Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• Items in the State Library collection can be checked out to state officials and staff.

• Access to all materials listed will be provided by the State Information Reference Center, either by e-mail to cslsirc@library.ca.gov or by calling 654-0261.

EDUCATION

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

How California's Community Colleges Help Parents Move From Welfare to Self-Sufficiency: Executive Summary. By Anita Mathur, Student Services and Special Programs Division, California Community College Chancellor's Office, and others. Prepared for the Center for Law and Social Policy (The Center, Washington, DC) May 2002. 22 p.; Appendices.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/pubs/jobseducation/Credentials_Count_final.pdf

["This study finds that welfare recipients who attend California's community colleges substantially increase earnings and year-round work, with those who obtain credentials benefiting the most." HandsNet (May 10, 2002) 1.]

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PEPNet 2001 Profiles: 10 Effective Youth Initiatives. By Promising and Effective Practices Network, National Youth Employment Coalition. (The Coalition, Washington, DC) [2002.] 50 p.

Full Text at: www.nyec.org/pepnet/reports/profiles01.pdf

["Career, Mentoring Programs That Do the Job: PEPNet Shows Best Practices, But Funding Cuts Hurt: Since its 1996 launching ... PEPNet has focused on showcasing model programs ... of successful vocational training, career development and mentoring programs.... Ten youth development groups from around the country ... were singled out ... as examples of the best the field has to offer." Youth Today (October 2001) 10.]

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Title IX And Equal Opportunity in Vocational and Technical Education: A Promise Still Owed to the Nation’s Young Women. By National Women’s Law Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) June 2002. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.nwlc.org/pdf/TitleIXCareerEducationReport.pdf

[“Pervasive sex segregation persists in high school vocational programs around the country … 30 years after Congress passed a law barring such discrimination in education…. The survey found that girls still are clustered in classes that lead to traditionally female jobs in cosmetology, child care and other low-paying fields, while boys dominate classes that lead to traditionally male – higher-paying – careers in technology and the trades.” Washington Post (June 6, 2002) 1.]

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EMPLOYMENT

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Echazabal. Supreme Court of the United States. 00-1406. June 10, 2002. 16 p.

Full Text at: www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/01pdf/00-1406.pdf

["The Supreme Court ruled ... that employers may refuse to hire a disabled worker when the company determines the job would threaten the worker's life or health, the latest in a series of recent decisions by the court limiting the impact of the Americans With Disabilities Act in the workplace." Washington Post. (June 11, 2002) A7.]

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Skill Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles. By David Card, University of California, Berkeley, and John E DiNardo, University of Michigan. Prepared for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 8769. (The Bureau, Cambridge, Massachusetts) February 2002. 51 p.; Appendices.

Full Text at: papers.nber.org/papers/w8769.pdf

["The rise in wage inequality in the U. S. labor market during the 1980s is usually attributed to skill-biased technical change (SBTC).... We review the evidence in favor of this hypothesis.... We conclude that the SBTC hypothesis is not very helpful in understanding the myriad shifts in the structure of wages that have occurred over the past three decades."]

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Faith-Based Organizations Providing Employment and Training Services: A Preliminary Exploration. By Fredrica D. Kramer and others. The Urban Institute (The Institute, Washington, DC) February 2002. 37 p.

Full Text at: wdr.doleta.gov/opr/fulltext/FINALrep_02.pdf

["Workforce investment agencies in five cities --Baltimore, Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and San Diego) have directed some part of their funding to faith-based organizations to provide employment-related services."]

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"When the Paychecks Stop: Unemployment Insurance Fails to Help Many Former Welfare Recipients Who Lose Their Jobs." By the Research Forum on Children, Families and the New Federalism, National Center for Children in Poverty. Forum. Vol. 5, No. 2. (The Center, New York, New York) May 2002 6 p.

Full Text at: www.researchforum.org/newsletter/forum522.pdf

["This issue describes what we know about the role of unemployment insurance as a safety net for workers who were formerly welfare recipients and now face unemployment. Given the time limits for coverage imposed by current welfare law, the unemployment insurance system is likely to play a key role in the future for low-income workers losing their jobs." Moving Ideas (May 23, 2002) 1.]

