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WORKING TOWARD JOBS

The Focus Group Interviews 
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OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 
OFFICE OF EV ALVA TION AND INSPECTIONS 
MAY 1990  OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 
The mission of the Offce of Inspector Genera (OIG) is to promote the efficiency, 
of programs in the United States Deparent of 
effectiveness, and integrty 
Health and Human Services (HS). It does this by developing methods to detect 
and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Created by statute in 1976, the Inspector 
General keeps both the Secretar and the Congress fully and currently informed 
about programs or management problems and recommends corrective action. 
The OIG performs its mission by conducting audits, investigations, and 
inspections with approximately 1,400  located around the 
staf strategically 
countr. 
OFFICE OF EVALUATION AND INSPECTIONS 
This repon is produced by the Offce of Evaluation and Inspections (OEI), one of 
thee major offces within the OIG. The other two are the Office of Audit 
Services and the Office of Investigations. Inspections are conducted in 
accordance with professional standards developed by OEI. These inspections are 
typicaly shon-term studies designed to determne program effectiveness, 
efficiency, and vulnerability to fraud or abuse. 
This technical repon was prepared to summarze the focus group interviews with 
the admnistrators of work programs panicipating in the Working Toward JOBS 
project. This technical repon is pan of the Working Toward JOBS project which 
was conducted to describe the operation of a sample of mature, well-regarded and 
comprehensive work programs for AFDC recipients and the insights of the 
administrators of those programs. 
This repon was prepared under the direction of Emilie Baebel, Chief, Public 
Health and Human Services Branch. 
Suzanne Murrn Project Leader 
Mar 
Program Analyst 
Beth Clarke, 
Program Analyst
Susan Schoppa, 
 The Focus Group Interviews 
Richard P. Kusserow 
INSPECTOR GENERAL 
OEI-12-90-00960  MAY 1990
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INTRODUCTION 
PARTICIPANTS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
EXTRACTS FROM THE FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Establishing a Work Program
 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Provision of Services  . . . . . 7
Staffing Issues. . .  . . . . . . . . 9
Identifying and Assisting Potential Employers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Coordinating with Other Programs. . 
Encouraging Client Participation/Marketing. 
Strategies for Encouraging Participant Success  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
State and County Concerns 
Best Practices/Best Advice
2
 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Focus Groups 
Professor Richard A. Kreger in  Focus Groups: A Practical Guidefor 
his book 
Applied Research, 
states that: 
Focus groups typically have five characteristics or features. These 
characteristics relate to the ingredients of a focus group: (a) people, who (b) 
possess cenain characteristics, (c) provide data (d) of a qualitative nature (e) 
in a focused discussion. 
Typically, these are: 
(a) 
people, who (b) possess cenain characteristics 
anonymous, users or potential users of a particular product or service, they 
to 10 participants per 
share in common the trait or behavior being studied, 

focus group 
(c) provide data (d) of a qualitative nature 
their attitUdes

(e) in a focused discussion 
one and a half or two hour moderator 
faciltated session 
In focus groups pancipants are encouraged to interact with each other and to 
question each others attitudes. The interviewer acts as a moderator, keeping the 
group focused on the topic at hand and asking the central questions the group 
discusses, but does not exercise the level of control common to most interview 
techniques. The other key characteristic of focus groups is that they are solely 
for information gathering, not for building consensus or planning action. 
There are many advantages to focus groups. The most imponant of these is that 
focus groups allow researchers to capture the interaction of panicipants. 
Panicipants who share like traits wil be able to question each other and, through 
discussion, reach insights which could not have been gained through other 
interviewing techniques.

It was for this reason that we decided to use focus group interviews as the 
cornerstone of the Working Toward JOBS project. 
Focus Group  INTRODUCTION  Designing the Working Toward JOBS Focus Group Interviews 
We selected eight States and one county which have well-regarded, mature and 
comprehensive work programs. We invited the administrators of those programs 
to attend a three day conference of focus group interviews on their pre-JOBS 
work program for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients. 
The topics to be discussed were drawn up from issues which became apparent 
durng preinspection research, site visits, and interviews with Government expens. 
In designing the Working Toward JOBS focus group interviews we chose to 
employ several imponant varations of the typical focus group format. These 
varations are outlined in Table 1. 
Two of the varations were panicularly imponant to our results. By holding a 
series of sessions on related topics with the same panicipants, we were able to 
address a more complex issue than those generally discussed in focus groups. 
The multiple sessions also allowed us to speak with great specificity on the most 
AFC 
imponant aspects of running an  work program. 
In one of our sessions, we asked the parcipating work program administrators to 
select the discussion topics. That session yielded some of the best information 
which came from the conference. By askig the parcipants to name the 
discussion topics we ensured that there were no imponant topics missed and 
gained greater insight into the perspectives of State and local officials on work 
programs. 
Focus Group  INTRODUCTION  Table 1

