| COALITION ON WOMEN AND JOB TRAINING The Coalition on Women and Job
Training is committed to ensuring welfare reform is a success for all
families. Our advocacy agenda for reauthorization includes promoting a
portfolio of supports that will help low income women with children to
enter or remain in the workforce. Further, we are committed to promoting
the well-being of families who face the most severe barriers to work by
ensuring they are provided the services and flexibility that will allow
them to become self-sufficient. Families must have the appropriate level
of program support and flexibility that will allow them to benefit from
the opportunities that TANF provides. The Coalition supports retaining the
basic structure of the original bill’s emphasis on work and a five-year
lifetime limit. However, while the current TANF system has focused on
caseload reduction, reauthorization must focus on reducing the poverty
rates of recipient families. EDUCATION AND JOB TRAINING: To achieve
economic self-sufficiency and adequately provide for their families, TANF
participants need jobs that pay a living wage (measured by each state’s
own self-sufficiency standard), and provide benefits and opportunities for
advancement. The law’s focus is on a work-first job placement strategy
that places participants in low-wage, low-skilled jobs with limited
opportunity for advancement. Employment in high-wage, high-skilled
occupations requires access to education and job training for TANF
participants. ---- Allowable Activities ---- Current law permits states to
conduct and administer community service or work experience programs to
move recipients into unsubsidized employment. ➣ --The coalition believes
reauthorization should require states to actively promote education and
training activities, including post secondary education. ➣ --The coalition
also believes reauthorization should require states to emphasize education
and job training that leads to living wage occupations with opportunities
for career advancement (including nontraditional employment for women),
which is an effective way to raise the earnings of low-income women.
Current TANF regulations limit the ability of TANF participants to access
education and job training due to restrictive allowable work activities,
work participation rates and time limits. In addition, participants may
also encounter multiple barriers to educational success and job stability
such as limited English proficiency, illiteracy, low educational
attainment, or learning disabilities that require additional support
services. Current law limits work activities to include unsubsidized or
subsidized employment; workfare; and certain educational activities, such
as vocational education (maximum 12 months), education directly related to
employment (only applies to high school and teen parents), and secondary
school attendance (adult basic education towards a GED, or completion of
high school). In addition, there is a 30% cap on the number of persons in
all TANF families that a state can allow to participate in any of these
educational activities toward fulfillment of their work participation
rate. ➣ --The coalition believes that reauthorization should expand the
definition of allowable work activities to include: • Participation in an
education program leading to the completion of secondary education, GED or
equivalent • Participation in an education program leading to a
certificate, associates degree or baccalaureate degree at a post secondary
institution • Participation in vocational, career technical education or
job training, and • Participation in mental health, domestic violence, or
substance abuse treatment and counseling. ➣ --The coalition believes that
reauthorization should eliminate the time limit for participation in the
above allowable work activities, and should set realistic time limits for
participation in work activities that are adequate for degree or
certification completion. ➣ --The coalition believes that reauthorization
should eliminate caps on the amount of TANF participants states can enroll
in allowable work activities. ➣ --The coalition believes that
reauthorization must “stop the clock” for all TANF participants who are
engaged in allowable work activities full-time. EMPLOYMENT READINESS AND
RETENTION: Many current and former welfare recipients who have entered the
workforce continue to receive poverty level wages. In order to continue to
be successful, retain employment and ensure a better quality of life for
their children, they will need access to on-going work supports such as
child care, job training, transportation, and emergency assistance. The
Coalition recognizes that many families impacted by welfare reform have
considerable impediments to entering and sustaining employment. Studies
reviewed by the General Accounting Office have documented the high
prevalence of domestic violence, substance addiction, mental health and
other family hardships among those remaining on welfare caseloads. In
addition to these more recognized barriers, many individuals transitioning
into employment from welfare face traditional work and family obstacles
such as juggling work and care for sick family members and arranging
emergency child care when a child becomes ill. Many of those who have
exited welfare programs and remain outside the workforce have similar
challenges to entering and sustaining employment. ➣ --The coalition
believes reauthorization should adjust federal work participation
requirements to accommodate individuals facing multiple barriers in
becoming job-ready, such as: • Allowing TANF participants the option of
using participation in mental health, domestic violence, or substance
abuse treatment and counseling as an allowable work activity • Specifying
that TANF participants with certain barriers (such as domestic violence
and families with mental health problems and disabled members) are exempt
from requirements and not counted in the state’s performance rates •
Increasing the limitation on state’s exemptions, and • Allowing TANF
participants to use the time spent receiving comprehensive services,
including life skills development, and the referral and provisions for
support services, such as child care and transportation to count toward
fulfillment of work requirements. THE COALITION ON WOMEN AND JOB TRAINING
is comprised of more than 30 members from national women’s, civil rights,
religious, and labor organizations. Since its inception in 1992, the
Coalition has been at the forefront of the federal debate on job training
reform and has worked to increase low-income women’s options for achieving
economic self-sufficiency through an improved job training system. In the
past, the Coalition has successfully outlined a progressive vision and
made recommendations for achieving real gender equity in federal education
and job training policies. Thank you for giving us the chance to comment
on the upcoming TANF reauthorization. |
