A study examined major performance standards issues in the context of employment and training programs targeted toward the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) population. Telephone interviews were conducted with representatives from Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs and departments of public welfare in nine states. A significant amount of state-level activity was aimed at improving the level and quality of services available to AFDC recipients, including the hard-to-employ. All of the programs identified placed a premium on interagency coordination and on flexible and enriched program design. Welfare agency respondents considered limited funds and the lack of an adequate consensus as to the proper role of employment and training programs and their relationship to public welfare programs to be the greatest barriers to providing services to AFDC recipients. Among the JTPA respondents, performance standards were the most commonly cited barrier. Six of the nine states studied had undertaken efforts to develop local performance standards beyond those produced by the Department of Labor's adjustment model. The message regarding performance standards was mixed. Although they were considered the biggest obstacle to providing services, they were also seen as one of the most effective means of improving the level and quality of services. (MN)