WORKING TOWARDS JOBS 
Focus Group Variations 
Typical  Variation  Purpose of 
Variation 
Anonymous  Identified experts  To gather expert

participants  opinion 
Participants selected  Participants selected  To make findings 
for commonalities  for commonaliies and  meaningful for States 
variances  in different situations 
No audience or  Visible audience  To keep vitaliy over 
audience behind one  three day conference 
way mirror 
To allow for immediate 
information flow 
without use of special 
faci I ity 
No audience  Concluding audience  For expert follow-up 
participation  question and answer  on issues discussed 
session 
Preselected topics  Allowing interviewees  To insure that all 
to select discussion  important topics were 
covered 
Topics in one session  To get maximum 
benefit from 
participants' expertise 
Focus Group  INTRODUCTION  Reporting on the Working Toward JOBS Focus Group Interviews 
The comments recorded at the focus group interviews were incorporated into the 
study findings in two ways. First, the most imponant points were used to form 
the basis of the summar repon, "Working Toward JOBS: An Overview 
(OEI-12-89-01320). This repon also includes information drawn from site visits 
at four of the programs, and a mail survey of each of the programs. In choosing 
the information to highlight in the overview repon, we concentrated on findings 
which represent trends visible in a significant number of the programs studied. 
We also chose to diect most of our attention to issues which the Famly Suppon 
Act leaves to the discretion of the States. 
This technical repon presents materials from the focus group interviews which 
were not included in the overview repon. The format for this repon includes a 
section summarzing each of the focus group discussions. We have organized 
each section around the questions the moderator asked of the panicipants. Under 
the questions are paraphrased quotes from the parcipants which present the 
discussions main points. Wherever possible, these paraphrased quotes have been 
organized by key discussion points. We chose to paraphrase the quotes for the 
sake of brevity. 
The Working Toward JOBS focus group interviews were held August 1-3, 1989. 
The comments made at the conference were based on pre-JOBS work programs 
for AFDC recipients. As these programs have convened to JOBS, they may have 
made some changes to meet JOBS legal and regulatory requirements. 
Focus Group  INTRODUCTION  Robert Cecil 
The Michigan Opportunities and Skills Training (MOST) Program 
Mr. Cecil is Director of the Bureau of Employment Services in the Michigan 
Deparent of Social Services. He is responsible for the planning, development, 
and implementation of employment suppon services for Aid to Families with 
Dependent Children (AFC) and general assistance recipients. 
James Clark 
The Florida Project Independence Program 
Mr. Clark is Director of Project Independence for the Florida Depanment of 
Health and Rehabiltative Services. He directs program development, policy 
formulation, budget development, interdeparental coordination, program 
monitoring, and legislative and Federal coordination. 
Cheri Gonyaw 
The Washington Opportunities and Family Independence (FIP) Programs 
Ms. Gonyaw is currently Chief of the Offce of Policy and Program Development 
for the Washington Deparent of Social and Health Services. She is responsible 
PI 
for administering  eligibilty, employment and training activities, and the 
AFC 
Opponunities employment program. 
Margaret Hall 
Nebraska s Job Support 
Ms. Hall serves as a Public Service Administrator for the Nebraska Deparent of 
Social Services in Lincoln, Nebraska. Currently her responsibilties include the 
AFC work program Job Suppon, Emergency Assistance, Refugee Assistace, 
Child Welfare Income Maintenance, and training for income maintenance 
workers. 
Richard Jacobsen, Jr. 
The County of San Diego Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) Program 
Mr. Jacobsen is currently Director of the County of San Diego s Depanment of 
Social Services. The depanment has a fiduciar responsibilty for more than $1 
billon, employs 3400 staff, and serves one out of every nine San Diego residents. 
Focus Group  PARTICIPANTS  Kathy Lewis

