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Recommendations
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San Joaquin County CalWORKs Needs Assessment and Outcomes Study: Report #3: Welfare and Work Outcomes and Barriers to Employment (00/00/00)
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As TANF legislation is revisited and local program are fine-tuned, we recommend that:- Support for child care & transportation must be retained, and accessibility and utility to respondents must be substantially improved.
- Low uptake of child care subsidies, regardless of the reasons, means that young children of CalWORKs recipients are missing the opportunity to benefit from formal, structured child care. Child care supports may not be used by respondents due to difficulties in navigating the child care system and a shortage of desirable, affordable providers.
- Given the primacy of family-based child care in these models, it seems important to encourage creative solutions for supporting and funding family-based child care arrangements. TANF funding might be permitted to be used to encourage worksite child care as well as other options for managing non-standard work hours. Beyond TANF, it will be important to maintain funding for child care assistance for the working poor, and to assist low-wage former welfare recipients in transitioning to alternative sources of child care funding.
- Low uptake of transportation subsidies may be an indication that there is no substitute for owning a car. It seems obvious that no one needs a car more than a working single parent. Transportation subsidies appear to be inadequate support for dealing with limitations in public transportation and the complexity of travel needs. We recommend creative programs that support purchase and maintenance of private vehicles.
- High drop-out rates from educational activities may limit respondents’ ability to attain self-sufficiency, and may indicate the need for additional supports, or more consistently provided supports, for respondents pursuing education.
- Further research is needed on barriers that may limit or constrain, rather then prevent, working, and policy supports may need to be maintained for persons with such constraints.
- Given that every additional barrier reduces the likelihood of working, screening programs to identify individuals with physical and behavioral health barriers to employment, as well as human capital deficits may be advisable.
- A substantial proportion of welfare recipients may not be able to leave welfare or remain employed, at least with current CalWORKs program levels of support. Early screening and assessment may also facilitate decisions in favor of more intensive case management, appropriate exemptions from work requirements, or timely assistance in pursuing disability claims.
- Even those without barriers to employment appear likely to have periods of unemployment, and need for public assistance in some form. Policy options for those in unstable labor markets could include extended unemployment benefits, quick access to emergency funds for living expenses, and continued health insurance for unemployed adults.
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