With middle-income jobs in decline, entrepreneurship offers an increasingly promising pathway out of poverty; but few low-income New Yorkers are currently taking this route to economic self-sufficiency. This report provides the most comprehensive examination of low-income entrepreneurship in New York. The report documents current self-employment…

Recognizing the inadequacies of the theoretical framework upon which the Concentrated Employment Program (CEP) was constructed, an effort was made to develop a more useful set of assumptions by which the program could be appraised more critically. Summarized in this document are the outcomes of attempts to construct an analytic framework within…

The research and evaluation literature of several Federal Manpower training programs and the Federal-State Vocational Rehabilitation program was reviewed to determine effectiveness in reducing economic dependency among welfare recipients. Emphasis was on the Vocational Rehabilitation programs used for comparison. Significant findings are…

This paper offers the definition of the term "special populations" that appears in Section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act of 1998: (1) individuals with disabilities; (2) individuals from economically disadvantaged families, including foster children; (3) individuals preparing for nontraditional training and…

This paper addresses the role community colleges can play in moving the working poor toward economic independence. Since Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) was enacted in 1996, there have been many new job openings in the country. But, employment and earnings prospects for job seekers leaving the welfare system are dismal. TANF clients…

The trend in the early 1960's was toward manpower programs to help the unemployed and underemployed to get jobs and improve their job status through federally financed job training. The objective was to get those workers who had been trained in these programs into unsubsidized jobs. The trend toward job creation came later in the decade; the…

Today, a college education is increasingly viewed as the gateway to the American Dream--a necessary prerequisite for social mobility. Yet recent policy reforms in the United States effectively steer former welfare recipients away from an education that could further their career prospects, forcing them directly into the workforce where they often…

Selected research on the Work Incentive Program (WIN), legislated in 1967, and related research on low income families are reviewed with the aim of gathering empirical findings which illuminate the factors affecting WIN results and to contribute to discussion of future welfare, work training, and employment policies. Areas of research and…

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched the eight-year, six-city demonstration project, Jobs Initiative (JI), in 1995 to provide support and assistance to community groups, employers, foundations, and community colleges helping disadvantaged, low-skilled workers secure family-supporting jobs. JI sites found that even during a time when employers…

This brief reviews the key findings of the 1998 national survey conducted by the American Association of Community Colleges to examine the effect of welfare reform on community colleges, and compares them with a similar survey from fall 1997. It includes some background information on welfare policy, a profile of the welfare population served by…

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 federal policy shift from skills training and toward work first strategies has come about, in part, from a misconception that "training does not work." A more comprehensive look at existing research reveals the documented effectiveness of skills training. A growing number of studies have shown skills training can increase earnings;…

A study assessed the first two years of a three-year initiative to test the potential of extending sectoral employment strategies among 10 organizations, most of which were new to the sectoral employment field. Five organizations increasing low-income workers' access to good jobs were ARCH; PhAME; Training, Inc.; WIRE-Net; and Project QUEST. Five…

In an effort to provide positive program and procedural alternatives for personnel working in educational and training programs for low-income women, the book presents the current situation of minority female low-income heads of household, especially the Chicana, and offers solutions and recommendations regarding the education and training of such…

Arranged alphabetically by main topic, this bibliography cites 322 doctoral dissertations, written between 1970 and 1974, pertaining to various aspects of poverty. Where possible, annotations have been written to present the kernel idea of the work. Im many instances, additional subject headings which reflect important secondary thrusts are also…