California s Greater Avenues/or Independence (GAIN) Program 
Progrs 
Ms. Lewis is Chief of the Employment  Branch in the Calfornia State 
Deparent of Social Services. Her responsibilties -include management of the 
GAIN Program and the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program. 
Ronald Newcomb 
The Massachusetts Employment and Training (ET) Program 
Mr. Newcomb is Director of Program Management and Technical Assistance for 
the Massachusetts Employment and Traning (ET) Choices Progrm. He was 
selected by the Welfare Commssioner to be pan of the core group which was 
progr. 
responsible for planning, stafng and implementing the ET 
Rebecca Varella 
The Delaware First Step Program 
Ms. Varella is Chief Administrator of the Employment and Training, Division of 
Social Services in the Delawar Depanment of Health and Social Services. Ms. 
Varella is a former welfare recipient who, in 1986, testified about her experiences 
and recommendations for restrcturig the welfare system before the annual 
meeting of the National Governors ' Association. 
Paul Walker 
The Oklahoma Employment and Training Program 
Mr. Waler is the Programs Supervisor for the Employment and Training 
Program of the Oklahoma Depanment of Human Services. He has received the 
Social Security Admnistration Associate Commissioner Citation for his 
leadership in providing technical assistance to other States in the development 
progrs 
and implementation of work  for the disadvantaged. 
Focus Group  PARTICIPANTS  Establishing A Work Program 
What is the most important advice you would give to those establishing a program? 
Assess the level of existing political commitment; establish goals and 
expectations; determine the capabilties and characteristics of the labor market; 
assess communication linkages; use a local planning process; measure results 
through development of a management information system; market the program 
to service providers; and don t re-do what already has been done. (Michigan) 
Gauge the level of political suppon; identify the parameters in terms of laws and 
regulations in which the progrm must operate; develop a cooperative planning 
process; and use the budget creatively. (Washington) 
Understand the law; know the population of the clients to be served; inform all 
the players about the program; continually evaluate the program; establish a 
budget; develop a management information system; and hire a committed staff. 
(Oklahoma) 
Thin through past experiences to know what has and has not worked; set goals 
and objectives; educate the politicians and get their commitment; assess the local 
community and get commitment; and network resources. (Massachusetts) 
Determine the level of the commitment to the program; know the client 
ar 
population before the goals and objectives  established; perform quality 
planning; don t rush to implement the program  understand what services are 
available and how to influence the development of other services; know the 
political players and continually market to them; and dream about the program 
from the client s perspective. (Delaware) 
Look at the present effons and build on existing strengths; understand the 
financial resources that are available; study the laws and regulations; leverage the 
resources of others; involve staff from all levels in the planning process; and look 
at the clients and assess their self-determination. (Nebraska) 
Be conservative in the planning process; consider the impact on providers; 
recognize that planning takes time but is wonh the effon; look at what might not 
work in the program; use a 50 percent rate ofpanicipation, not a 100 percent rate, 
in the planning process; establish a management information system 10 track 
clients in the program; and recognize that it takes time to hire, staff, and orient 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  progr 
people concerning the  and build these times into the planning process. 
(California) 
progr 
Be involved in the  for the long haul- don t have a shon term 
perspective; market the progr; communicate, cooperate, and coordiate. 
(County of San Diego) 
Provision Of Services 
What methods are used to provide job skils training? 
An understanding of the specifc goals of the training is needed. 
Job skills trning is expensive; it is necessar to fIrst assess the skils of each 
parcipant in the program, then look at the traiing that is required. (County of 
San Diego) 
ties. 
Must look at the goals of the client and remember them at all 
(Delaware) 
Training is provided in a variety of ways. 
The welfare agency should provide the basic foundation; other organizations 
should be used for specifcs. (Delawar) 
Some training is provided through Job Training Parership Act (JTPA), but 
creamng often is a dominant issue. It s necessar to keep in mind the fact that 
the power constituent groups are different for JTA than for human services. 
Customized traiing also is used with the private sector in which there may be a 
pre-aranged agrement with employers. After a person is trained, he or she then 
wil be hired. Specific contracts are worked out with employers. (Florida) 
On-the-job training (OJT), funded through JTPA, is the end of the line product. 
Employers want to hire someone who is ready to work and then perform OJT 
progrs 
themselves. The State work  must concentrate on basic skills. 
(Michigan) 
The Job Corps is an effective vehicle for training in the long term. (Oklahoma) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  What education services would you want to provide? 
Education services are provided in diferent ways. 
Two basic approaches are used: push concurrently remedial education and 
training, and take the embarassment out of education through greater use of 
computer assisted learning. (County of San Diego) 
Work with the Education Depanment to shonen courses and include basic literacy 
skills. (Florida)

ITPA agencies and community colleges are used. (Nebraska) 
Greater stress is needed on vocational education parcularly with training in 
English as a second language. Computer assisted learing centers provided by 
ITPA help to reduce the stigma of the classroom. Psychometrc testing has been 
used to determine if there are specific learing disabilities. (County of San 
Diego) 
Education alone wil not meet the needs of program participants. 
There is a worr that ten years from now the result wil be a more literate welfare 
recipient who stil can t get off the rolls. The varables that cause people to end 
up on public assistance aren t just one factor but many; education is just one 
component. The relationship between literacy and employment is not as diect as 
it appears. (Florida) 
Few 
There is a direct relationship between essential literacy and life skils. 
AFC recipients have high school diplomas which are required by most 
employers. (Michigan) 
You must remember that even with improved education and training, about 10 
percent of the population wil remain on welfare. Remember though that the 
more education you have the more you know you don t want your children to 
remain on welfare and the way to do that is for me to get off welfare! (Delaware) 
How should services be provided? 
Don t ever underestimate the wilingness of other entities that want to help you. 
We had offers of help, free help, from the most interesting social organizations, 
coalitions, universities, even small businesses. I'm overwhelmed and impressed. 
I think that sometimes we rule people out before we ever give them a chance to 
begin. (Washington)

Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  The issue is not to duplicate what already exists. Only provide in-house services 
as a last reson. Contracting is used to get around the problems of bureaucracy. 
(County of San Diego) 
The objective is to contract for those services that do not already exist. Everyone 
should share in the glory. (Delaware) 
Staffing Issues 
What advice would you give other States and counties in terms of motivating and 
training staff members? 
Involve direct service  planning process; make them feel that they are 
staf in the 
pan of the team; ensure that they buy in to the program. (Delaware) 
Need a clear diection 
of goals and standard position descriptions. Establish a 
method to recognize outstanding effons. Communicate 
continualy about the 
contents of the program. (Oklahoma) 
Make an effon to hire good people. Have a commitment to helping others. Don 
tie people/staf down with regulations and procedures  give them as much 
flexibilty as is possible. (Florida) 
Convince the Director of the Deparent or the Governor of the imponance of 
the employment and traiing program. Hold kickoff meetings with the staff 
members. Treat the cause of poveny and not the effect. Foster the attitude that 
the staf members are special. (Delaware) 
Recognize the best practices and shar them. Allow local flexibilty. Determne 
what is desired 
quantity versus quality. (California) 
A positive attitude begins at the top. In-service training staff and contractors must 
be supponive. Have a system in place of awards and rewards. (Massachusetts) 
Phase-in new programs as much as possible. Recognize the ongoing nature of 
training. Promote local flexibility. Don t do an enthusiasm overkil. 
(Washington) 
Be aware that staff can make or break a program. Involvement and commitment 
are needed from the top. Parcipation is necessar at all levels. Perform surveys 
of training needs. Share letters from panicipants and best 
practices. (Nebraska) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Identifying And Assisting Potential Employers 
How do you identify employers to participate in the program? 
Formal and informal mechanisms are used to identify employers. 
ar 
Non-profit organizations  identified by reading the Yellow Pages. The 
Employment Development Depanment receives job announcements. New 
businesses are identified through contacts with the Small Business Admnistration 
and the U.S. Depanment of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. 
Some cold calls ar made. Prvate industr council (PIC) groups also are another 
source to use. In the County of Sonoma, the program was advenised on all milk 
canons. (County of San Diego)

A self-diected approach is used. Try to have the clients sell themselves. Invite 
employers to workshops to meet the clients. Network among existing employers. 
(Nebraska) 
In a State with full employment, the emphasis is on developing a client for 
life-long skills. This means that the client must go out as well to find work. 
(Delaware) 
Use a Speakers Bureau to market the program to employers by speakg at the 
Rotar, Elks, Shriner, and other groups. Try to get business people to pledge to 
hire a cenain number of employees. Get actual commitments. (California) 
Look toward a broader level of recruitment. Move away from the one staff 
member finding a job for one person in the program approach. The self-diected 
job search has replaced individuals looking for jobs for others. Use employer 
advisory groups on a State-wide basis. (Washington) 
Encourage a consortum of employers to work together to suppon a common 
training program. This has been effective in training in word processing as well 
as in more specialized aras like the tool and die industr. (County of San Diego) 
The emphasis should be placed on supplying productive employees. 
The employer wants someone who wil make money. Tax credits are of little use. 
Productive employees are the key. Remember that hiring people is an emotional 
process. Often, people get hired through referrals. The job development staf 
members must become known in the community and then refer candidates for 
positions. Don t over market the program  be sur you can deliver. If the 
employees want to work, the employers wil be responsible for training them. 
(Oklahoma) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  An Employabilty Skills Development Task Force was established, chaied by 
Lee Iacocca, which prepared a "blue ribbon repon . The task force was set up by 
the Governor of Michigan to alleviate the differences between what the employer 
requires and what the social services person thinks the employer needs. The task 
force found that specific skils training wasn t required. Employers want people 
ta 
who are productive and wil perform. It s necessar to  with the employer 
community to set goals. (Michigan) 
ta 
Recognize that  credits arn t a big payback. Supplying productive people is 
the key. (Washington) 
s necessary to understand the needs of the employer. 
Make sure you know the benefits offered by the employer and the specifc 
procedures which are followed in an organization. For example, know that health 
benefits only begin at a cenan time each year. Understand the finances of small 
businesses in terms of tax benefits and tax credits. Realize that tax breaks at 
times only are offered if someone is pan of an "enterprise zone  , but that 
AFC 
sometimes it is possible to say that any person involved with  automatically 
is pan of the enterprise zone. Tal with the accountats in large companies as 
well as the personnel diectors. (Forida) 
Employer recognition is an integral part of the work program. 
Have an annual employer recognition day. Follow-up with the employers and 
fmd out why someone has not worked out. (County of San Diego) 
Bring back clients who have succeeded to a Speakers Bureau of Alumni. Invite 
the employers as well to this forum. Promote success stories. (Massachusetts) 
Recognize employers through parcipation in PICs and Chambers of Commerce. 
(Delaware) 
What methods are used to follow-up once a client is placed? 
Follow-up vares with the client; no set pattern is followed. Employers and 
clients wil telephone if there is a problem; our staf  client on 
tr not to bother the 
the job. (Washington) 
Work supplementation agreements are monitored. A monthly repon is prepared 
on CWEP. The purpose is to ensure that employer abuse, such as not providing 
training as planned, does not occur. (Oklahoma) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  A site visit is made by a neutr case worker after two weeks if the employer 
performs OJT. In CWEP, there is a regular monitoring process with the 
employers. (County of San Diego)

