ABSTRACT
With the passage of 1996’s Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the welfare system in the United States shifted from one focused on eligibility and economic assistance to one focused on propelling welfare recipients into the workforce. The new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) applied lifetime limits to assistance and required states to devise and implement welfare-to-work plans that address barriers to employment and move welfare recipients into sustainable jobs in the workforce. Under the California program (CalWORKs), adult recipients of aid who do not meet exemption criteria are required to meet work requirements by participating in welfare-to-work activities in order to maintain their cash assistance.
