NEWSLETTER

June 2006

Made possible by the foundation support of The Joyce Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation & The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The National Transitional Jobs Network (NTJN) is a coalition of more than 200 Transitional Jobs (TJ) programs, policy organizations, and sponsoring organizations. The Network fosters economic opportunity for America's workers by developing new TJ programs, building the capacity of existing TJ programs, and promoting a national dialogue on job advancement strategies.

Mission: To support and expand the size, type and number of Transitional Jobs programs nation-wide and support the quality of the service model.

Has your program filled out the 2006 NTJN Census Survey?

Fill one out now!

Not a member of the NTJN?

If not, you are missing out on: technical assistance, publicity, discounts, issue alerts, access to TJ documents, email alerts.

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Does your Transitional Jobs program need technical assistance?

Download a technical assistance form.

Helpful Links

 

 

 

 

NTJN Steering Committee Members

  • Joe Antolin
    Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
  • Sandra Bizzell
     Human Services & Workforce Planning
  • John Bouman
     Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
  • Francina Carter
     National Institute of Corrections
  • Maurice Emsellem
     National Employment Law Project
  • Jennifer Davis
     Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
  • Abbey Frank, Co-Chair
     Center for Law and Social Policy
  • Richard Greenwald
    Transitional Work Corporation
  • Cliff Johnson
    National League of Cities
  • Linda T. Johnson
     Georgia Dept. of Labor - GA GoodWorks!
  • Julie Kerksick
     New Hope Project
  • Paul Knox
     Economic Development, State of Washington
  • Debbie Mukamal
     Prisoner Reentry Institute, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
  • Jan Mueller, Co-Chair
     Lifetrack Resources
  • Linda Nguyen
     Tacoma-Pierce County Workforce Development Council
  • Mindy Tarlow
    Center for Employment Opportunities
  • Sam Tuttelman
     Goodwill Industries International, Inc.

 

 

 

 

Contact us:

Phone                       
 773.336.6038

E-mail
ntjn@heartlandalliance.org

Address                        
 National Transitional Jobs Network
in c/o Heartland Alliance   
4411 N. Ravenswood  

2nd Floor                        
Chicago, IL 60640

 

 

Visit us on the Web! www.transitionaljobs.net

News & Events
  • REGISTER NOW! The 2006 National Transitional Jobs Network Conference: Strengthening Communities. Building the Workforce of the Future. Transitional Jobs Work - will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, October 12-13, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Please continue to visit the NTJN website for up to date information.
    Click here to register online now.
  • The NTJN recently adopted a new logo, as seen at the top of this newsletter, and is currently updating the website and other materials.  We are excited about launching this new look that better reflects our work and identity.

Media Alert

ABC News Aired Series of Stories on Prisoner Re-Entry
The series highlighted difficulties of prisoner re-entry and featured Senator Sam Brownback. Senator Brownback has rallied bipartisan support for the Second Chance Act and has been a leader in promoting re-entry initiatives. Please look on the NTJN website for links to video clips from the series. Please click here for part one of the series.

 

Audio Conference Call: Transitional Jobs: Helping TANF Recipients with Barriers to Employment Succeed in the Labor Market, CLASP, CBPP. May 23rd, 2006. Conference call highlighting Transitional jobs programs as a promising strategy to help TANF recipients with barriers to employment transition into the labor market. This conference call demonstrated the elements and design of successful Transitional Jobs programs by interviewing three NTJN Steering Committee members:

  • Jan Mueller, Co-Chair of the National Transitional Jobs Network and Director of New Workforce Program Development, Lifetrack Resources (MN).
  • Richard Greenwald, President and CEO of the Transitional Work Corporation (PA).
  • Linda Nguyen, Planning and Program Development Director, Takoma-Pierce County Workforce Development Board (WA).

Resources & Publications

Attacking Poverty by Attacking Chronic Unemployment: A Proposal to Stabilize and Grow the Transitional Jobs Strategy, John Bouman and Joe Antolin- Clearinghouse Review May-June 2006. This article was pringted in the special issue of the Clearinghouse Review that addresses "What the Federal Government Must do to End Poverty", in the wake of the sobering images of the Gulf disasters last year. The issue has 16 articles from experienced anti-poverty advocates and scholars, highlighting the debate about the role of government and spotlights some of the best current strategy ideas. NTJN Steering Committee members, Joe Antolin and John Bouman provide a compelling case for the need and the means to grow the Transitional Jobs program strategy.

 

The Wait is Over, The Work Begins: Implementing the New TANF Legislation, NGA Center for Best Practices. Congress reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program with the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). The new provisions for TANF present both a challenge and an opportunity for state welfare programs. This paper outlines the changes made through the act as well as mentioning Transitional Jobs programs (p.12) as an effective strategy to meeting the new requirements.

 

Transitional Jobs: Helping TANF Recipients with Barriers to Employment Succeed in the Labor Market, Allegra Baider and Abbey Frank - CLASP. The TANF provisions in the fiscal year 2006 federal budget bill will require most states to substantially increase the number of TANF recipients participating in work-related activities. Many of the families who continue to receive cash assistance under TANF have significant barriers to employment; thus, it is essential that state strategies to increase participation address the needs and circumstances of these families. Transitional Jobs are highlighted as a promising strategy that can help TANF recipients with barriers succeed in the labor market while simultaneously helping states meet higher participation rates by engaging more participants in work activities.

