AsianWORKs

ABSTRACT

Achieving economic self-sufficiency through employment is the ultimate goal of recent changes to the welfare program. The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population is most vulnerable to failing in this goal because of language difficulty, low education levels and lack of job skills in the labor market. Many AAPI immigrants, and Southeast Asian Americans in particular, suffer from adjustment and mental health problems due to their experiences as refugees. These are but a few of the obstacles for AAPI welfare recipients to become self-sufficient, making them one of the most “hard-to-serve” populations. The goal of self-sufficiency through employment can be reached if culturally appropriate and adequate support services are provided to meet the unique needs of the population. Few programs, however, are targeted at AAPIs. Using key-informant interviews and the case material review method, this article highlights the difficulties of AAPI welfare recipients and describes a unique program serving the Southeast Asian American, particularly the Cambodian, population. The article focuses on the program components of outreach and engagement, day socialization and job readiness, and family support services, and it discusses improvement to service access and lessons learned for the practice of cultural competence.     

Making the Transition from Welfare to Work: Employment Experiences of CalWORKs Participants in the San Francisco Bay Area

ABSTRACT

This study describes welfare-to-work participants in the San Francisco Bay Area, support services, experiences with the CalWORKs program, and predictors of employment status in the wake of welfare reform. Findings indicate that many are working and more Stayers and Recidivists than Leavers are using food stamps and Medi-Cal. Multivariate analysis reveals that race and financial supports were the significant factors contributing to employability, defined as the ability to secure employment despite the need to supplement earned income with welfare payments. To help people stay off of welfare, case management services are needed to help participants maintain employment and increase job skills. In addition to expanding our understanding of human behavior within the social environment of poverty, implications for practice and policy are identified.     

Employment Among Current and Former Welfare Recipients: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT

The primary goal of welfare reform is to move recipients from welfare to work. Several factors influence the employment of welfare recipients. The purpose of this content analysis is to offer a comprehensive understanding of employment characteristics and important personal, family, and employment characteristics that either promote or deter employment among current and former welfare recipients. Social workers need a comprehensive understanding of these factors in order to design policy and social work interventions. This article is a content analysis of the results of empirical research studies. Implications and recommendations are offered based on the review of empirical research on current and former welfare recipients.     

Self-Sufficiency and Sobriety

Abstract

Substance abuse presents formidable challenges to a welfare reform that has employment as its primary goal. This study reviews the literature on substance abuse and women and reports what substance-abusing women on welfare perceive as unmet needs and barriers to their recovery and ability to join the workforce.     

Welfare to Work in the United Kingdom

Summary

Increasing employment and reducing child poverty are two central goals of current government welfare reform policy in the UK, and single parentswith their relatively low employment rates and relatively high poverty ratesare one of the key target groups for both. This article outlines welfare reform policies in the UK with particular reference to single parents, and discusses the impact of these. In doing so, it highlights some key differences compared with the US.     

A Comparison of Foster Care Outcomes Across Four Child Welfare Agencies

ABSTRACT

A post-discharge outcomes interview for alumni of foster care was designed by four peer foster care agencies. Across all four agencies, 222 alumni were interviewed six months after being discharged from foster care services. Outcome domains, based on common measurement practices in child welfare and on social validation studies, include type of living environment (e.g., restrictiveness), placement stability, homelessness, school performance, employment, self-sufficiency, aggression, criminal behavior, substance use, relationships, community involvement, protection from harm, satisfaction, and impact of services. Results of the outcomes were compared to nationally sampled studies of children not in care. Generally, alumni reported positive outcomes across the various domains. The type of foster care, length of care, and age of alumni influenced the results. Implications for expanding this study to establish national benchmarks for outcomes, service use, and cost in foster care conclude the article.     

After the Bubble Bursts

Abstract

The late 1990s was a period of robust economic growth in America, and welfare reform resulted in a historically unprecedented drop in the welfare rolls. From 2001 to 2003, the economy slumped, however, leaving the policy community to speculate how this would impact welfare reform efforts. In this study, the authors constructed a logistic regression model to determine the extent to which economic climate and other factors influenced the employment status of Georgia's TANF population. The study's findings indicated that ownership of an operational vehicle predicted employment, while economic climate and the other tested variables played a negligible role.     

