Program Criteria for Entering the Workforce

It's true training programs for entering the workforce have been increasing since the late 1970's and 1980's when such opportunities almost became extinct. No longer were programs to help single mom's get off welfare a priority.

Now in 2007 with welfare reform, single mom's are told that they must return back to work or obtain employment once they're child reaches five years of age. They are no longer eligible for benefits. They are assisted with daycare vouchers and transportation Charlie Cards to attend such programs.

While programs are arising both on the private sector as well as government-funded, they sometimes meet unrealistic enrollment qualifications. For example, Susan is a mother of twin boys, age five. Susan finally found a program that sparked her interest, and her mother agreed to support her as long as she attended some type of program or school that would help her become economically self sufficient.

Susan enrolled in a program that would help her toward her career to find a job that would allow her to work, support her family, and offer tuition reimbursement to an accredited college of her choice, as long as it was in her field of interest through the program. The criterion is that she shows one year of work experience. Susan unfortunately got pregnant after she graduated from high school and soon after turned to the government for cash assistance. Therefore, Susan has never worked.

Yet Susan has worked; she has taken very good care of the boys. She has managed to make it on a very small budget that the welfare provided, her children have not been seriously ill and are very happy little boys. We have a tendency to minimize a woman's job in the household; we are the backbone of the family. Please take into consideration some of the criteria when attaching them to some of the government-funded programs. You could be keeping somebody from getting out of debt, continuing their education, or from supporting their family, which is our ultimate goal. We need more open enrollment programs that can reach out to all unemployed single parents, not just a few.