And of course, there are those who simply can't motivate themselves to punch a clock. YW Works tries to address such problems through its unusual job-training curriculum. Yet they also take motivational classes to boost self-esteem. They learn about exercise and nutrition, on the theory that healthy workers are steady workers. And there's a lot of time set aside for talk, especially during a six-week program called Creative Workshop, which puts participants to work making sweaters.
Caseworkers listen in, trying to identify and knock down potential barriers to work.
Such creative approaches to job training have flourished under Wisconsin Works, which abolished the old welfare bureaucracy. Analysts expect Thompson to encourage such innovation at the national level as well, giving states continued flexibility to design their own programs. And they predict he will fight any effort to cut welfare funding, on the grounds that cost savings from declining caseloads should be used to expand services for the working poor. Advocates for the poor, meanwhile, plan to take their own case to the nation when the federal welfare bill, which allocates funds and dictates parameters for state reform efforts, comes up for reauthorization next year. Thompson's nomination to the Bush Cabinet gives an extra sheen to Wisconsin's program.