Welfare Reform and Its Impact on the Employment Prospects of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Welfare policy in Australia has undergone a marked shift in direction since the election of the Liberal Coalition (Conservative) Government in 1996. This paper examines welfare policy and, in particular, the disability support pension, in the light of the vocational needs of those with psychiatric disabilities who seek to gain employment. Empirical data is presented concerning a case study of 65 clients participating in a vocational program. These participants had all been diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities, and were assisted to obtain open employment. The paper demonstrates that welfare policy, in conjunction with the recently privatized employment services network, not only fails to address the barriers faced by individuals with psychiatric disabilities, but undermines their efforts to gain employment and recover from the illness.     

Implications of Welfare Reform on the Elderly

Abstract

Whereas many studies of welfare reform have focused on effects on children and families, little research has examined the implications of welfare reform for the elderly. This case study incorporates interviews with service providers for the aging, members of advocacy organizations, and two focus groups of older consumers conducted in the multi-ethnic urban community of San Francisco. Study findings suggest that welfare reform has had both direct and indirect effects on the elderly and their services in the study community. Direct effects derive primarily from changes in the welfare reform legislation that had the effect of undermining both immigrants' eligibility for and claiming of public assistance benefits. Indirect effects on older persons include increased child-care demands upon grandparents. The case study data bear on a significant policy change within the broader trend of devolution at a historical point when anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States was running high.     

Facilitating the Welfare-to-Work Transition for Women with a Mental Health Work Barrier

SUMMARY

Since the 1996 PRWORA welfare reform act requiring workforce participation in order to receive services, evidence has emerged that many welfare recipients experience mental health work barriers. Yet, little is known about effective approaches for assisting women with a mental health work barrier in the welfare-to-work transition. This paper addresses this gap by first surveying the empirical research on mental health work barriers among welfare recipients. Second, I propose a comprehensive service provision model to identify and assist welfare recipients with a mental health barrier. Third, I review outcome data from several promising intervention strategies.     

It Kind of Made Me Feel Important

Abstract

The enactment of the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996 led to sweeping changes in U.S. welfare policy and practice. Given the time limits placed on adult recipients of cash assistance, and the multiple barriers to employment that many of these recipients face, alternative intervention strategies need to be developed. Welfare-to-work interventions provided by faith-based groups are one such intervention strategy. This paper discusses the rationale for faith-based services and introduces research conducted on one particular faith-based model of intervention for the target population. Findings presented center on participants' perceptions of the faith-based services they received, particularly on aspects of the program that were helpful and meaningful to them.     

Long-Term Implications of Welfare Reform for the Development of Adolescents and Young Adults

We draw upon the 3-wave longitudinal dataset called Welfare Children and Families: A Three-City Study to examine the long-term implications for adolescents and young adults (N = 783) of mothers' welfare receipt and labor force participation from 1999 to 2005. In general, changes in mothers' work and welfare patterns were not associated with deterioration or improvement in youth development (ages 16 to 20 years at Wave 3). The few significant associations suggested that youth whose mothers increased employment (net of welfare participation) were less likely to show increases in serious behavior problems and delinquency compared to youth whose mothers were unemployed or employed part-time during the study period. Welfare roll exits (controlling for employment experiences) were unrelated to adolescent and young adult outcomes. Mothers' employment transitions were linked to improvements in household income and mothers' self esteem in addition to reductions in financial strain and their own illegal activities. However, these associations did not explain the relation between maternal employment and youths' improved behavior. These results do not support the predictions of either the supporters or the opponents of welfare reform, an outcome we discuss.     

The Perceptions of Welfare Reform by Michigan Families Whose Children Have Disabilities and Welfare Caseworkers

Abstract

This article examines family and caseworker perceptions of welfare reform and services as they relate to families who have a child with a disability. Interviews were conducted with 39 families and 77 caseworkers. Family questions addressed their perceptions of the welfare system, factors impacting their self-sufficiency, and their perceptions of needed program changes. Caseworker questions addressed their perceptions of welfare practices and policies and their education needs related to serving families who have children with disabilities. Familial perceptions of the welfare system were validated by caseworker reports. Implications for service improvement are discussed.     

