Publicly-Funded, Transitional Jobs for the Hard-To-Employ
Adopted at the in 1999
WHEREAS, time limits on cash assistance and other new welfare requirements are prompting cities, counties, and states across the nation to search for new strategies to help hard-to-employ welfare recipients;
WHEREAS, city, county, and state welfare-to-work programs increasingly are serving welfare recipients who have little or no prior work experience and need a chance to develop employability skills before moving into unsubsidized jobs;
WHEREAS, many urban areas, even in regions that are experiencing strong economic growth, often have an inadequate supply of jobs for low-skilled individuals without advanced education or training;
WHEREAS, shortages of low-skilled jobs will become far more pervasive if an economic downturn results in higher unemployment and a shrinking pool of unsubsidized employment opportunities;
WHEREAS, research suggests that publicly-funded, transitional jobs can boost the employability of very disadvantaged individuals, including but not limited to longer-term welfare recipients, while alleviating job shortages in depressed communities or during periods of widespread joblessness;
WHEREAS, publicly-funded, transitional jobs also can generate other benefits, increasing the purchasing power of residents in low-income neighborhoods and enabling public or nonprofit agencies to undertake work projects that address pressing community needs;
WHEREAS, publicly-funded, transitional jobs avoid many of the shortcomings of traditional "workfare" programs by recreating the experiences and expectations of "real work" and enabling individuals to qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit;
WHEREAS, new federal regulations governing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program allow cities, counties, and states to use TANF and welfare-to-work funds to place welfare recipients into publicly-funded, transitional jobs and to prevent this period of employment from counting against TANF time limits;
WHEREAS, the creation of publicly-funded, transitional jobs will reduce TANF caseloads and help states meet federal work participation requirements by enabling them to claim "caseload reduction" credits;
WHEREAS, new Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds also can be used to finance paid work experience for eligible individuals who are placed in publicly-funded, transitional jobs;
WHEREAS, the federal government and states routinely create publicly-funded, transitional jobs for victims of natural disasters but fail to do so for those who experience great hardships as a result of economic and social forces in our cities;
WHEREAS, cities already have begun to play important roles in the design and implementation of publicly-funded, transitional jobs programs that help hard-to-employ individuals gain a foothold in the regular labor market;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges federal, state, and county governments to work collaboratively with city officials to develop, implement, and expand innovative programs that create publicly-funded, transitional jobs for welfare recipients and other hard-to-employ individuals.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will support the development of publicly-funded, transitional jobs through partnerships with other national organizations and through technical assistance to individual cities interested in pursuing such strategies.