Department of Labor

Measuring the Success of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families-Related Employment Programs

Most of the adults who receive public assistance benefits through the federally funded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program are expected to become economically self-sufficient, and are therefore required to seek employment or receive training that can lead to employment. Employment and training programs for these individuals are overseen by the Department of Labor. We examined whether the Department had established a system for measuring the success of these programs in enabling public assistance recipients to achieve economic self-sufficiency. We found that, while the Department generally monitored whether recipients placed in jobs retained those jobs for at least six months, it had not developed a system for monitoring the success of the individuals after the first six months. We determined that other states tracked former recipients for more than a year, and recommended that the Department develop a system for assessing the long-term effectiveness of its job placement and training programs.

For a complete copy of Report 2000-S-12 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.