A welfare to wellness to work program

Upon approval of CalWORKs, if you are required to participate in the Welfare-to-Work Program and have at least one child under 13 years of age, you will be authorized to choose a child care provider for your child ren and may be eligible to receive months of child care. Expenses for child care can be paid unless you choose a provider that charges higher rates than we can pay.

Once placed in a job, you will receive additional help with work supplies and continued help with transportation and child care. The Welfare-to-Work Program can assign you to, and pay for, an approved education or training program that prepares the participant to get a specific job. The Welfare-to-Work Program can pay for the cost of approved education or training program, books and supplies, transportation, and child care costs.

Once the training is completed, additional support is made available to you to find a job in that field. If you continue to receive CalWORKs cash aid, you may also be eligible for transportation, child care and other supportive services to help you advance in your job.

If you are otherwise eligible, child care supportive services can continue for 24 months and beyond. Equally notable in this light is the fact that almost 30 percent of women currently on the rolls are now employed. The 60 percent employment rate of welfare leavers is not much different than that of women who left the AFDC program prior to welfare reform. Employment rates over the period to ranged from 48 percent to 65 percent, varying by the state of the economy and the area of the country.

These rates are similar to the rates following reform. This is surprising because many more women have left the welfare rolls in this era of reform than in any prior period, and many of those who left recently are more disadvantaged than women who left the rolls in prior periods. The fact that employment rates of leavers have not been lower than those experienced by past leavers further supports the strong effect of welfare reform.

In addition, random assignment evaluations of pre reform programs which had time limits and work requirements and were reasonably close in character to the post programs put in place by the states also show positive effects on employment and earnings. The employment and earnings gains in these demonstration programs are the average gains for both women who have left welfare as well as women who stayed on the rolls, and they therefore represent a more comprehensive measure than studies of leavers alone.

Two of the most important reforms in the legislation were the imposition of federal time limits on the length of welfare receipt, and the use of more stringent sanctions for not complying with work requirements and other rules.

A natural question is how women who hit a time limit or were sanctioned have fared relative to women who left welfare voluntarily or because of different inducements. Time limits have had relatively little effect so far because most states have retained the five-year federal maximum and, as a result large numbers of recipients did not begin to hit time limits until the late fall of Some states do have shorter time limits than five years, but they have exempted large numbers of families from those limits and have granted large numbers of extensions.

These exemptions and extensions have typically been granted to the most disadvantaged families, so that it is primarily those with significant employment and earnings while on TANF who hit the time limit in these few states.

As a consequence, in the one or two states where significant numbers of families have left welfare because they hit a time limit, post-welfare employment rates of those leavers are quite high e. But in other states where fewer families have hit the limit, employment rates of time-limited leavers are no different than those of other leavers.

More is known about sanctions because they have been in force for most of the time since and in some cases even before then. Many more women have been sanctioned than have been hit by time limits.

The studies of women who have left welfare because of sanctions show that such women are less likely to have jobs than other welfare leavers. This appears to be because sanctioned welfare recipients tend to be less educated, have lower job skills, and are in poorer health than other welfare recipients. Unfortunately, these findings suggest that sanctioning may often occur among women who are the most disadvantaged and have the greatest number of difficulties with work.

Despite the high employment levels of women who have left welfare, their incomes increase only modestly after leaving the rolls. About half experience an increase in income immediately after leaving, with the other half experiencing a decline.

After a year or two off the rolls, earnings gains slightly exceed the losses in TANF benefits. When EITC income is added in, the gains are slightly higher.

However, the major change in income after leaving welfare comes from increased income from other family members very little from boyfriends and other unrelated persons, however. Such income is a larger component of total household income than either the earnings of the leaver herself or TANF and food stamp income. As a result of additional income from this source, total household income grows by about 20 percent after two years off the rolls. Income from other household members is thus a key ingredient to sustaining the incomes of women leaving welfare.

Random assignment demonstrations measuring the effects of several pre state welfare reform plans provide additional evidence of the impact of welfare reform on income. For states whose plans most resembled those implemented after those with work requirements and time limits , income was essentially unchanged by the reforms three years after they began.

However, neither the EITC nor the income of other family members was included in the income calculation, so it is probable that some income gains were in fact attained, possibly in the same 20 percent range found in other studies. These demonstrations also show that, in the absence of earnings disregards, income is not likely to greatly increase for several reasons. One is that many women work part-time and thus have quite modest earnings, not enough to make up for lost benefits.

Another is that many women are sanctioned off the rolls, when they have little or zero earnings, yet they still lose benefits. A third is that many states reduce TANF benefits dollar-for-dollar when earnings increase at least if women stay on the welfare rolls , thereby canceling out any gain in income that might result from increased work.

The EITC has played a significant role in keeping household income from declining as much as it could. However, many women off welfare do not receive the EITC if they have not been able to achieve steady employment. Others who are working do not have enough earnings to achieve the maximum EITC payment, and others do not apply for it in their tax returns. Thus, the EITC has assisted some families but not all, and families with income declines tend to be those that have benefited from it the least.

Studies also show welfare leavers experience declines in their receipt of food stamps and Medicaid. It appears that this decline is not a result of loss of eligibility so much as it is a result of lower participation despite eligibility, possibly because access to offices that determine eligibility is difficult to sustain.

For whatever reason, low rates of food stamp and Medicaid receipt are a significant problem among TANF leavers. Women who have left welfare are not the only single mothers whose income has changed since the reform legislation of Low-income single mothers who choose to stay off welfare to try to make it in the labor market have had increases in income as well. Whitehead D. J Clin Nurs , 20 , 03 May Cited by: 8 articles PMID: Martin CT , Hodge M.

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Abstract Available from publisher site using DOI. A subscription may be required. Martin CT 1 ,. Keswick JL ,. Paula Leveck Search articles by 'Paula Leveck'. Leveck P. Affiliations 1 author 1. Share this article Share with email Share with twitter Share with linkedin Share with facebook. Abstract This cross-sectional, exploratory study evaluates and describes a welfare-to-wellness-to-work program developed by a nurse located in the western United States.

From open-ended, semistructured questions, the study identified key themes related to the program.