 

Transitional Jobs: A Next Step in Welfare to Work Policy, Margy Waller - Brookings Institution. This paper highlights Transitional Jobs programs as a promising policy response to the needs of individuals with barriers to employment. The Transitional Jobs program strategy is outlined as are factors for its success with individuals of specific populations with multiple barriers.

Reactions by TJ Programs

The NTJN asks TJ program providers:
What effect will the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) and emphasis on Work Participation Rates have on Transitional Jobs and your program?

 

Overview of the Deficit Reduction Act:
Signed into law in February 2006, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program.
The Act:

  • Extends the TANF block grant through 2010 with annual fixed funding of $16.57 billion and an additional $200 million per year for child care;
  • Retains work participation rates of 50 percent for all families and 90 percent for two-parent families;
  • Changes the base year for calculating the caseload reduction credit from FY 1995 to FY 2005 to determine work participation rate requirements;
  • Includes welfare recipients receiving assistance in separate state programs in the calculation of the state's work participation rate; and
  • Requires HHS to issue regulations on the definition of work activities, procedures for uniform reporting and verification of hours of work, and the circumstances in which a parent who resides with a child in a child-only assistance case would be counted in the

Transitional Work Corporation, Pennsylvania
Jim Klasen
jklasen@transitionalwork.org

 

Pennsylvania is highly focused on the challenge of meeting the 50% Work Participation Rate. Since Transitional Jobs is clearly a work related activity authorized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Transitional Work Corporation continues to be part of the strategy that can both assist the state in meeting federal requirements and also provide participants a real opportunity to become self-sufficient.

 

The Transitional Work Corporation believes in participation and even calls it's clients "participants" in an attempt to convey the importance of being in the program and participating fully. However, participation is a measure, not an outcome.

 

While further reducing the welfare rolls and complying with participation requirements are worthwhile goals or measures, they are not the only kind of outcomes that TWC is striving to achieve. Ultimately what TWC wants for our participants is real and lasting success, in the form of meaningful work and good, family sustaining incomes.

  • Total Enrollments since Oct 1998 - 15,853;
  • Entered Unsubsidized Employment - 51%;
  • Fully participating clients who secured unsubsidized employment - 96%;
  • Median wage of Unsubsidized Employment - $7.

Community Jobs, Washington
Diane Klontz
 DianeK@CTED.WA.GOV

 

Washington State's Community Job's Program sees potential in the TANF changes in the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) as it focuses on improved screening and evaluation, increasing engagement of parents and strengthening program options that help prepare parents for employment and to secure good jobs. The DRA reinforces CJ's current Transitional Jobs program and the importance of parent's working with community providers to identify and manage barriers, fully participating in a work activity and moving towards self-sufficiency which CJ currently reflects. With these changes, Community Jobs foresees an increased demand for Transitional Job services.

 

Community Jobs continues to be an important program option offering intensive services for those parents with the most significant barriers to employment. Community Jobs practitioners focus on those parents who have been unsuccessful in other WorkFirst programs by offering intense case management to address barriers while gaining valuable on-the-job work skills. Community Jobs is a paid work assignment program that places parents in supervised work settings where they can build work experience, develop a work ethic, advance their technical skills and prepare for unsubsidized employment Community Jobs Statistics:

  • Parents served since 1998 - 17,800;
  • Average barriers to employment - 8 (excluding transportation & child care);
  • Average time on a paid work experience - 4.5 months;
  • Entered Unsubsidized Employment - 64%.

Department of Workforce Development - Ohio
Sandra A. Bizzell
 cnsab@cuyahogacounty.us

 

The impact of the DRA is uncertain now, since the federal regulations have not been released, yet. Once the federal regulations have been released, the state has
to develop procedures and internal controls by September 30, 2006. Overall, increased pressure on work participation requirements will likely drive demand for more service capacity. An inherent risk is that more communities may be driven to less expensive options in order to engage higher percentages of clients.

 

With so few Transitional Jobs Programs in Ohio, most counties are unaware of how effective these programs are for individuals with barriers to employment. Since the Transitional Jobs Program strategy is an expensive, but effective intervention, implementation of the DRA could possibly deter the development of more programs in Ohio.

 

These comments represent opinions of knowledgeable staff working in
various TJ programs across the country.

Funding Opportunity

Department of Health and Human Services - Promoting Responsible Fatherhood: Allowable uses of funding include healthy marriage, responsible parenting and economic stability. The economic stability section includes funding that could support Transitional Job program activities in the following areas:

  • Helping fathers improve their economic status by providing activities, such as Work First services, job search, job training, subsidized employment, job retention and job enhancement; and encouraging education, including career-advancement education;
  • Coordinating with existing employment services, such as welfare-to-work programs, referrals to local employment training initiatives;
  • Disseminating employment materials; and
  • Offering financial planning seminars, including those that improve a family's ability to effectively manage family business affairs through education, counseling, or mentoring on matters related to family finances, including household management, budgeting, banking and handling of financial transactions and home maintenance.

Email us your Transitional Jobs program technical
assistance questions to be featured in the newsletter:
 ntjn@heartlandalliance.org

Fair Use Policy
Please feel free to forward our alerts as long as you credit the National Transitional Jobs Network with a link to our website: www.transitionaljobs.net.

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The NTJN is hosted by Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
4411 N. Ravenswood
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: 773.728.5960 x.6286 Fax: 773.728.4907