From Safety Net to Self Sufficiency: A CJC Proposal for a State Mixed Strategy Approach to Prepare TANF and Food Stamp Employment and Training Participants for Illinois' Skilled Workforce

Report details CJC's recommendation that Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) adopt a mixed strategy approach for Illinois' TANF and Food Stamp E&T programs. Features of this approach should include individualized assessment and employment planning; flexible combinations of education, training, life skills, and job search toward maximized job placement and career advancement; and necessary supportive services to address employment barriers and enhance family well-being. The Department must identify new local office performance measures and training which reorient services and service deliverers to success defined by skills attainment, wage placement, barrier reduction, and work support receipt.

There is no better time than now to align IDHS TANF and Food Stamp work requirements along the continuum of workforce development system expectations so that participants have real access to employment services and real opportunities for family-sustaining employment. CJC is committed to working with the Department to imagine the implementation of a mixed strategy approach in Illinois and to achieve the best possible labor market results for Illinois' poor and working poor individuals and families, as well as Illinois' economy.