All services are contracted. Each parcipating employer has a contract with the 
contracting agency. Post placement follow-up is done in a continuous way. 
(Massachusetts) 
Programs 
Coordinating With Other 
What are the key organizations which are involved and how is coordination 
effected? 
Coordination occurs at a variety of levels. 
There have been successes with small projects in a pannership role between 
agencies. For example, with JTPA, there is a smal effon in training pancipation 
underway to prepare persons for work in the insurance and hospital fields. A 
community college was used for the trning. Where there are problems is in the 
global issues and when we  all things for all people. It' s more effective 
tr to do 
to work with smaller projects. Coordination must occur at the local level 
(NebraSka) 
Four major groups are involved: State Job Traiing Coordinating Council, the 
Deparent of Education, Community Colleges, and the Employment 
Development Depanment. At the State level, the groups meet to set policy and to 
solve broad problems. At the county level, plans are reviewed for coordination. 
Each of the four organizations has a GAIN coordinator, and quanerly meetings 
are held. Monthly meetings are held between the County Welfare Associations 
and the GAIN coordinators. (California) 
Interagency agreements are in place with five State agencies and 85 contractors 
are involved on a State-wide basis. The program is dependent on coordination 
with other State agencies and community based organizations. Full cooperation 
is required. The 52 area office directors meet monthly with the service providers 
to resolve issues on a local level. (Massachusetts) 
By meeting regularly with groups at the local level, we find we have more in 
common with others than we originally thought. The JOBS program wil provide 
even greater opponunities for collaboration. (County of San Diego) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Diferent approaches are used in the coordination process. 
Go to their offce; don t ask them to come to you. Review their regulations and 
State plans before you visit. Identify their needs. Don t assume that agencies can 
become alike. Each agency serves different populations and must meet different 
needs. Understad the other agencies' goals and objectives. Then , realize that 
what you can offer is people. Market people to the agencies. Then 
tr to

monitor to see if the other agencies needs were met. Take a systematic approach 
understand the others ' needs first and how you can meet them. (Oklahoma) 
End up with a lead agency but recognize that the lead agency cannot share all the 
uccess, but 
glory. You must share a common problem or a common client for 