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Welfare Reform and the Work Support System. By Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins, Welfare Reform and Beyond, The Brookings Institution. Policy Brief No. 17. (The Institution, Washington, DC) March 2002. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/wrb/publications/pb/pb17.pdf

["The authors find that programs like the minimum wage, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the child tax credit, child care subsidies, Food Stamps and health insurance have significantly expanded and helped welfare-to-work families make work pay. The researchers expect that maintenance and even expansion of these programs will be a major part of this year's welfare reauthorization debate in Congress." Connect for Kids (April 1, 2002) 1.]

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Making Work Pay for Public Housing Residents: Learning from the Jobs-Plus Demonstration. By James A. Riccio and Steven Bliss. Manpower Development Research Corporation Policy Brief. (The Corporation, New York, New York) April 2002. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.mdrc.org/Reports2002/JobsPlusPolicyBrief/jobs_plus_pb_2_2002.htm

["Residents of the nation’s public housing developments have long suffered disproportionately from perverse disincentives to work. Under traditional public housing policies, their rents were automatically ratcheted up in lock step with any income increase they realized from earnings, even in a low-wage job. Work often promised them little financial gain. But a series of reforms over the past decade — in welfare and tax policies, as well as in housing policies — have tipped the financial balance more in favor of work, perhaps to a degree that is not fully appreciated by many public housing residents and administrators."]

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The Gender Gap in Pension Coverage: What Does the Future Hold? By Lois Shaw and Catherine Hill, Institute for Women's Policy Research (The Institute, Washington, DC) 2002. 22 p.

Full Text at: www.iwpr.org/pdf/d447.pdf

["This report shows that certain women workers are obtaining relative gender equity in pension coverage but others are not getting this benefit to aid them in their retirement. These findings suggest that extending pension coverage to part-time workers and lowering vesting periods should be at the center of a women's agenda for federal pension policy."]

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Ask a Working Woman: Survey 2002. By the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. (AFL-CIO, Washington, DC) 2002. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.aflcio.org/women/aaww.pdf

["A white woman armed with a college degree is much more likely than women of other races and education levels to have a job with a Monday-through-Friday work week and be home the same time as spouse." The Sacramento Bee (May 7, 2002) A9.]

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2002 Workforce Study: Connecting Today's Youth with Tomorrow's Technology Careers. By A.T. Kearney. Prepared for Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. (The Network, Santa Clara, California) 2002. 31 p.

Full Text at: www.jointventure.org/workforce/Workforce_Final.pdf

["High Tech Has Low Appeal for Silicon Valley students: That's not good news for the future of the region's homegrown workforce, according to a recent study.... Students as a whole are not aware of a wide range of high-tech careers, despite the technology boom of the late 1990s.... Hispanic students also are less likely than their peers to have computer access or be aware of high-tech careers." San Francisco Chronicle (May 5, 2002) J2.]

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Workforce Investment Act: Youth Provisions Promote New Service Strategies, but Additional Guidance Would Enhance Program Development. By the U.S. General Accounting Office. GAO-01-536. (The Office, Washington, DC) April 2002. 46 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-413

["To support the development of a youth workforce investment system, we are recommending that DOL provide guidance and assistance to address specific concerns identified by state and local implementers. We are also recommending that DOL clarify the definition of the skill attainment performance indicator for younger youth (14-18 years of age."]

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HUMAN SERVICES

LOW INCOME

Making Ends Meet: Six Programs That Help Working Families and Employers: A Guide for Business Leaders and Policymakers. By Nisha Patel and others, Center for Law and Social Policy (The Center, Washington, DC) June 2002. 36 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/pubs/jobseducation/Making_Ends_Meet.pdf

["This publication takes a first step in providing information to business leaders and policymakers on how to link working parents with these six work support programs: the Earned Income Tax Credit, child care, Food Stamps, health care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and child support."]

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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Special Issue. IN: Focus, vol. 22, no. 1 (2002) pp. 1-144.

Full Text at: www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm#F22:1

[Includes; "Devolution;" " Implementation;" "Work, Earnings, and Vulnerable Populations;" "Family Matters;" and Reshaping Reform;" and others.]

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Feminist Perspectives on TANF Reauthorization: An Introduction to Key Issues for the Future of Welfare Reform. By Janice Peterson, Institute for Women’s Policy Research. IWPR #E511. (The Institute, Washington, DC) February 2002. 14 p.

