There appears to be a great deal of uncertainty concerning about the amount of federal funding available for welfare programs following the proposed budget cuts. There are also concerns about each states ability and or available human resources to make these changes in welfare policy successful. Much of this concern is related to the lack of federal regulations requiring matches in state funding , the absence of specific national eligibility requirements, and no specific requirements about how or where the money will be spent in each state. This uncertainty brings with it a renewed interest in evaluating existing state programs to assure their capability of providing the necessary services with the best use of available human and financial resources. These initiatives vary from state to state.
Some programs are voluntary and others are mandatory.
Some of the programs have been implemented statewide while others only included a few counties. Some states have invested substantially in this effort, while many struggle with limited resources. However, virtually all programs seek to promote individual and family self-sufficiency. This study obtained its data from the first 2-3 years of these initiatives. Most of the states chose job-search activities and unpaid work experience, based on the assumption that many welfare recipients were already employable but lacked the skills necessary to obtain the job.