remember that each agency must tend to its own knitting. There are few rewards 
for collaborative successes. Networks are required at the highest levels of the 
organizations involved. (County of San Diego) 
Try to work on the basis of having the same interests. Try to be flexible in your 
needs. Work on neutral ground. Share in successes. (Delaware) 
View the program as a cause around which everyone can rally. Then people wil 
phone you offering to help. At times, barers were perceived, but in actuality, 
(Washington) 
they did not exist. 
Government is based on multiple programs with overlapping missions. In private 
industr, this is known as competition. There are different goals, functions, and 
power constituencies. Try to create ambiguous terms to show an ilusion of 
cooperation. It s necessar to see the common points. Some legislation may be 
required to change some of the missions and functions. (Florida) 
Assess the need; tap the expenise; then, pay for it. Look at the duplication that 
exists and review it to see if it can be eliminated. (Massachusetts) 
What problems have been encountered in the process? 
Drug and alcohol abuse are signifcant concerns. 
Drug and alcohol abuse are acute concerns. The problem is dealing with them. 
Deferrng people from the GAIN program won t solve the problem. With these 
problems, the persons in GAIN then become "no shows" in the work force. 
Problems must be acknowledged. (California) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  We just finished training our staf to identify clients with substance abuse. There 
are few resources available. Must diect substace abuse dollars where they can 
goo. 
do the most  Strategies ar needed to deal with substance abuse. (Florida) 
drg 
Collaboration with legislators is helpful to identify what new services and 
abuse resources ar required. (County of San Diego) 
The issue is the need to serve the entire family. 
s necessar to recognize you are serving a total family. Addicted babies are a 
problem. Society has not accepted the fact that the family has changed. 
(Washington) 
The larger issue is restrcturng the family. We have not established institutional 
methods to meet famly needs. (Oklahoma) 
Don t wrte off segments of the population. The rehabiltation process may need 
to address the total family. (Delaware) 
Encouraging Client Participation/marketing 
What methods are used to encourage client participation? 
Marketing efforts begin when the client first enters the welfare offce. 
Stan with the receptionist in the office. Have a shon video in the waiting room 
describing the program. (Delawar) 
The eligibilty worker describes the program and encourges parcipation durng 
the intake process. All the people on the  and view the 
staf are enthusiastic 
program as one of "fun and games  . (County of San Diego) 
An applicant friendly process throughout beginning with the first contact is 
needed. Canoons in the waiting rooms are one approach to gain interest in the 
program. The clients need to see that this program is different from others. 
(Washington) 
The orientation sessions must encourage parcipation. (Michigan) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  , " 
A variety of outreach efforts are used. 
We use public service announcements on radio stations. (Delaware) 
Our program has a nine person marketing division. We use public service 
announcements on radio and television and check insens. We tr to zero-in on 
the childrn. A coloring book for the childrn  My Mom and ET' , is available in 
the waiting rooms. (Massachusetts) 
We used legislation. Florida passed a law which mandates that State agencies 
must hire welfare recipients for at least 10 percent of the entr level 
jobs. Posters, 
check insens, "and specific pitches diected toward children also ar used to 
market the program. A newsletter is prepared of success stories which is widely 
distrbuted. Remember, though, that there stil wil be approximately one-third of 
the client population that you won t reach. (Forida) 
The client grpevine is the best way to market. We also work to get the media to 
use our public service announcements durig prime time. (Washington) 
progr wil 
A successful  use the client network. The informal network is the 
best. (Oklahoma) 
Seasonal employers must give priority in hirng to AFC 
recipients. (California) 
What are your sellng points? 
Here is an opponunity to move out of the welfare system to the world of work. 
(Oklahoma) 
We believe you can do it. You have been denied an opponunity. Here is an 
opponunity to show that you can contrbute. (Delaware) 
People need the opponunity to make mistakes; they need to be taught how to take 
control of their lives. Convince people to believe in positive change and 
remember that for a large percentage of the population, change often is too 
negative. (Florida) 
I don t think we should expect any more from welfare clients than we expect 
from ourselves in relation to change. When someone asks us to change, we don 
do it too readily. We circle the fence. Then, thee to six months later, probably if 
we are in the right mood, we might consider makng some movement toward the 
change. I don t think welfar clients ar any different from the rest of us. We 
need to position our program to help them incrementaly to receive enough 
information in their lives so they can process the data and make the necessar 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  changes. We must be ready to help them move when they desire to move. 
(Oklahoma) 
Are there methods and messages that work better for different audiences? 
You must match up your sta ethnicaly with the client population. Try to have 
an Iranian deal with an Iranian. Have someone who was a teen mother to match 
up with teen parnts. You need the full panoply of the clients you are serving 
available on your staf. (County of San Diego) 
Teen parents require intensive explanation of the program and what it can do for 
them. They need special attention. (Washington) 
Pitches to teenagers need to be diect. They can t be interpreted as "hokey" or 
dict. 
demeaning. Be explicit and  (Florida) 
Strategies For Encouraging Participant Success 
What is meant by success? 
Several diferent measures of success are in use. 
Helping famlies to function more 
effectively. Provide the abilty to deal with the 
world and understand where to go for help if something goes wrong. 
(Washington) 
There is one clear point of measure  getting off and remaining off welfare. 
(Florida) 
A goal is to reduce the amount of the grant which is provided. Promote self 
sufficiency. (Michigan) 
Determne what the program costs and how much you have saved. If someone 
does return to welfare, hope it is at a higher functioning level. (County of San 
Diego) 
The legislators wil ask whether or not money was made. (Oklahoma) 
Realistic performance standards are important. 
There is a quantum leap from welfare dependency to self sufficiency. This may 
not occur for the hard-to-serve. Interim measures of increasing employability 
may be useful. Build a record of interim successes. (Mchigan) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Try to measure success on a national basis. Suppon the use of an eighteen year 
longitudinal study. (County of San Diego) 
Performance standards drve the program; these stadards though may not 
relevant to the client. You need to establish client specific goals and measure the 
movement toward these goals. (Oklahoma) 
What elements of the work program are most crucial to helping a client succeed? 
Social policy requires emphasis and interest. 
I question the emphasis on clients. Its too micro-analytic. We need to 
thin in 
terms of the broader environment to cause an institutional change in terms of 
dealing with the poor. (Florida)

