Statement of Jenny Wittner, Senior Policy Associate, Women Employed, Chicago, Illinois

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on welfare work requirements and time limits to the House Human Resources Subcommittee. Women Employed is a membership organization that works for the economic advancement of women. Besides engaging in education and advocacy activities, Women Employed provides job-training services to low-income women who are struggling to enter the workforce. Based on our experience as service providers and advocates, and on behalf of the members of Women Employed, we submit the following recommendations.

The newest research from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies joins other research in consistently demonstrating that the most effective welfare-to-work programs maintain a strong focus on employment and provide opportunities for some participants to engage in job search and others in education and training-not exclusively one or the other. Additionally, in Illinois and elsewhere, the fastest-growing occupations require skills that most TANF recipients do not have. Those jobs that do require only minimal or basic skill levels pay poverty-level wages and offer few prospects for advancement. Indeed, research shows that by itself, gaining work experience does not increase low-skilled workers' earnings. Depending on an individual recipient's current skills, TANF recipients can gain between $5,000 and $10,000 of annual income by increasing their skill levels through education and training. Additionally, those with higher levels of education are more likely to remain off welfare once they have left it. Research conducted for the Illinois Department of Human Services shows that those without a high school degree are more than twice as likely to return to welfare than those who have a high school degree or a GED.

New TANF legislation should encourage states to make education and training a part of the menu of services that are offered to those on TANF and those who have recently left the TANF rolls. As Congress considers welfare reauthorization this year, Women Employed recommends changes in the federal welfare law to enable states to enroll greater numbers of welfare recipients in education and training that leads to employment. We recommend that Congress legislate a welfare program that will:

• Allow increased flexibility for states to count education and training as a work activity. New TANF legislation should expand the definition of "work activity" to include vocational training without the current 12-month limit as well as literacy, ESL and GED instruction and higher education.
• Include the types of activities that help remediate barriers such as substance abuse, mental illness and learning disability in the definition of a work activity so that state agencies are able to address the needs of low-income clients without penalty. The care of a disabled spouse or child should also count as a work activity for those for whom such care prevents other employment.
• Provide funding for supportive services to working families as they undertake work activities until they reach economic self-sufficiency. Working families, on and off TANF, depend on crucial supports such as child care subsidies to ensure that they can meet basic needs. These subsidies should be available to those attending education and training part- and full-time, to those attending other types of activities such as drug rehabilitation and mental health programs, and to those in low-wage employment.
• Eliminate time limits for people still on welfare who are trying to overcome barriers to employment. Families who are making good faith efforts to overcome barriers such as disability, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence and lack of literacy or job skills need continued support. Families that face barriers to employment or job loss due to a contracting economy also need continued access to TANF.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to submit comments.