TANF and various Welfare to Work programs from the State and Federal level have sought to provide short-term services for clients to get them to work. Little has been done to address the long-term barriers that held clients on the welfare rolls. When programs have been developed to look at retention or job enhancement, rules and restrictions have limited their usefulness. Large surpluses of TANF dollars at the State level do not mean that there is a lack of need. These surpluses are emblematic of the restrictive nature of program eligibility, which ultimately constrict clients' participation.
Research shows that the most successful programs combine work first and education or training.
Most programs to aid welfare clients are not locally designed. These programs do not take local needs into account. The result is that programs are overly prescriptive of who can be served and how they can be served. Consequently, client needs are not being met as dollars meant to help them go unspent. One such state-designed program is intended to support people as they move into the work force.