There is a complex interrlationship in social policy development. You need to 
look at what society requires in terms of full employment. (Mchigan) 
State And County Concerns 
The topics discussed in this section were selected by the focus group panel. 
What are the major concerns regarding client service delivery? 
Differences in rural aras versus urban areas; experiences in contracting with 
private agencies; and how to defme panicipation. (Nebraska) 
States need to know what is involved. What has worked and why and what is the 
impact. (Oklahoma)

Review each State concerning the economic conditions. (Delaware) 
Be careful of oversellng the program. Must sell the long-term nature of the 
program. (California) 
Can t make excuses for possible failure. There is a problem of not accepting 
ownership and dumping problems on other agencies. Management training is too 
process oriented in the current system. (Florida) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  ar 
Employment and training  initiatives. Other programs are reactive. We must 
tang. 
be risk- (Michigan) 
Common definition of terms Government-wide, even at the level of a definition 
of welfare and service. The problem is the lack of common reponing and 
evaluation on a State-to-State basis. (Oklahoma) 
Top administrtors must understand the mandates and options of other programs 
and the payment strctures which ar involved. (County of San Diego) 
Cooperation between agencies. (Massachusetts) 
What are the key implementation and transition issues? 
Suggestions for program administrators. 
One can have the best progrm design but it' s up to the people to implement the 
program. You must make it clear what you are really tring to do. You must have 
a positive, global fraework. Credit must be shar with al involved. The goal 
should be to  and slow down the rate of increase of clients in 
tr to reduce the cost 
the program. (County of San Diego) 
The program must be sold at the top. The Governor must be involved and must 
sell the program. The in-service and training people must be brought on board. 
(Massachusetts) 
Suggestions for the Federal Government. 
The Federal Government should provide some 
strtegies to help States foster 
commitment. A White House conference would help to promote ownership. 
Federal influence is needed to keep the momentum going. The JOBS program, if 
s handled right, wil have signifcant impact on the U. S. (Delaware) 
A national or a series of regional training centers would be useful to help 
implement the program. Hold a White House Conference with a "pep talk" from 
the President. (County of San Diego) 
Provide a checklist or a worklist to the States that describes what they need to do 
to implement the program. Provide information on how to conduct labor market 
surveys. (Oklahoma) 
Provide a facsimile plan format for the States concerning the key external and 
internal issues. (Michigan) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Provide guidance in how to change the existing program to the new program and 
ways to notify clients of the changes and staff members of the administrative 
changes which are required. (California) 
The Federal Government must provide leadership to identify the issues to help 
States reduce duplicity. (Florida) 
How do you promote ownership and risk-taking and how do you deal with failure? 
Risk taking requires support.

It was effective for us to draft a comprehensive piece of legislation. (Forida) 
The Governor and the legislature are commtted to our program. I wonder what 
would happen if other States lacked commitment from the top. (Delaware) 
Define the mission of the program and its principles for operation up front. Then 
decide whom to target and how to allocate funding. Then, get commitment from 
the top. (California)

Agencies need help in order for them to want to take risks. (Nebraska) 
Expect some failures and learn from them. 
Be prepared for failure. Some communities won t be able to successfully 
complete the project. Some people won t be able to get through the process. 
(County of San Diego) 
Expect some failures and be able to lear from them. (Nebraska) 
Someone needs to be able to recognize when something isn t working. You need 
someone to "tell the emperor he needs new clothes. " (Florida) 
Flexibility must be a pan of your program. You need the flexibility to say that 
something isn t working. (Massachusetts) 
Broadcast Success.