Full Text at: www.iwpr.org/pdf/e511.html

["The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the key issues and goals that are emerging in TANF reauthorization discussions and to consider what a feminist agenda for TANF reauthorization might look like. The paper begins with an overview of the key elements and impacts of TANF, followed by a discussion of some critical TANF reauthorization issues and advocacy goals."]

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A Housing Perspective on TANF Reauthorization and Support for Working Families. By Barbara Sard, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (The Center, Washington, DC) March 12, 2002. 13 p.

Full Text at: www.cbpp.org/3-12-02hous.pdf

["CBPP presents a case for why housing issues should be considered in the TANF reauthorization debate. The housing ideas are divided into proposals targeted at current and recent TANF families, and proposals to address housing problems more broadly, including those of poor families with children. The report also includes a section with a set of proposed changes to federal housing programs that would promote marriage and family formation." HandsNet (March 15, 2002)[online.]]

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The Structure of the TANF Block Grant. By R. Kent Weaver. Welfare Reform and Beyond, The Brookings Institution (The Institution, Washington, DC) Policy Brief No. 22. (April 2002) 8 p.

Full Text at: www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/wrb/publications/pb/pb22.pdf

["Several questions about the block grant ... include the size of the block grant and the formula for allocating it among states, whether additional funds should be provided to states during recessions, and whether the TANF performance bonuses should be revised or dropped. This brief outlines several policy options for addressing these issues."]

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"Work and Work-Related Activities of Mothers Receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families: 1996, 1998, 2000." By Brian J. O'Hara. U.S. Census Bureau, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. IN: Current Population Reports (May 2002) 12 p.

Full Text at: www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p70-85.pdf

["The number of mothers receiving welfare assistance decreased from about 8 percent of all mothers in 1996 to about 4 percent by 2000, from 3 million to 1.5 million, according to data released June 6 by the U.S. Census. According to the data, 2 out of 3 mothers who worked in 1998 did so voluntarily, while a third said they were required by the welfare office to work. About 1 in 4 mothers on TANF who were working or in job training in 1998 received a subsidy for child care." Connect for Kids (June 10, 2002)]

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Proposed TANF Requirements Do Not Work For California. By David Carroll. California Budget Project (The Project, Sacramento, California) April 23, 2002. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.cbp.org/

["If enacted, the new work requirements will reduce the flexibility of California and its 58 counties to develop programs that meet the needs of welfare recipients and effectively move them into the workforce. Moreover, the plan will greatly increase costs for states while providing no additional TANF or child care funds."]

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TANF Reauthorization an Opportunity to Invest in America’s Future. By Gwendolyn Mink. Prepared for The Americans for Democratic Action Economic Policy Committee. Issue Brief No. 13. (The Committee, Washington, DC) Dec 10. 2001. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=2042

["This brief, based on a presentation given by welfare policy scholar Dr. Gwendolyn Mink, explores the inadequacy of our current TANF system, and what to look for in the current debate over TANF reauthorization."]

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At What Price? A Cost Analysis of the Administration’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Work Participation Proposal. By Mark Greenberg and others, Center for Law and Social Policy. (The Center, Washington, DC) April 2002. 38 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/pubs/TANF/At_What_Price_anaylsis.pdf

["This analysis estimates the costs of implementing the Administration's proposal, drawing from administrative data and relevant research findings.... We estimate that the five-year costs of complying with the proposed work requirement provisions, assuming a flat TANF caseload, are in the range of $25.1 billion above what states would otherwise spend under current law."]

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Built to Last: Why Skills Matter for Long-Run Success in Welfare Reform. By Karin Martinson and others. (Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC) May 2002. 23 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/pubs/jobseducation/Built_to_Last_final_051302.htm

["The most successful programs on welfare-to-work have focused on employment but made substantial use of education and training." Policy Action News (May 15, 2002) 1.]

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Leaving Welfare Without Working. By Douglas J. Basharov. American Enterprise Institute and University of Maryland (The Institute, Washington, DC) February 19, 2002. 29 p.

