TANF/Post-Secondary Linkages – Building Better Programs

California Community Colleges CalWORKs Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:49:02 +0000

California’s Community Colleges partner with and collaborate with the state’s county-based CalWORKs program. California Community Colleges CalWORKs program (CCC CalWORKs) supplements (not supplants) existing college funds and services for CalWORKs recipients attending community colleges. Services provided by CCC CalWORKs include paid work study, case management and counseling, job development and placement, subsidized child care, curriculum development and redesign, instruction, post-employment skills training, and service coordination with county welfare departments, employers and local/regional employment entities, such as Workforce Investment Boards. The largest share of funds for the program are used for service coordination. In the 2010-2011 school year there were 39,803 students in the CCC CalWORKs program. The current program started in 1997. The reports below provide an overview of the program.

California Community Colleges CalWORKs Program Overview and Update

California Community Colleges CalWORKs Program: Report to the Legislature

Pennsylvania’s Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS) Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:46:04 +0000

KEYS provides support services and counseling to students who receive TANF or SNAP and are pursuing post-secondary education and training at community colleges, while allowing those students up to 24 months (with the possibility of extensions) to complete their degrees and credentials. Each KEYS student receives support and guidance from a “KEYS student facilitator,” who helps the student identify potential career goals in fields with available jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. The facilitator also helps the student design a course schedule appropriate for meeting those goals and assists with financial aid applications and transportation and child care arrangements. Department of Public Welfare’s Special Allowances for Supportive Services can pay student registration fees for education and training programs and provide students with transportation and child care assistance, books and school supplies, and clothing and uniforms.

CLASP – TANF Education and Training: Pennsylvania’s KEYS Program

Maine’s Parents as Scholars Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:35:29 +0000

Maine’s Parents as Scholars (PaS) program provides a range of services to Maine TANF participants who are pursuing two-year or four-year postsecondary degrees. Students who participate in PaS receive a range of support services, including transportation, child care, required books and supplies that are not covered by financial aid grants, and school uniforms and essential clothing (up to $300 per year). As a rule, PaS does not pay tuition, though individual colleges frequently provide students with financial aid application assistance. However, when students are unable to receive any financial aid, they can get up to $3,500 per academic year from PaS. Students also receive cash benefits equal to TANF cash benefits.

CLASP – TANF Education and Training: Maine’s Parents as Scholars Program

Oklahoma’s Special Projects Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:09:48 +0000

Oklahoma’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-funded education and training programs, referred to as “Special Projects,” provide a comprehensive range of services to help TANF recipients successfully pursue postsecondary degrees and credentials at Oklahoma’s community colleges and technology center campuses. The Special Projects are a collaboration among the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), which operates the state’s TANF program; the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (ODCTE); and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE). Students participate in a “joint staffing” to create a career pathway plan and determine the appropriate next steps for eventually securing employment. To complete the work requirement, clients can choose from various options presented to them including job search, earning a GED, or receiving training through the local technology center or community college Special Project.

CLASP – TANF Education and Training: Oklahoma Special Projects

Nebraska’s Employment First Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:07:37 +0000

Nebraska’s Employment First (EF) program allows parents who receive TANF cash assistance to pursue education and training that improves their ability to secure employment and long-term economic success. Employment First is funded through Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), Nebraska’s state TANF program. Nebraska has allowed ADC recipients to meet their work requirements through postsecondary education since TANF was created. In recent years, the state has added adult basic education, GED classes, and English as Second Language classes as state-countable activities, recognizing that many ADC recipients may not be ready to take college classes.

CLASP – TANF Education and Training: Nebraska Employment First

The Returns to Higher Education for Colorado Works Recipients

Ife Floyd — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:04:28 +0000

Many studies find large returns to college attendance. Given their low income, current and former welfare recipients stand to benefit substantially from increased educational attainment if these estimates represent the causal effect of college attendance. However, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 placed stringent limits on concurrent college attendance and TANF receipt and resulted in a significant reduction in college attendance among TANF recipients in Colorado. This study finds that women in college following entry into Colorado’s TANF program experience large and significant earnings gains which are driven by receipt of a credential.

The Returns to Higher Education for Colorado Works Recipients Study

Kentucky Ready-to-Work

Ife Floyd — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 21:20:15 +0000

Kentucky Ready to Work (RTW) is a partnership between the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and the state TANF agency, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (KCHFS). RTW is designed to assist low-income parents in the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program who are enrolling in and attending community and technical colleges in Kentucky. The program provides the RTW participant with a comprehensive network of support services including counseling, advocacy, mentoring, job skills training, academic success training, tutoring, and referrals to other community based agencies. The program also provides paid work-study opportunities to participants to allow them to participate in vocational education programs that last longer than 12 months. RTW Coordinators also assist students in accessing additional supportive services and benefits provided through KCHFS and other agencies including transportation, childcare, and housing assistance.

CLASP Brief – Kentucky’s Ready to Work Program

Program Materials
Ready-to-Work Manual

Ready to Work End of Semester Report: Spring 2013

General Summary Ready to Work Spring 2013

Promoting Career Pathways through Greater Education and Training Options: Kentucky’s TANF Collaboration Presentation Slides

Improving Fiscal Accountability and Effectiveness of Services in the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program

Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative

Ife Floyd — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 20:30:20 +0000

The Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative (CPI) provides a comprehensive set of academic and support services designed to enable low-income, low-skill individuals to acquire the degrees and/or credentials required to obtain and hold jobs in selected high-demand, high-wage industries. CPI is funded with federal TANF dollars but is not limited to recipients of TANF cash assistance. Students are eligible if they are adult caretakers of children under 21 and have incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty line. Parents who participate (or whose children participate) in certain other means-tested programs are automatically eligible.

Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative website