United States General Accounting Office

Moving Hard-to-Employ Recipients Into the Workforce

National survey data show that although a higher percentage of adult TANF recipients is currently engaged in work activities while receiving benefits than in the past, the majority are not. In part, this is because many have characteristics that make it difficult for them to get and keep jobs. In fiscal year 1999, a monthly average of nearly 60 percent of all TANF recipients nationwide did not participate in a work activity. Although this may have been caused by weak implementation of state work programs, studies have shown that a substantial share of TANF recipients have characteristics that make employment difficult, such as substance abuse, poor mental or physical health, disability, low educational attainment, limited work experience, limited English proficiency, low basic skills, or exposure to domestic violence. Many recipients have two or more of these characteristics, making it especially difficult for them to get and keep jobs. Some officials have asserted that this group may make up a larger percentage of the caseload as overall caseloads have declined. However, data are not available to determine whether recipients with characteristics that impede employment represent a greater share of the caseload than previously.

All six of the states we visited implemented a "Work First" approach to TANFone that emphasizes job search to move recipients into jobs as quickly as possiblebut all have modified their programs in some way to better serve recipients who face difficulties in entering the workforce. States differ in their approaches to identifying hard-to-employ recipients. Some of the states and localities we visited require nearly all new applicants to look for a job, providing access to other programs only to those who are not initially successful in finding employment. Other states have developed screening and assessment procedures to identify new applicants with characteristics that could impede employment before they have a chance to test the job market. No one approach has proven most effective for moving hard-to-employ recipients into jobs. State strategies to help prepare hard-to-employ recipients for work include expanded case management services, specialized training, and work experience. In addition, all six of the states we visited refer some recipients to non-TANF agencies and organizations for services such as substance abuse and mental health treatment, shelters from domestic violence, adult education, and legal aid, when appropriate.

HHS is supporting initiatives that will help states identify hard-to-employ recipients, but so far it has done little to further state efforts to systematically analyze these data so that they can be used to estimate the number of TANF recipients who will reach their 60-month limit before becoming employed. We are therefore recommending that HHS promote research and provide guidance that would enable states to estimate the number of hard-to-employ TANF recipients who will reach their 60-month limit on benefits. In addition, despite the flexibility states have under PRWORA, some states are unclear about the range of work and work preparation activities they are allowed to provide to recipients and are reluctant to allow recipients to participate in the full range of activities they may need to get and keep jobs. Although HHS has several efforts under way to help states use their flexibility under PRWORA, some states are still uncertain about how to design programs that best meet the needs of their hard-to-employ recipients while still complying with the law. We are therefore recommending that HHS expand its efforts to help states better understand how to use the flexibility the law gives them to create appropriate programs for hard-to-employ recipients.

In commenting on the draft report, HHS disagreed with both of our recommendations. It maintained that the first recommendation overemphasizes the use of measurable characteristics, which they stated are not accurate predictors of employability. Experts, however, believe that identifying employment barriers is key to ensuring that appropriate services and work activities are provided to hard-to-employ recipients, and HHS did note that identifying employment barriers is useful. With regard to the second recommendation, although HHS reported that it is already fulfilling it through their ongoing activities, we found instances where states and localities were not aware of their full range of options under PRWORA. Therefore, we continue to recommend that HHS expand the scope of its guidance to states to help them use the flexibility PRWORA affords to provide appropriate work and work-preparation activities to hard-to-employ TANF recipients.