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The challenge of ending welfare is perhaps nowhere more daunting in the United States than on Indian reservations and in Alaska Native villages. Long-term dependency on welfare and the lack of economic development on many reservations rival (and sometimes surpass) the conditions in the most depressed inner-city and rural areas of the country. This study of the early implementation experiences of 10 tribal WtW programs identifies critical challenges tribes face in mounting programs to help long-term welfare recipients make the difficult transition from welfare to self-sustaining, full-time work. A major challenge is how to structure programs to address a complex web of related personal problems: low basic skills, lack of educational credentials, lack of occupational skills and work experience, language and cultural differences, transportation-related problems, and substance abuse problems. The individual challenges the target population of WtW eligibles face are further complicated by external factors that have long afflicted Indian reservations. These factors are high unemployment; lack of well-paying, career-type jobs; poor prospects for job creation and sustained economic development; discrimination in local labor markets; geographic isolation; poor roads and transportation; insufficient coordination between tribal and other human services programs; and lack of child care. These conditions often conspire to derail the individual efforts of welfare recipients to break an intergenerational cycle of poverty and dependency.
While the 10 tribal grantees studied in this report were still in the early stages of developing their WtW programs, their experiences identify important challenges and illustrate potentially useful strategies for Indian country. Here, we highlight several important lessons that emerged from this preliminary assessment of tribal WtW programs.
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In designing and implementing tribal WtW programs, tribal agencies must carefully consider how their WtW programs will coordinate with other tribal and nontribal programs to maximize available resources and services. In relation to the size and need of the target population, WtW funding is small and time-limited. Well-established linkages with other programs and agencies--especially TANF--are critical for several reasons.
Linkages with other human service agencies and programs, such as TANF and housing assistance programs, can facilitate recruitment, which can be a difficult challenge to WtW programs. Forging a strong referral linkage with TANF, especially with local TANF offices, is imperative for ensuring a steady flow of referrals to WtW programs. Special collaborative efforts are needed to improve identification of tribal membership by local TANF offices. In recruiting and serving noncustodial parents, WtW programs need to establish referral arrangements with child support enforcement agencies, courts, the correctional system, homeless shelters, substance abuse treatment programs, and responsible fatherhood initiatives.
Linkages with human service agencies and programs can bring many needed services to which WtW participants can be referred. No single agency is likely to have the resources and expertise to address the full range of issues and problems participants face in making the difficult transition from welfare to work. Links with TANF and other agencies can help to stretch limited WtW funding by enabling participants to secure needed services using funding sources other than WtW. TANF programs in many states have greatly expanded the range and duration of support services for which they will provide payment. It is critical to examine the needs of the target population (for example, substance abuse treatment, child care, transportation, transitional housing), and then line up agencies that can respond effectively and rapidly with support services to meet these needs.
Linkages can help tribal employment and training agencies establish services for their members that outlive the time-limited nature of WtW. While Congress has extended the period over which WtW funding can be spent, WtW remains a time-limited source of funding. Given the poor economic conditions and the extent and intergenerational nature of welfare dependency on many reservations, it is not likely that the problem of transitioning welfare recipients to work will go away soon. Establishing links with other programs can help to ensure that a comprehensive employment and training system is in place in the future.
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By devolving responsibility for TANF to states, the federal government has changed the relationship between tribes and states. No longer can tribes look solely to the federal government for guidance and protection concerning welfare rules and benefits for tribal members. Now, TANF funds are limited, and tribes that wish to operate their own TANF program must negotiate with states for data needed to plan and administer their program and to determine the allocation of state TANF block grant funds to the tribal program. The five-year limit on receipt of TANF (exempted only on reservations with more than 50 percent not-working rates) reinforces the message that the federal government, with the enactment of PRWORA, in effect redefined its responsibility to tribes. Tribes have no control over state decisions that may affect their members. For example, Idaho did not accept WtW funds, and North Dakota did not accept the second round of WtW funding. In such states, tribal members living off the reservation are denied access to the WtW program, and the state cannot share excess WtW funds with the tribe(s). A tribal TANF program in such circumstances would face still heavier burdens.
Improved cooperation with states has been important in tribal efforts at welfare reform, particularly since the federal government provided neither funding nor technical assistance to specifically address the new responsibilities associated with devolution of TANF. (1) Cooperation in welfare reform may represent one of the best examples of tribal-state cooperation and can serve as a model for cooperation in other areas. Tribal-state cooperation on welfare reform is often complex, however. One branch of state government may cooperate with a tribe in some areas, and another branch may be uncooperative on the same or different issues. Problems with communication (for example, determining WtW eligibility) and misinterpretation of regulations (for example, with regard to allowable expenditures under WtW) can plague the startup and ongoing operation of WtW programs on and off reservations. Tribal WtW programs should carefully assess ways in which states may be able to help them establish and maintain both TANF and WtW programs.
