State welfare agencies increasingly face the challenge of serving a caseload with multiple barriers to employment. For example, a significant proportion of clients may have substance abuse problems that hamper their ability to participate in required activities and move toward self-sufficiency. Coordinating and integrating welfare and substance…

Collaboration between welfare and workforce development agencies has increased since the implementation of welfare reform. Federal legislation, state and local policy-making environments, and the capacity of potential partners to serve an agency's clients affect agency collaboration. The following broad approaches to collaboration have been…

This document explains how agencies serving recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) can use videoconferencing as a tool for welfare and work force reform. The document begins with a brief overview of how videoconferencing and other communications technologies can be used in designing and delivering welfare and work force…

The success of work-centered welfare programs depends on clients connecting to the workforce and sustaining employment. Engaging employers in welfare and workforce development policies and programs is critical to achieving positive labor market outcomes for clients. Employer involvement in welfare-to-work activities can benefit public agencies,…

This document examines selected issues related to collaboration between the welfare and work force development systems under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Welfare-to-Work grant program, and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The document begins with a brief overview of how recent policy developments have created…

This document examines policy and program issues related to promoting employment retention among recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) who have moved from welfare into employment. The document begins with background information about the work requirements and time limits affecting TANF recipients. The second section…

The 1998 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was the first federal legislation to contain a "charitable choice" provision allowing faith-based organizations (FBOs) to compete for state and federal government funds on the same basis as secular providers. For FBOs that consider pursuit of government…

The issue of unspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds has become increasingly important with the progression of welfare reform. Some support reserving the funds for an eventual economic downturn, whereas others urge investing the funds in services for hard-to-serve welfare recipients and broader low-income participation. States…

This document examines strategies for promoting job retention and career advancement for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The document begins by considering the problems faced by less-skilled TANF recipients in finding, retaining, and advancing in jobs. Section 2 examines the following policy issues: (1) the aims of…