Welfare Reform: Transportation's Role in Moving From Welfare to Work

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century authorized funding for a Job Access and Reverse Commute Program beginning in fiscal year 1999. DOT selected one program goal to include in its performance plan. DOT developed and is implementing a more extensive evaluation approach for the program. DOT is collecting evaluation data on active Job Access projects and plans to use it to report to Congress.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century authorized funding a Job Access and Reverse Commute program beginning in FY1999. DOT officials acknowledge the importance of ensuring that grant recipients coordinate transportation strategies with local job placement and other social service agencies. DOT's solicitation for grant applications for the Job Access and Reverse Commute program, published November 6th in the Federal Register, indicates that grant applicants must coordinate their transportation strategies with local job placement and other social service agencies. Specifically it states that the transportation projects must be part of a regional plan developed by a group of organizations including local transit agencies, the agencies administering HHS' Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and DOL's Welfare-to-Work grants, welfare recipients and low-income people.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century authorized funding for a Job Access and Reverse Commute program. DOT officials acknowledge the importance of coordinating their program with other federal agencies, such as the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, to ensure that program funds complement and do not duplicate other welfare-to-work funds. DOT initiated a policy council including executive-level representatives from HHS, DOL, HUD, OMB and the White House to help ensure that its Access to Jobs program works together with other federal welfare programs. It also issued joint guidance with HHS and DOL detailing how to coordinate the use of the agencies' resources. Finally, DOT plans to continue its coordination with other agencies by issuing joint coordination information with the announcement for next year's Job Access grant applications.