Creating Subsidized Employment Opportunities for Low-Income Parents: The Legacy of the TANF Emergency Fund

Included as a part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the TANF Emergency Fund directed $1.3 billion to some 39 states to specifically create new subsidized employment programs or expand existing ones. The Emergency Fund ended on September 30, 2010. The policy paper, published in February 2011 by CLASP and the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, explores the legacy of the subsidized employment programs funded by the Emergency Fund.

The paper finds that approximately 260,000 low-income adults and youths were placed in jobs due to the Emergency Fund. Participants were placed mostly in the private sector and filled diverse positions, including administrative and health care positions. The paper finds that there is no single best model for a subsidized employment program, but offers lessons for program design and implementation based on states’ and counties’ experiences with the Emergency Fund.

The authors of the paper argue that states’ and counties’ experiences with the Emergency Fund proved that it is possible to launch substantial subsidized employment programs quickly, although it is challenging to do so. They conclude that states’ experiences were overwhelmingly positive and that the TANF Emergency Fund’s legacy should be used to create more public-private initiatives.

The data are from telephone surveys conducted in 30 states, of the 33 states operating employment programs that served adults. Basic information was culled from written documents for the other states.

CLASP is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that seeks to improve the lives of low-income Americans. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a policy organization focused on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low-and moderate-income families and individuals.
 

Read the report (pdf).