![]() In response to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), TANF administrators at the Erie County Department of Social Services (DSS) examined the structure of their TANF employment program in the context of the local economy. Neighborhoods where TANF recipients are concentrated often are plagued with high crime, drug use, and a limited availability of good jobs. Erie County, New York (Buffalo)īuffalo, the largest city in Erie County, New York, is one of the poorest cities in the United States. Non-core activities can include, for example, job skills training directly related to employment or education directly related to employment (for recipients who have not completed high school or a GED). If the number of hours allowed under FLSA is greater than 20, recipients can participate in non-core activities for any hours over 20. Recipients in work experience programs who work the maximum number of hours per week allowed under the FLSA, even if the total number of hours worked is less than the number required to meet the 20-hour core requirement for the overall rate, may be counted as meeting their core work hours requirement as long as the state has a simplified food stamp program in place. If so, welfare agencies are required to calculate the maximum number of hours allowed by taking the total value of the family's combined TANF and food stamp benefits and dividing it by the federal or state minimum wage (whichever is greater). They can work for a government, nonprofit, or for-profit employer.Īs a protection to recipients, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may apply to welfare recipients participating in work experience activities, depending on the nature of the work experience assignment. In lieu of an hourly wage, work experience participants continue to receive their TANF and food stamp benefits while participating in the program. Work experience programs are intended to provide TANF recipients with work opportunities that will help them to develop skills, knowledge, and work behaviors that will increase their employability. Work experience is one of nine core activities in which TANF recipients can participate to meet the first 20 hours of their weekly work requirement. Now that states are required to meet effectively higher work participation rates, there may be more interest in creating work experience programs to help TANF recipients who have not been successful at finding unsubsidized paid employment. While some policymakers had anticipated that states would create large unpaid programs for work experience or community service to meet these requirements, only a few states did so. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) established federally mandated work participation requirements for states and penalties for failing to meet them, giving states incentives to help TANF recipients find paid employment or participate in unpaid work or work-related activities as quickly as possible. In Hamilton County, Ohio, a consortium of agencies administers and provides work experience to TANF recipients. Montana uses work experience placements as training sites to build recipients' job skills. Erie County, New York, contracts with neighborhood organizations to provide work experience opportunities near the places where recipients live. In addition to helping recipients meet their TANF work requirement, these programs are designed to help recipients gain job skills and become acclimated to a regular work schedule. Rather than earning an hourly wage, recipients receive their TANF grant and food stamp benefits in exchange for the hours they work. TANF recipients are assigned to entry-level jobs at government offices, nonprofit agencies, educational institutions, or for-profit businesses, creating an immediate attachment to the labor market. Unpaid work experience is designed to mirror regular employment in the paid labor market. This practice brief profiles three work experience programs that engage nearly all work-ready TANF recipients in unpaid work activities, either alone or in conjunction with education and training. Service Delivery and Administrative ApproachĮndnotes Suggested Further Readings Abstract.Printer Friendly Version in PDF Format (17 pages) Contents This report is available on the Internet at: Providing Unpaid Work Experience Opportunities for TANF Recipients: Examples from Erie County, New York Montana and Hamilton County, Ohioīy: Michelle K. ![]() Strategies for Increasing TANF Work Participation Rates ![]()
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