This study showed that states can make important contributions to the development of tribal TANF programs. For example, Alaska, Arizona, and Oregon have made significant, innovative contributions to the three tribal TANF programs in the study. Each of these states worked closely with the tribes in planning and transferring the TANF program from the state to the tribe/consortium. These states provided training and technical assistance to tribal staff and shared their approaches to TANF data collection, management, and reporting. While some states may not provide full matching funds (the amounts the state would be required to provide were the state providing TANF), the three tribes /consortia in the study that were operating TANF did receive all or some of the state matching funds.
State agencies (particularly welfare and workforce development agencies) may be able to help tribes with TANF and WtW programs in some or all of the following areas:
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PRWORA and other welfare reform legislation promote child support enforcement, encourage responsible fatherhood, and seek to decrease out-of-wedlock births. In Indian country, with some notable exceptions, progress toward these three goals has been slow, in part because it is commonly believed that noncustodial parents are unemployed or underemployed and unable to contribute child support. Few noncustodial parents were served in the programs visited for this study. WtW programs either did not have, or were just beginning to establish, links with other programs/agencies that serve noncustodial parents (for example, child support agencies, courts, jails/prisons, and substance abuse programs). If WtW programs are to help custodial parents toward self-sufficiency, it is important to enhance the employability of noncustodial parents and connect them where possible with their children. Progress toward these two objectives could promote noncustodial parents' financial and emotional contributions to their children's well-being.
Tribal WtW programs need to assess program models and strategies for serving noncustodial parents and increasing the likelihood that they can make a financial contribution to the upbringing of their children. Research has long shown that one-parent households--without the financial contribution of another adult--have a much more difficult time moving out of poverty and welfare dependency. Tribal programs should look for ways to recruit and serve noncustodial parents. Such programs often need to employ different recruitment strategies and offer a slightly different blend of services than programs targeting custodial parents. (2) Considerable care must be given to how noncustodial parents can be most effectively recruited for such initiatives because recent experience has demonstrated that noncustodial parents (especially those with child support arrearages) are difficult to recruit and, once recruited, are difficult to retain in programs.
One strategy that WtW programs have adopted for recruiting noncustodial parents is to coordinate with child support enforcement programs. Noncustodial parents involved with the child support enforcement program typically need help finding or upgrading employment. The Navajo Nation provides an example of how such a link can be structured. It negotiated cooperative agreements between the tribal child support enforcement program and the states of Arizona and New Mexico to locate noncustodial parents, obtain default and other judgments, and collect child support in accordance with decisions of tribal courts. Under this initiative, Arizona provides funding and technical support for the development of the program and helps the tribe recover child support from noncustodial parents living away from the reservation. The Arizona child support enforcement office determines if the noncustodial parent is employed in the state; if so, the state implements procedures that include contacting the noncustodial parent and, if the custodial parent does not object, garnishing a portion of the noncustodial parent's wages in accordance with the tribal court order. Arizona forwards the child support funds it collected to the tribal child support enforcement program.
Another alternative for WtW programs is to establish or coordinate with a local responsible fatherhood initiative. In just the past five years, there has been a groundswell of support at the federal and state levels for the establishment of responsible fatherhood programs to help noncustodial fathers connect (or reconnect) with their children. Such programs provide education, employment, training, and support services to enhance employability similar to those services that WtW programs aimed at custodial parents provide. In recent years, WtW has provided funding to establish and expand these initiatives in many localities across the country. Such programs also often provide services that help noncustodial parents establish paternity, modify child support orders, renegotiate arrearage payments, and improve access and visitation. Many national organizations, as well as agencies within DHHS, can provide information about how to initiate local responsible fatherhood initiatives.
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Small tribes face unique challenges in implementing welfare reform that can be mitigated if they form a consortium to provide employment, training, and other programs. Two of the WtW grantees in the study--California Indian Manpower Consortium and Tanana Chiefs Conference--are consortia. A consortium enables small tribes to share program staff and operating costs. This is of particular benefit when the funding allocated for an individual tribe would be too little for the tribe to operate a TANF or WtW program on its own. A consortium approach to implementing programs such as WtW presents some challenges, however. Substantial coordination activities are required. Each participating tribe must be well informed about the purpose and goals of the collaboration, involved in the development of the plan of operation, and updated regularly about program status and results. In addition, consortia may have to deal with multiple state or county TANF agencies, which requires time and resources.
Tribes may also want to consider establishing a 477 program, which makes it easier for them to merge funding from WtW, NEW, and other sources for employment and training activities. Three of the sites included in our sample had established such programs. The main advantages of these programs are that (1) a larger integrated pool of funds for employment and training activities is established; (2) regulations governing expenditures can be streamlined, reducing reporting requirements and permitting more flexibility in the use of funds; (3) staff can more easily be deployed across programs and multiple funding sources; (4) the number of funding sources across which expenditures need to be accounted for is reduced; (5) referrals across programs can be eliminated and participant confusion about available programs/services can be reduced; and (6) burden on participants and duplicative delivery of services across programs can be reduced (for example, a single intake form can be used, assessment can be done only once). Similar program integration goals, of course, can be pursued outside of the 477 program, but it provides some additional tools that tribes can use.
