They can acquire and evaluate data, organize and maintain files, interpret and communicate, and use computers to process information. They can select equipment and tools, apply technology to specific tasks, and maintain and computers to process information. In 1996 Tennessee was one of a number of states that were granted a waiver from pending federal welfare reform legislation so that they could implement their own programs. Tennessee's program, Families First , shares some common elements with federal welfare legislation. It strengthens the requirement for work, limits assistance to a lifetime maximum of five years, and requires personal responsibility.
Families First is critically different, however, in one very important way.
While federal law does not strongly link education and employment, Families First definitely does. It delays the start of time limits on assistance until participants have reached a basic skills level of 8.9. It covers the cost of childcare and transportation while participants attend any approved educational program. Fresh Start, Adult Basic Education, and Training. In the fall of 1997 all of the Families First ABE teachers participated in staff development workshops, facilitated by the Center for Literacy Studies in cooperation with the Division of Adult and Community Education.