Full Text at: www.welfareacademy.org/pubs/leavingwithoutwork.pdf

["A working paper from the Welfare Academy asks, "How do mothers do it? And what are the implications?" Citing the statistics that less than 50% of welfare leavers are working regularly, the study delves into the different approaches that mothers are taking to coping with life after welfare and the implications of those choices." HandsNet (March 15, 2002) [online.]]

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Disadvantage among Families Remaining on Welfare. By Robert Moffitt and Andrew Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University. Presented to the Conference on The Hard to Employ and Welfare Reform. (Joint Center for Poverty Research, Evanston, Illinois) February 2002. 27 p.

Full Text at: www.jcpr.org/wpfiles/moffitt_cherlin_SRI2001.pdf

["In this paper, we report the results of an analysis of data from the Current Population Survey examining trends in the characteristics of TANF recipients and nonrecipients.... Second, we report an analysis of welfare 'stayers' using data from the Three-City Study, a major study of the effects of welfare reform on low-income single mothers."]

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Welfare Reform Policy: Policy Position. By the National Governors Association. HR-36. (The Association, Washington, DC) February 2002. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.nga.org/nga/legislativeUpdate/policyPositionDetailPrint/1,1390,554,00.html

["Governors Seek Flexibility on Welfare: They propose to expand the definition of 'work activity.' In view of the sluggish economy and rising unemployment, the work requirements for some families appear unrealistic, and some welfare recipients need more education and training to find jobs." Sacramento Bee (February 24, 2002) A12.]

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Working Toward Independence. By the Office of the President. (The Office, Washington, DC.) February 2002. 27 p.

Full Text at: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/welfare-reform-announcement-book.pdf

["This is President Bush's detailed plan for reauthorization, which emphasizes four major elements: promoting work; strengthening families; acknowledging the immense capacity of states and localities to design and conduct effective social programs; and restoring nutrition benefits for legal immigrants."]

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Governors Call on Congress to Adopt Bipartisan Welfare Policy Recommendations: Press Release. By the National Governors Association. (The Association, Washington, DC) April 3, 2002. 2 p.

Full Text at: www.nga.org/nga/newsRoom/pressReleaseDetailPrint/1,1422,3585,00.html

["Governors Give Thumbs-Down to Welfare Plan: Many of President Bush's welfare proposals are not realistic and would encourage states to place poor people in menial, unproductive jobs to meet stringent new work requirements... The study reported the views of governors and welfare officials of 38 states." San Francisco Chronicle (April 4, 2002) A5.]

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Welfare Reform: States Provide TANF-Funded Work Support Services to Many Low-Income Families Who Do Not Receive Cash Assistance. Statement of Cynthia M. Fagnoni. U.S. General Accounting Office, Testimony to Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate. GAO-02-615T. April 10, 2002. 20 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d02615t.pdf

["This testimony of the GAO reported that state welfare spending is shifting from monthly cash payments to services, such as child care and transportation to help working families. Cash assistance caseloads dropping by more than 50 percent from 1996 through mid-2001. Although most former welfare recipients who left the welfare rolls were employed at some point after leaving welfare, their earnings typically did not raise them above the poverty level." Connect for Kids (April 22, 2002)1.]

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The Role of Education and Training in Welfare Reform. By Judith M. Gueron and Gayle Hamilton, The Brookings Institution (The Institution, Washington, DC) Policy Brief No. 20 (April 2002) 8 p.

Full Text at: www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/wrb/publications/pb/pb20.pdf

["The failure of mandatory basic education to help high school dropouts, the lack of clear guidance on what makes training effective, and the low earnings and persistent poverty of most welfare leavers point to the continued need to identify pre-and post-employment strategies that are more successful in getting people higher wage jobs. The implication for welfare reform is that participation standards should retain their focus on work but avoid restrictions that discourage a mixed strategy."]

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Does it Pay to Move from Welfare to Work? By Sheldon Danziger, University of Michigan, and others. (The University, Ann Arbor, Michigan) April 2002. 53 p.

Full Text at: www.ssw.umich.edu/poverty/v2workpays-danzetal.pdf

["We analyze data from a panel of single mothers, all of whom received welfare in February 1997, and find that by 1999, those who had left welfare and were working and those who were combining work and welfare were financially better off, on average, than those who continued to receive cash assistance but did not work."]

