Workforce - Workplace

It's Not Only About "Work First"

It is always a pleasure to see deserving colleagues "do well." This is the case with my friend Luis Macias. We worked together in El Paso for many years designing educational programs for welfare clients. His professional journey has taken him to Austin where he now oversees many aspects of the state's welfare reform initiatives. I recently interviewed him on the role that adult education and literacy programs can play in "welfare-to-work" programs. Here are his comments:

Barbara: What is the distinction between "welfare-to-work" as a general term and "welfare-to-work" as specific legislation with accompanying mandates?
Luis: The phrase "welfare-to-work" is used to describe the general approach of supporting recipients of public assistance as they pursue independence from public assistance. It also refers to funding to the states from the Department of Labor to serve hard-to-serve TANF recipients. This funding is intended for provision of post employment supportive and developmental activities. It is intended to serve individuals who have the characteristics of long term dependence on public assistance.

Barbara: How do adult education and literacy programs fit into welfare-to-work initiatives?
Luis: Texas practices "Work First" as a major component of its welfare employment program. Most participants in the Choices Program are required to participate in a supported job search as their first activity. We prefer the labor market to determine a person's employability rather than making this determination through an assessment interview. However, not all clients will find a job. After a reasonable period of job search, if the participant cannot obtain employment then adult education and literacy services most certainly play a role in lifting a person's competitiveness in the employment market place.

Barbara: What should be the goal of instruction in welfare-to-work classrooms?
Luis: To facilitate as rapidly as possible the engagement of the participant in the employment marketplace.

Barbara: What do teachers in adult education and literacy programs need to know about welfare-to-work?
Luis: The goal of welfare employment programs is to assist individuals to enter the job market as soon as possible. They need to understand that in a world of time limited benefits with lifetime bans after exhausting those benefits, that clients need to conserve these assets by only using them for limited periods of time.

Barbara: What should learners in welfare-to-work classrooms be learning?
Luis: They should be learning the things they need to be competitive in the world of work. This can be things like workplace literacy or it can be problem solving skills in the workplace.

Barbara: Any specific recommendations for what should be included in lessons?
Luis: House Bill 1863 places responsibility at the local level with the local workforce development boards to determine the most appropriate approaches for service delivery. Adult education and literacy professionals need to engage in dialogue with the local boards to determine their priorities for service delivery.

Barbara: Please comment on your perception of the usefulness of traditional "skill and drill" instruction versus nontraditional approaches that utilize dialogues, cooperative learning, and class-based project work.
Luis: What must drive decisions and approaches is what is most successful in helping participants acquire needed skills as quickly as possible.

Barbara: What can literacy and adult education programs do to help with "affective" issues such as stress, poor-self-concept, and motivation?
Luis: As more clients leave the welfare rolls, caseloads will be comprised of more individuals with multiple barriers. These harder to serve individuals may benefit from services which assist in esteem building and motivation. The adult education community should explore with local boards whether such innovations in curricula would be attractive.

Barbara: If the goal of welfare-to-work is economic self-sufficiency, is there a place for teaching "lifeskills" such as money management, parenting, time management?
Luis: There is clearly a role for development of life skills. A significant piece of the transition from welfare to work involves helping the participant get their home life adjusted to the schedule of a working parent.

Barbara: How would you describe a good collaboration between adult education and literacy programs and welfare-to-work social agencies?
Luis: It is one that is mutually supportive. Each recognizes the goals of the other and supports those goals. There are many more clients than resources. Agencies can help each other through mutual understandings of each other's roles and when each would be the most appropriate to deliver services based on the participants' service plan.

Luis Macias is the Section Director for Performance Review and Evaluation at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). His section oversees performance in all programs under the TWC, with an eye toward facilitating continuous improvement in all aspects of service delivery. He may be contacted at Luis.Macias@twc.state. tx.us

Barbara Baird is Director of Project IDEA which is a statewide professional development grant funded by the Texas Education Agency. She is the author of the Project FORWARD curriculum designed for welfare clients. She may be contacted at barbarab@laguna.epcc.edu

[Note: The Project FORWARD curriculum is available from the Adult Literacy Clearinghouse on disk or as an email attachment. Call 800-441-4323 or email tcall@tamu.edu ]