You must address the flp side. When something is a success, broadcast it. 
(California) 
Institutionalize the best practices. People then wil tr to do the good things to 
get attention. (Oklahoma) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Buy plaques for $40.00. Have a storage bin of these in HHS and distrbute them 
widely to acknowledge success. (Florida) 
Recognition must occur at all levels  Federal to State; State to local; and local 
to contractors. (Delaware) 
What are the key data collection issues? 
Excessive reporting requirements exist. 
There are too many unnecessar reportng requirements. Ask why the data would 
be used at the local level to manage the program before it becomes a requirement. 
(County of San Diego) 
What are the questions which wil be asked concerning the performance of the 
program? What data are necessar to manage the program? These are the key 
concerns. Then, recognize that there are different requirements at different levels. 
There are greater needs for more data at the local levels. The local level looks at 
jurisdictions; the States look at the local level; and the National level looks at the 
States. Aggregate data reponing is needed. Look at performance outcomes and 
consider sampling to collect data. (California) 
The States need the flexibility to gather those data needed to manage the program. 
(Florida) 
Common data definitions and data elements are desired. 
Data needs should expand across programs. (Delaware) 
Let people know there are common problems. Have common definitions and 
data elements. (County of San Diego) 
We need common terms with JTPA. Interim data collection systems are not 
realistic. Look at the long term. Don t handle the same data twice. (California) 
A management information system is a necessity. 
Management information is needed. A management information system should 
be drven by outcomes and outputs. (Florida) 
We are dependent on our MIS. We contract everything out. At the time we award 
a contract, we negotiate the data to be collected. Through this approach, we have 
set up common data definitions. (Massachusetts) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  No money is provided for data collection systems for the State and local 
Governments. Few automate income maintenance systems exist in the countr. 
Look at what now is available and  Consider a consortum of 
tr to standadize. 
States sharng available hardware and software. (County of San Diego) 
What are the key education issues? 
The education community must be an active participant. 
We need to work together with education. The education community must realize 
that by freeing up  programs by slowing down the rate of 
dollar in entitlement 
growth in these areas, greater discretionar funds wil be made available for their 
programs. (County of San Diego) 
We must deal with education in terms of teen pregnancy issues. (Delaware) 
Our education community is involved and aware of the JOBS initiative. There 
are many clients in common. (Massachusetts) 
Coordination is a time consuming process. 
We need to accept that relationship building is a legitimate activity. Education 
has more problems than just the AFC recipients, and those involved with human 
services must recognize this fact. We must let people know the tie involved 
coordiation and in influencing program parcipation by other agencies. 
(Oklahoma) 
It wil tae time to promote coordination. The Federal Government and the 
Congress need to understand that relationship building taes time. Commtment 
is needed at the top. (Delaware) 
It took us five year to establish a process to coordinate. (Massachusetts) 
We need involvement and commitment at the community level. (Nebraska) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  Best Practices/Best Advice 
What "best advice" would you give to others? 
s critical for the management information system to produce credible statistics. 
You need definitions for grant reductions and welfare savings even with the 
service delivery natue of the program. There also is no substitute for enthusiasm. 
Form core groups and look at the community resources which are available. A 
charsmatic leader can be helpful, but others besides zealots are needed to run the 
program. Assess the resources which are avaiable. (Michigan) 
Involve consumers and advocates up-front in your plan. Keep the. plans simple. 
When the plan is in place, assess the resources to see who can provide what. 
ar 
Requests for Proposal (RFP)  crucial if the State plans to buy everything. The 
RFs must be specifc in term of standards. Put a motivation and evaluation 
system in place early on. This is crcial for quality control. (Massachusetts) 
Look at whether the pancipant spent tie in a program activity and the amount 
of time which was spent without evaluatig the impact of the activity. Try to 
establish some predictors as to what components are the most valuable to the 
people in your program. (Oklahoma) 
The most imponant advice is to make sure goals, missions, and principles are laid 
out. Determne how the client wil flow though the system. Determne the 
relationship with other programs and how to involve afected persons in 
decision-makng. Determne the funding priorities and ways to plan and operate 
the program. (California) 
Take a slow approach. Don t be drven by high numbers; don t oversell. Instead, 
strve to build a good foundation. (Delaware) 
There are thee things to do: (1) Management. Don t confuse the outcome and 
the goals. You need management flexibilty, quality circles, and ownership. This 
Performance standards - information system. You need 
should be a focus. (2) 
clear and concise outcomes and goals. Look at the relationship of input to output. 
legislative planning. You need a concise 
(3) Interagency cooperation through 
planning mechanism. (Florida) 
Remember the client. Look at each staf member and determne what he or she 
must do for success. You need top management commitment. Need discretion to 
make decisions to do your job at the local level. Remember that your staff wil 
make or break" you. Cooperate, coordinate, communicate, collaborate, 
compromise, and be ceremonial. Share the credit, both up and down your 
organization and across organizations. (County of San Diego) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS  :" 
A somewhat different approach is needed in a more rura State. We look at the 
program options and are operating with five counties. We strve not to exclude 
people just because they ar in a rual ara in another county. Recognize the 
turover in the labor market and the job movement which exists. Self-directed 
Job Search Workshops are effective and help people expand their horizons and 
their base of operations. You need to remember that the rural areas have fewer 
traditional resources to draw on, such as community colleges. Transponation also 
is a major problem. (Nebraska) 
Focus Group  INTERVIEWS