In this report, employment retention and advancement under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was examined by reviewing research findings regarding labor market development since 1996. According to the research, most of those moving from welfare to work have found employment in low-wage jobs and experienced frequent job losses and…

The effect of welfare time limits on families in different states was examined in a comprehensive study that involved the following activities: (1) a survey of state welfare administrators regarding states' time-limit policies and experiences to date; (2) site visits to five states; and (3) a synthesis of research on time limits. The following…

A work group consisting of representatives of public agencies, education, the health care industry, and unions and professional associations was formed to examine education and training issues related to the shortage of health care workers in Washington state. The group concluded that the shortage of available workers in many health care…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…

A National conference was held to examine State policies and practices for helping disabled youth make the school-to-work transition more successfully. The focus of the first day of the conference was on transitional programs currently in existence in Maryland, Michigan, and New York. The first part of the second day's activities involved the…

This document, which is intended to assist Colorado's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) staff, educators, students, and students' families, presents the answers to selected questions regarding eligibility for and delivery of cooperative educational and vocational rehabilitation services for youth in transition. The introduction provides…

Research examining the impact of arts education on workforce preparation has confirmed that programs incorporating the arts can be educational, developmentally rich, and cost-effective ways of providing students with the skills needed for productive participation in today's economy. Arts education has been shown to help students develop basic,…

State governors have an immense stake in building a workforce training and education system capable of producing the skilled workers needed to secure the country's economic future. In doing so, states must face the following challenges: (1) many state workforce systems do not reflect market needs; (2) public education is falling short in preparing…

The Girls to Women Initiative was undertaken by a group of Maryland professionals and volunteers to identify and help meet the needs of Maryland's girls and young women in the 21st century. The professionals and volunteers researched and held conferences examining gender-specific issues concerning health and lifestyle, family life, education, and…

The passage of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 (Perkins III) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) marked a new era in the performance accountability partnership among the states, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Evaluation of vocational education…

Since the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was enacted in 1998, considerable efforts have been expended at the federal, state, and local levels to effect the transition to the new system mandated by WIA. Several states phased into the new system in July 1999, and all other states followed in mid-2000. Active participation by partner agencies has…

To help families leave public assistance and escape poverty, the public sector must invest in career advancement strategies that enable parents to access jobs with family-supporting wages, benefits, and opportunities for career advancement. Welfare time limits have made career advancement more important than ever. The following services promote…

Service learning (SL) is a teaching method that integrates service to the community with classroom curriculum and provides a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility. Through funds from the Corporation for National Service (CNS), nearly every state has resources and some level of SL programming. Although…

The 5-year impacts of mandatory welfare-to-work programs on welfare recipients and their children were examined by using a rigorous research design called a social experiment to examine 11 welfare-to-work programs in 6 states (California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon). Four employment-focused and seven education-focused programs…

The findings of the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) were analyzed to identify ways of improving the process of moving people from welfare to work. Selected lessons from the analysis were as follows: (1) welfare-to-work programs that rely on adult basic education programs for the general population are unlikely to improve…