To continue to receive benefits, TANF participants were required to engage in employment-related activities for 32 hours per week. Program staff allowed TANF participants in the Training Focused intervention to decrease work hours per week to zero hours to pursue education and training activities, with the philosophy that eliminating the requirement to engage in work would allow participants to access the most useful education and training programs. Participation in education and training was voluntary, but if participants chose not to pursue education and training, they were required to participate in other permitted activities—including work—for at least 32 hours per week. Participants received intensive case management services, including access and referrals to mental health, domestic violence, and substance use treatment services. Participants were also automatically eligible for supportive services, including child care and transportation assistance, which would otherwise have required enrolling in a separate program. Services continued until participants obtained employment, but participants could continue pursuing education and training for as long as they wished. The program was available to TANF recipients who had worked at the state minimum wage or higher for at least 20 hours in one or more weeks in the prior month. Participants also had to have completed a preemployment program and expect to be working at least 20 hours per week on average for the next month. The Training Focused Program was implemented in Riverside County, CA.
The effectiveness of the Training Focused Program when compared with Work Plus indicates the effect of being referred to a set of services that includes those unique to the Training Focused Program or how much better the offer of the Training Focused Program meets participants’ needs than the offer of Work Plus does. Work Plus also provided intensive case management and enhanced supportive services to the same population. Unlike in Work Plus—which required participants to work 20 hours per week—Training Focused Program participants could reduce or eliminate work hours as long as they participated in other permitted activities—including education and training—for at least 32 hours per week. The evaluation of the Training Focused Program as compared with Work Plus also tested the effectiveness of Work Plus and the Training Focused Program as compared with usual services.
The Training Focused Program allowed newly employed Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients to reduce work participation (to zero hours per week) in order to pursue education and training opportunities. This evaluation directly compared the Training Focused Program to a separate intervention, Work Plus, to better understand which of the two interventions might be more effective. The distinctive feature of the Training Focused Program is the ability of participants to completely replace work hours with participation in other permitted activities, such as education and training.