Welfare to Work

The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program can be used to help teen parents receiving welfare--even those considered hardest to serve--complete their high school education. In the 16 states GAO reviewed, about 24 percent of the teen parents receiving welfare had been enrolled in JOBS. The share of teen parents enrolled in each of these states, however, differed substantially, anywhere from seven to 53 percent. Although the states varied in important ways that affected teen parents' enrollment, this finding is not unexpected in a program such as JOBS, which is a financial and programmatic partnership between the federal and state governments. GAO cannot yet draw any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of JOBS in helping these young mothers. The numbers served are relatively small and not enough is known about the impact of JOBS on reducing welfare dependence among teen parents and their families. Moreover, JOBS is a relatively new program that has been operating in an environment of mounting fiscal distress and competing demands on state budgets. However, as state programs evolve, the economy recovers, and states choose to target more funds to JOBS, states may have greater capacity to enroll teen parents and strengthen the education and support services tailored to their needs. Because some teen parents have been improperly excluded from JOBS and states may be missing opportunities to enroll teen parents before they become welfare cases, GAO believes that steps should be taken to ensure that all teen parents are properly identified and told of the requirements for participating in JOBS.

GAO found that: (1) 24 percent of an estimated 144,000 AFDC teen parents have enrolled in JOBS; (2) states have unevenly enrolled teen parents in JOBS at rates ranging from 7 to 53 percent; (3) the states reviewed have varied considerably in their financial commitment to the JOBS program and the extent to which they emphasized teen parent enrollment; (4) inadequate local services and factors related to teen parents' motivation are key barriers to their completing their secondary education and moving towards self-sufficiency; (5) some teen parents have been incorrectly exempted from JOBS; and (6) action should be taken to ensure that all teen parents are properly identified and informed of JOBS participation requirements.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: