The Family Rewards 2.0 program issued payments to participating families’ bank accounts for each activity that families completed or each condition that they met from an established list. The payments varied from $10 for each grade of C that each high school student earned on a report card, to $500 when high school students passed a statewide standardized exam. Payments were delivered every two months based on the activities or milestones recently completed, for up to three years.

Project Independence centered on two different service tracks: one focused on immediate job search, and the other on meeting individual goals and educational needs through education or training or an extended job search. After an orientation, participants were assigned to one of the two service tracks depending on their past education and work histories.

Atlanta’s HCD program stressed that participants should spend time receiving education or training to prepare for good jobs. At the start of the program, case managers assigned participants to adult basic education courses or vocational training programs. Participants were assigned to adult basic education courses more often than training programs because many vocational programs required GEDs or certificates that the participants did not have when starting the HCD program.

Atlanta LFA encouraged clients to move quickly into work without being selective about which job to take. Participants first spent up to three weeks in a job club operated in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program offices and led by a community action agency. Then, participants applied to jobs for 1 to 2 weeks and were required to make 6 in-person inquiries or send 15 inquiry letters to employers per week. Individuals who did not find a job during this period could go on to participate in more job searching, vocational training, basic education, or unpaid work experience.

TJRD participants were provided with 30 to 40 hours of transitional, subsidized employment; job search assistance; and other supports, including job coaching and classes before employment. Case managers acted as the primary point of contact for participants and helped participants access support for transportation, housing, and clothing, as well as referrals to training programs and substance abuse or mental health treatment.

The WRP was one of the demonstration projects made possible by Section 1115 waivers to the rules in effect at the time for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. These Section 1115 waivers allowed states to test new approaches to advance the objectives of the AFDC program.

Participants received rental assistance vouchers that could be used to rent a housing unit in the private rental market. Units had to meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards and be priced similarly to other units in the area. Local housing agencies worked in conjunction with local TANF agencies to provide comprehensive work-related services that were available in the broader community to assist participants with financial self-sufficiency.

WOW placed participants in specific training courses, based on standardized testing, that either provided basic education and skills training or specific technical training. Participants who scored at the sixth- or seventh-grade level on standardized testing enrolled in an 11-week basic educational skills and employability development course, followed by three weeks of unpaid work.

OIC’s MSFP participants completed a standardized test of their basic academic skills before being assigned to remedial courses or specific job-training programs. Remedial courses (GED, English as a second language, literacy) were assigned to those who scored below a certain threshold or lacked a high school credential and lasted three months. Participants with a high school credential and those who passed their remedial courses were assigned to six to nine months of job-specific skills training coupled with job-search training and assistance.

The PESD program was one of the demonstration projects made possible by Section 1115 waivers to the rules in effect at the time for the AFDC program. These Section 1115 waivers allowed states to test new approaches to advance the objectives of the AFDC program.