Linking Housing,Social Services and Family Well-Being

Abstract

Securing adequate housing is a key component in achieving family well-being and a decent quality of life. It is expected that as many as twenty percent of the families currently on welfare, many of whom are disproportionately female and African American, may not be employable by the end of their lifetime benefit. These families, classified as “hard-to-serve” or “hard-to-employ,” are headed by an adult who may be struggling with substance abuse, physical or mental health problems, as well as low literacy and social competency issues that inhibit achieving self-sufficiency. This author will examine existing literature on welfare-dependent households coping with substance abuse and mental health problems, and how the lack of affordable housing impacts their ability to achieve self-sufficiency. This article presents a case study     

State TANF Time Limit and Work Sanction Stringencies and Long-Term Trajectories of Welfare Use,Labor Supply,and Income

While the 1996 welfare reform increased employment and reduced the participation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program immediately after its inception, little is known about the extent to which the reform and stringencies of time limit and work sanction policy features have impacted individuals in the long term. This study used the Survey of Income and Program Participation 1996, 2001, and 2004 panels (1996–2007) and a difference-in-difference-in-difference design to follow low-skilled single mothers’ trajectories of welfare use, labor supply, and income for 10 years after the welfare reform and compare how these trajectories differ by stringencies of state work sanction and time limit policies. The findings indicate that welfare reform had sustained impacts on reducing welfare use (TANF and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] program) and increasing employment. Stringent work sanction and time limit policies were associated with lower TANF participation rates in the long term, but only short time limit policies were associated with reduced SNAP participation. Neither stringent policy feature increased employment nor income. The differential effects by race were also examined and discussed.

     

Finding and Keeping Child Welfare Workers

Summary

Administrators in public human services are constantly involved in the exhausting challenge of recruiting and training staff in the child welfare arena. This article describes a program that the Commonwealth of Kentucky developed in order to address the recruitment and retention issue. The Public Child Welfare Certification Program is a special multi-university preparation program designed to recruit excellent workers from BSW programs who are prepared to take on complex cases with normal supervision within weeks of employment and to sustain those workers over time. Evaluation of the pilot indicates that the program is a great success in preparing students for child welfare work. Implications are discussed.     

Moving Towards Work

SUMMARY

The present study sought to investigate the effects of employment on low-income single black mothers and their preschool children. The sample included 90 mothers from New York City communities who were welfare recipients in 1996, and followed two years later. At follow-up, 53 of the 90 mothers were employed. The findings indicated that lower levels of depressive affect or financial strain were not predictive of entry into the work force. However, once employed, mothers reported less depressive symptoms than those not working. Attaining more education predicted better outcomes for mothers and their children, and provided more of an opportunity to be successful in the job market. For example, having more education was associated with gaining employment, exiting welfare, having stable employment, earning higher wages, and better reading abilities in children. Maternal employment was beneficial to children, as mothers who entered the work force had children who performed better in math achievement at follow-up, after controlling for maternal socioeconomic characteristics and school readiness at baseline. Implications of the findings will be discussed.     

How do economic downturns affect welfare leavers? A comparison of two cohorts

Early welfare reform research showed high rates of employment for TANF leavers. However, work-focused welfare may not be effective during an economic downturn. We investigate the employment of Wisconsin TANF leavers, contrasting outcomes among early leavers (1998) with those who left during the 2001 recession. We use data from administrative records on about 6000 welfare leavers, tracking quarterly employment for 3 years after they left benefits. Separate panel data analyses of those exiting in two different time periods show that individual leavers are less likely to be employed when their local unemployment rate is high in the later cohort; no relationship is found for the early cohort. In a panel analysis in which the cohorts are combined, we find that leavers in the later cohort, who experienced the recession early in their post-welfare career, are less likely to be employed, a result that holds controlling for observed and unobserved characteristics. These findings raise questions about how well single-parent families and their children will fare during difficult economic times now that welfare reform has such a strong emphasis on work.     

Fostering Neighborhood Involvement in Workforce Development

ABSTRACT

One of the challenges in welfare reform implementation is to provide neighborhood outreach and assistance to unemployed individuals. This case study tells the story of three neighborhoods as they implemented a public-private neighborhood jobs pilot initiative (NJPI). The Rockefeller Foundation, in partnership with Alameda County Social Services Agency, supplied seed money for the NJPI to develop “one-stop” employment resource centers. The article describes how the neighborhoods implemented the NJPI, as well as common strengths and challenges, and lessons learned from the NJPI experience.