The Role of Adult Basic and Literacy Education Essay

People generally enjoy working and being productive members of society. The positive effects of the Welfare Reform Act is moving to eventually end poverty in America and promote economic growth. According to the 2005 report measuring welfare dependents “Poverty in 2003 remains much lower than in 1996, the year of passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The official poverty rate for 2003 was 12.5 percent, compared to 13.7 percent in 1996.” ( Gil Crouse, Susan Hauan, Julia Isaacs, Kendall Swenson and Lisa Trivits, 2005 ) States that design welfare-to-work policies that emphasized getting recipients into jobs by shifting to “work-first” welfare systems can modify program rules to allow more earned income,

In today’s society, a college degree has become a requirement in order to obtain a well occupied profession. Prior to the recession, which the study defines as the period between December 2007 and June 2009, bachelor's graduates were already more likely to be employed than were associate degree holders, who were more likely to be employed than those without any postsecondary degree. After the recession, employment of college graduates dropped 7 percent, while associate degree holders experienced an 11 percent drop, and employment of high school graduates fell 16 percent. The percent of people excluded from the workforce, meaning they were seeking work but couldn’t find it, rose 31 percent for college graduates, 37 percent for high school graduates, and 50 percent for associate degree graduates, though associate degree holders were still excluded at a lower rate than high school graduates (Tilsley, 2013).

Career and technical education offers SWD concrete application of newly learned skills and has proven to have a positive influence on a multitude of factors. In previous studies, participation in career and technical education classes by SWD resulted in continued enrollment in high school, as well as increased opportunities for post high school work opportunities. Harvey (2001) concluded, “vocational education has been reported to make a significant difference in post school employment for students with disabilities when it was occupationally specific and directed at labor market needs” (p. 111). *****Most recently, Wagner, Newman & Javitz (2015) utilized data from NLTS2, a National Longitudinal Transition Study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, which followed SWD from high school to post school endeavors, revealing undeniable evidence that supports the benefits of continued

The effects of the 1996 welfare reform bill helped declined caseloads on the social and economic well-being of fragile families, single mothers, and children. Although, the welfare reform was documented for making several positive changes such as reducing poverty rates, lowering the out of-wedlock childbearing, and formulated a better family structure, it is undeniable that poverty remained high among single mothers and their children. The reality of the matter was that most welfare recipients experienced serious barriers to maintain a stable employment due to their lack of skills, not having anyone available to take care of their young children when they leave for work as well as not gaining long-time employment with decent pay to help foster the family. As a result, most poor women and children were faced with the instability of economic and social future as welfare eligibility exhausted their efforts of supporting their families.

Throughout the years, the ability to survive in the American economy without a college education has been diminishing. The employment opportunities now available to many Americans without college degrees are called “unskilled” jobs. These forms of employment are often unstable and offer low pay without much of a change for advancement within the company . Low income families are often constrained by many hurdles that do not allow them to raise themselves from below the poverty line . Many misconceptions come to light when talking about those American families below the poverty line, of those misconceptions are highlighted by statements such as that they do not work, work

This paper will analyze the welfare reform system. Through my analysis I will examine several areas of concern in the welfare reform system. First, as an overview, I will look at the Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Act. Second, I will look at the Welfare to Workfare program. We will then examine how welfare recipients with disabilities will be handled under this new reform and finally this paper will examine how the federal government plans on if at all ensuring job retention occurs.

The DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) draws upon promising practices from a national body of work that suggest that dual-generation programming is an effective strategy for breaking the cycle of poverty. Specifically, two-generation strategies that suggest integrating education, employment opportunities, and peer support for parents and academic and support services for their children will produce far more promising outcomes for both the parents and their child.

When is came to challenge the Temporary Assistance to Needy families reform movement, Maine was the first state to successfully do so. Maine is state that is committed to education. Under the Reagan administration there was a federal Work Incentive Demonstration project ,which allowed women on welfare the chance to go to college, the state 's advocates convinced the Department of Human Services to take advantage of this program. Fortunately for Maine, the state tends to promote accessibility to all citizens, which is not common amongst state welfare bureaucracies. The advocates recognized that education was a way to get rid of poverty, not to mention empower women and potentially stimulate their economy. Eventually, this demonstration came to be known as ASPIRE. (Price, 2005).

