Over the past two decades, federal and state policymakers have dramatically reshaped the nation’s system of cash welfare assistance for low-income families. Through national legislation and state-initiated reform and experimentation, policymakers transformed Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which became Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 1996. During this period, state approaches to welfare reform have varied considerably. Nevertheless, almost all reform efforts have encouraged adult welfare recipients to work more and, as a result, to reduce their families’ long-term reliance on welfare benefits. In addition, many state welfare pro-grams have incorporated financial incentives that have encouraged work and supplemented the incomes of employed TANF recipients, and have also experimented with ways to help workers—employed TANF recipients and those who leave the TANF rolls with employment—retain employment and advance in the labor market. (author abstract)

This practice brief is the first in a series of practice briefs being developed by the Tribal HPOG evaluation team, comprised of NORC at the University of Chicago, Red Star Innovations, and the National Indian Health Board. The briefs will be used to disseminate important lessons learned and findings from the Evaluation of the Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program , which is being funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families. The Tribal HPOG program is funded by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to support 32 demonstration projects, including 5 Tribal Organizations and Colleges, to train Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals as health care professionals. The purpose of this first practice brief is to: (1) describe the unique aspects of the Tribal HPOG grantee organizations and the target populations they serve; (2) introduce the program frameworks of the Tribal HPOG grantees; and (3) provide an overview of the Federally-sponsored evaluation of the Tribal HPOG grantees. (author abstract)

Over 26 million adults in the United States do not have a high school degree and many of these individuals are classified as low-skilled. Many Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs, designed to provide foundational skills, are failing to place low-skilled students on a trajectory to enter credit-bearing postsecondary programs and earn postsecondary credentials. Accelerating Opportunity: A Breaking through Initiative, seeks to transform ABE programs in the United States to help low-skilled students move along educational pathways and into jobs that pay a living wage. Modeling their efforts after the Washington State Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program, 11 States throughout the U.S. are attempting to substantially increase the number of basic skills students enrolled in career pathway programs that lead to high-quality employment opportunities.

The Office of Family Assistance began the Rural Communities Initiative in 2008, and many rural areas expressed an interest in learning more about how to utilize technology in their TANF programs and in their communities. This Webinar included presentations from Ms. Mary Campanola, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development, Telecommunications Program; Ms. Sheryl Rehberg, Executive Director, North Florida Workforce Development Board; and Mr. Stan Brodka, Director of Sales, KeyTrain. (author abstract)

Community college and vocational training programs provided education to more than 6.2 million students in 2006, which represents about 35 percent of all postsecondary education students. These programs are often important in reaching low-income youth and adults to increase their educational attainment and skills. This paper, from the Center for American Progress, offers information on how community college programs can better engage and reach low-income students and improve their skill development for improved job attainment.

New York City’s Human Resource Administration designed and implemented the WeCARE program to assist the high number of TANF participants on their caseload with clinical barriers to work; the model has since been successful in moving clients with mental health and other needs off of cash assistance. This 2010 webinar provided TANF stakeholders with information on the program’s creation and implementation. Also available on PeerTA are reports from two site exchanges to WeCARE, with Wisconsin and Hawaii.

The Workforce Strategies Initiative published this update on how community colleges and sector initiatives are collaborating to benefit businesses and low-income workers seeking. As there is a continued demand for workers educated beyond high school, 43 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 in the United States are not educated beyond a high school level.

This report, co-authored by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) is based largely on a roundtable meeting conducted in April 2000 by both organizations to discuss expanding postsecondary opportunities for low-income working parents and welfare recipients.

This paper looks at curricular and program redesign strategies being used in community colleges today to speed nontraditional students' advancement from lower levels of skill into credential programs and to shorten the time commitment that earning a credential demands of them. It presents a framework for understanding the range of experimentation with program and class reformatting and redesign, and identifies programs that exemplify promising approaches. The paper concludes with issues and questions that MDRC will need to address in assessing whether to proceed with a research program focused on program redesign efforts geared to working adults' needs.