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Transitional Jobs: A Next Step in Welfare to Work Policy. By Margy Waller, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings Institution (The Institution, Washington, DC) May 2002. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/wallertransjobs.pdf

["This Brookings brief highlights the importance of wage-paying transitional jobs with services for welfare-to-work parents and others as a better alternative to unpaid 'workfare' for helping workers with poor job market options and/or serious work barriers find a foothold in the workforce." Connect for Kids (May 20, 2002) [online.]]

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Are States Requiring TANF Recipients to Participate in Welfare-to-Work Activities? By Sharon Parrott, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (The Center, Washington, DC) April 25, 2002. 4 p.

Full Text at: www.cbpp.org/4-25-02tanf.pdf

["Another analysis from CBPP shows that more TANF cash assistance recipients are participating in welfare-to-work programs than frequently cited but incomplete statistics suggest. The study finds that 61% were involved in work programs as opposed to the oft-quoted 42% rate and that those that do not participate often have legitimate reasons." HandsNet (April 29, 2002)]

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Up the Ladder: The Role of Training and Education in Promoting Job Advancement for Welfare Recipients. By Anne Kim, Progressive Policy Institute (The Institute, Washington, DC) March 19, 2002. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.ppionline.org/ndol/print.cfm?contentid=250289

["Training and education can be highly effective supplements to a 'work first' program, but softening work requirements will neither encourage states to offer education and training programs that work or open up access to post-secondary and vocational education to low-wage working families.... Their strategy should provide recipients and leavers not only with greater access to education and training, but provide it in a context that makes the most sense -- a job."]

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Former Welfare Families Need More Help: Hardships Await Those Making Transition to Workforce. By Heather Bousey, Economic Policy Institute. Briefing Paper. (The Institute, Washington, DC) March 2002. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.epinet.org/briefingpapers/123/bp123.pdf

[" Low-Income Families Still Struggle, Study Says: Despite a strong economy and 1997 welfare reforms, people are still struggling to make enough money.... Nearly half of those who moved from welfare to full-time work had trouble buying food, paying rent and getting medical care.... The jobs that don't pay enough offer little, if any, insurance and don't allow for more education to get a better job." York Daily Record (April 18, 2002) 1.]

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Welfare to Work: Does it Work for Kids?: Research on Work and Income Welfare Experiments. By Stephanie A. Schaefer, National Association of Child Advocates (The Association, Washington, DC) 2002. 4 p.

Full Text at: www.childadvocacy.org/welfaretowork.pdf

["This fact sheet summarizes the major research on welfare-to-work programs and their impact on kids' well-being. Contrary to a popular assumption that getting a job alone means better outcomes for kids, research says that policies that increase family income benefit school-age children, but increasing work without increasing income does not help kids. Policies that increased parental employment (with or without family income increases) led to negative academic outcomes for adolescent children." Connect for Kids (April 15, 2002)]

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Readying Welfare Recipients for Work: Lessons from Four Big Cities as They Implement Welfare Reform. By Thomas Brock and others, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (The Corporation, New York, New York) March 2002. 127 p.

Full Text at: www.mdrc.org/Reports2002/UC_ReadyingWelfare/UC-FullReport.pdf

["In this report, MDRC takes an in-depth look at four urban counties -- Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, and Philadelphia -- to see whether and how circumstances have changed since welfare reform was passed.... The overall conclusion ... is that the four counties have indeed become more employment-focused since welfare reform.... PRWORA ... in combination with other policies and conditions have made it easier for welfare agencies to move welfare recipients into employment."]

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[This section links to items in Studies in the News since the last Employment, Training, Vocational Education and Welfare to Work Supplement.]

EMPLOYMENT

"Education, Employment and Human Services." IN: Studies in the News, 02-22 (March 21, 2002).

Full Text at: www.library.ca.gov/SITN/2002/0222.htm

[Includes: "Community Colleges and the Equity Agenda: The Potential of Non-Credit Education: Revised Draft;" "Workforce Investment Act: Coordination between TANF Programs and One-Stop Centers Is Increasing, but Challenges Remain;" "Welfare Reform: States Are Using TANF Flexibility to Adapt Work Requirements and Time Limits to Meet State and Local Needs;" "The Impact of Welfare Reform on Immigrant Welfare Use;" and others.]

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