Not all dislocated workers qualify for a Pell grant. Another option is, The Workforce Investment Act that was first implemented in August 1998. The WIA program is intended to help dislocated workers find work. While in the program, services such as resume writing, skills testing, and access to employers seeking workers. They also provide a free year of community college to retrain the participant in a new career. Several cuts have been made to the program and more funding is needed for the WIA program. According to Randall Eberts and George Erickcek, “Most states and workforce boards see the benefit of such training, states have had to reduce funding for programs and relatively few federal funds are available to replace the lost state dollars”. State funding is a key to these unemployment services to work successfully. Many skeptics believe that the only way to fund any assistance programs is to raise taxes. Getting tax increases to pass through the State and Federal Government is very difficult and lengthy

Over the years there has been an aid called “welfare” that helps struggling people by offering financial support. Welfare is a federally funded program that helps citizens that are in financial trouble, with the intention of being a sort of “stand in” for income until a person is able to get back on their feet and find a new source of employment. This program started back in 1930’s as a response to the financial hit many people with a family took as a result of the Great Depression. There are multiple types of welfare that give aid to specific aspects of a person’s life, which include health care, food stamps, childcare assistance, unemployment, housing care assistance, and cash aid. When welfare became popular, it created controversy

Children, and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training. The most influential change of this

Interventionist agree with the traditional welfare programs being an income maintenance. Some people cannot obtain a job because they simply have barriers such as physical illness, lack of transportation, mental illness, or substance abuse, so they believe that welfare can help to assist these individuals. With new workfare programs like TANF it leaves individuals unavailable to get assistance, so they then branch out to relatives, friends, or anyone else for this help they need that they can no longer obtain from the government. Getting rid of, or changing traditional welfare only move/shifts the poverty elsewhere, it doesn’t eliminate the problem. The workfare programs show little success with the group of disadvantaged who have a great deal

Today's workers need to prepare with continuous job training, growth and development. Given the increased age, experiences and diverse lifestyles of the working population, it is understandable that adult education practices must move beyond the traditional model of teachers and learners, while new skills, working with local companies to match their needs and sending staff into factories and other workplaces to spread the word about state and federal retraining assistance. While trying to decide how to rebuild your life after loss of employment and lack of job opportunities following the current recession, or devastated from a divorce? Adult students faced with other struggles; studies have shown that older adult students face different hurdles, family problems, and poor self-image. These along with poor time management, weaker academic preparation and a need for remediation an increased focus on adult learners and their needs can help. (armour)

Deputy Sheriff, training officer, instructor, adjunct faculty, these are but a few of the hats that I wear in my daily interactions within the world of Adult Education. As a veteran law enforcement officer I was first introduced to adult education, after several years I would find myself on the other side of the podium. After serving as a field training officer for rookie’s graduation from Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) I would take on the additional role of teaching in the BLET program itself. The route I have followed to adult education is unique and non-traditional compared to my peers within the EdS program here at Appalachian State University. I have completed both my Bachelors and Masters degrees as an adult within the past ten years while working full-time. I currently teach several blocks of the BLET program as well as several sections of the Student Success course on the campus of Davidson County Community College.

A literature review illustrates how vital job placement services have been found to be in the job employment assistance endeavors. The review of previous studies reveals the “receipt of placement services” to be the “strongest predictor of employment outcomes” (Fleming et al., 2014, p. 7). A 2006 study characterized job placement as “the driving force behind the vocational rehabilitation program” (Fleming et al., 2014, p. 7). According to the researchers, the public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services have attained the status of “the most important vocational programs for persons with disabilities” (Fleming et al., 2014, p. 7). The authors cite the number of “new applicants [registered] nationally” as 564,908, in the 2011 Fiscal Year alone, as proof of the organization’s heavy caseload of new clients (Fleming et al., 2014, p. 7). These numbers indicate that rehabilitation services have been in high demand. Considering the importance of the vocational programs in assisting the disabled clients who are in need of employment, the authors determined that it was appropriate to examine the different ways these services can be rendered.