking on how policies and services can be designed to better meet the needs of…

The Project on Devolution and Urban Change conducted a study to learn how new welfare policies and funding mechanisms, especially devolution and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants, affect human service agencies in neighborhoods with high concentrations of welfare recipients and people living in poverty. Key personnel at 106…

In the context of the reauthorization of the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant, research data about the benefits of resulting programs were synthesized and recommendations were made for changes to current law based on the research. Some of the research findings were that those who leave welfare are not earning…

The Wheeling Housing Authority in Wheeling, West Virginia, conducted two residential programs to help women living in public housing develop economic self-sufficiency. The Learning Independence from Employment (LIFE) program was an intensive 3-week program designed to accomplish the following objectives: improve participants' communication skills…