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The "work first" approach that is the hallmark of most state TANF and WtW programs assumes that, with the right incentives and supports, combined with limited job-readiness or skills preparation, most TANF recipients will find work. Such an approach may be impractical on Indian reservations, where prospects for finding work often are low and there is little new job creation. It does not seem reasonable to expect WtW and TANF programs to transition long-term welfare recipients into jobs, when there are few if any job openings on the reservation or within commuting distance of the reservation. In such a depressed economic environment, the placement of an individual in a job on the reservation may simply mean displacement of another individual. The prospects of finding a job off the reservation--particularly one paying a wage that permits self-sufficiency--may also be very low (or nonexistent). Moreover, moving off the reservation for employment can itself be a wrenching experience.
Within the constraints imposed by WtW, tribal programs need to consider how they can supplement work first approaches with other program services to upgrade basic skills, provide educational credentials (postsecondary certificates and degrees if possible), and a range of subsidized supported work opportunities. Tribes may be able to diversify program offerings under WtW by combining resources under a 477 program or by expanding collaboration with other agencies (particularly local workforce development programs). Tribal programs need to look for ways to build job-related skills, experience, and the resumes of participants to make them more competitive within the job market. This is not a simple task and is likely to take more time and resources than a two- or three-week job readiness workshop, followed by intensive job search, can provide. The experiences of tribal programs visited underscore the importance of providing a comprehensive range of services to address the varied problems tribal members face in transitioning from welfare to employment. At a minimum, either through the sponsoring agency or by coordinating with other local service providers, the following core program components are needed to provide comprehensive WtW services:
Work experience activities need to be structured so that individuals with very low skill levels and no prior work experience can gradually move along a continuum of work experience activities toward full-time, unsubsidized work. For example, projects will likely need to begin some participants with part-time, unpaid work experience, accompanied by remedial education or short-term occupational training. Gradually, exposure to work can be intensified in hours and work requirements. At the other end of the continuum of subsidized work (before placement into an unsubsidized job), would be OJT. Under OJT, a participant would be placed for up six months with an employer, with the wage being partially paid by the WtW program (up to 50 percent) and the rest covered by the employer. Employers sponsoring OJTs typically would make a firm offer to hire the participant at the end of the training period.
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Ability to work and to sustain long-term employment is critically linked to availability of child care. The lack of accessible and affordable child care is one of the most serious barriers on Indian reservations to transitioning long-term welfare recipients from welfare into full-time work. Most of the sites visited as part of this study had a shortage of licensed and high-quality family and group child care facilities that could meet the varied needs of WtW participants. Particular problems are encountered in finding care within reasonable travel time of either the participant's home or work. In addition, finding care for individuals who have variable work schedules or who work evening/night shifts can often be challenging.
Tribal programs need to assess availability of child care for tribal members (including those with special needs) and may need to become actively involved in promoting expansion of supply and in ensuring that referrals for quality care are made in a timely manner. Several WtW grantees included in this study have trained TANF recipients to become licensed child care providers. If WtW programs do sponsor such training initiatives, however, they should be carefully structured. One potential problem associated with training TANF recipients to become qualified child care providers, especially for home-based child care, is that substandard housing of some TANF recipients might require extensive, time-consuming, and expensive renovations to comply with federal, state, or tribal standards. In addition, a home-based child care provider might not be able to generate enough income to achieve long-term self-sufficiency, and there are limited opportunities for advancement within the child care field.
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Lack of reliable transportation to and from work and to and from child care providers is one of the most serious barriers to the employment of TANF recipients in Indian country. Several of the WtW grantees in this study developed approaches that addressed the transportation problems WtW participants face. For example, grantees in our sample developed van service to shuttle workers from home to work, leased or otherwise provided refurbished automobiles to people successfully placed in jobs, and reimbursed participants for travel costs. Tribal WtW programs might also consider the following transportation-related options/strategies:
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Perhaps the most critical hurdle WtW program operators face is finding well-paying career jobs into which WtW participants can be placed. Unfortunately, WtW administrators can do little directly to stimulate economic development on their reservations. The main goal of their activities should be to provide a full range of high-quality, efficiently delivered WtW services and to prepare participants as well as possible for the jobs that do exist on and off the reservation. To support the economic development efforts of the tribe, WtW administrators and staff can carefully document the available pool of TANF/WtW participants, their existing skill levels, and how such individuals' skills could be upgraded to meet new employers' needs. Such documentation of available labor (in what until very recently has been a time of very low unemployment in many localities across the country), and having a plan for upgrading skills, could help bring new employers to the reservation or nearby towns. As discussed in the following section, identification of strategies to overcome barriers to business and economic development will be the focus of the next step in the tribal evaluation.
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The tribal component of the National Evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program will include a second round of data collection that will focus on two critical issues identified but not fully explored in this report: (1) how tribes can overcome management and political challenges to the successful operation of TANF programs, and (2) strategies tribes can use to overcome challenges to business and economic development. The second round of data collection will begin in fall 2001, and the results will be reported in 2002. The two issues to be studied are described below:
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1. Pandey et al. (1999)
2. For an overview of the structure of WtW-funded programs serving noncustodial parents, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, December 2000.
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