WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT: Coordination of TANF Services Through One- Stops Has Increased Despite Challenges

摘要

This report discusses the coordination of services for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients through one-stop centers established under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). Welfare reform legislation, which created TANF, directed welfare agencies to focus on helping needy adults with children find and maintain employment a goal that has long been the province of the workforce development system. Congress passed WIA to unify a fragmented employment and training system creating a new, comprehensive workforce investment system one that provides for a fundamental shift in the way services are designed and delivered. Despite TANF's similar focus, TANF was not mandated to participate in the one-stop system; however, many states and localities are coordinating their TANF services through one-stop centers. With the emphasis on work intensifying in the current TANF reauthorization debate, the coordination of TANF and WIA programs may become increasingly important.