This hearing reviews testimony concerning H.R. 2246, the Jobs for Employable Dependent Individuals Act (JEDI). JEDI is a voluntary program whereby states receive additional funds to fight the problem of chronic welfare dependency and poverty. The bill would require the existing Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to target job training efforts at…

Between the summers of 1986 and 1987, the Coalition on Human Needs interviewed 202 low income people to learn about their experiences with employment, education, their families, and various government programs. The interviewees showed a higher level of participation in the paid labor force than was predicted. According to those interviewed, the…

As discussed in several addresses at a New York State Board of Regents symposium, the task of continuing education in New York State includes adult basic education, job training, and other forms of involvement by educators and other segments of society in efforts to enable individuals, communities, and organizations to function effectively in a…

This special report from the National Commission for Employment Policy on coordinating federal assistance programs for the economically disadvantaged contains two parts. Part 1 includes recommendations for improving public assistance coordination programs in general and employment and training programs in particular. Eight recommendations focus on…

This paper reports on the state of welfare after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) passed by Congress in 1996. The National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) is a federally initiated study that explores the questions of what works best and for whom. NEWWS evaluated seven areas across the…

Articles in this journal discuss the role of community colleges in educating welfare recipients since President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996. Under the new legislation, a new block grant, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), was launched in July 1997, eliminating…

The University of New Mexico (UNM) Valencia campus is a two-year college in rural Valencia County. UNM-Valencia provides vocational and general education, basic skills assistance, a community education program and a small business development program. In fall 1998, the campus had 750 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students and 807 part-time students;…

This report proposes that state economic development policy and resources, and state personnel, with their knowledge of and access to the business community, can contribute to the intertwined issues of competitiveness and poverty. Following an introduction, chapter 2 examines four related issues: poverty, income equity, welfare dependency, and the…

This document contains transcripts of hearings on employment and the social costs of unemployment. During the hearings, testimony and prepared statements were taken from persons involved with unemployment programs, with Black community leaders, union representatives, teachers' representatives, police officials, and research professionals about the…

This paper analyzes the role the community college plays as a bridge to opportunity for the working poor and economically disadvantaged. Because educating the disadvantaged is expensive and often under-funded--particularly in the area of basic or remedial education--many community colleges opt to focus on educating more advantaged students in…

This document describes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, which California instituted in response to the 1996 federal welfare-to-work legislation. The CalWORKs program also has the mandate to develop employment opportunities for welfare students. Community colleges are required to spend their CalWORKs…

This paper describes the Essential Skills Program at the Community College of Denver (CCD), which functions as an education broker and a labor market intermediary that coordinates the services offered by CCD with the needs of a number of Department of Social Service clients. The Essential Skills Program (ESP) supplements the services offered by…

This paper reviews the changes in federal requirements for welfare recipients and the response by California's community colleges, in particular Los Angeles City College (LACC) and Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC), to welfare-to-work legislation. In 1985, the California Legislature enacted GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence) as its…