The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Jobs Initiative is a six-city workforce initiative aimed at helping disadvantaged adults earn their way out of poverty. Between 1995 and 2002, the initiative enrolled more than 17,000 adults and placed 8,090 people in jobs. Most Jobs Initiative participants were working 18 months after enrollment in the program, and 93% had employer-provided health insurance. The Job Initiative's success offers the following lessons: (1) effective programs combine a variety of skill-building activities, including educational activities; (2) credentials matter; and (3) workforce intermediaries can facilitate success for low-income workers in community colleges. Specific implications of the Jobs Initiative for those policymakers who will be involved in the 2004 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) are as follows: (1) tailor financial aid for education to working adults with children (modify the Pell grant program and create a new HEA title X to provide financial aid tailored to working parents); (2) make the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit refundable for people who earn too little to claim the credit's full value; (3) provide incentives to colleges to develop innovative skills programs tailored to working adults; (4) encourage partnerships between workforce intermediaries and community colleges; and (5) increase employer incentives to support skill building for low-wage employees. (Contains 9 references.) (MN)