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Rockville, MD — Ten years ago when welfare reform was enacted with a mandate that recipients get to work, at Goodwill Industries we knew all too well the challenges that lay ahead for those trying to make it out of poverty. For well over 100 years, Goodwill has helped people with disabilities, those who lack job skills, live in poverty or face other challenges find a path to self-sufficiency and financial independence through work. We know first hand that it takes much more than a strong work ethic for people entering the workforce for the first time, particularly welfare recipients, to be relevant in today's workplace. It takes long-term and ongoing employment solutions: job training customized to specific employers' needs, support beyond the first job to build experience and confidence, childcare, and transportation. In other words, it takes more than one helping hand and more than one job to genuinely move families out of poverty.

Since 1996, Goodwill agencies across America have provided job training and career services to more than 1 million welfare recipients, people like Tracy Lockhart Greene who used to "live day-to-day" before she sought help from Goodwill. Once a high school dropout with two daughters, no hope, and few plans for the future, Greene now patrols the streets of Davidson County, North Carolina, as a deputy sheriff. Today, Greene is married, a homeowner, and is planning for the future of her family.

But, Tracy will tell you, it took more than just a desire and commitment for her to make it out of poverty and truly support her family. It took a host of community services and more than one encouraging voice. She had to learn how to use a computer, how to interview and communicate to prospective employers, to manage stress and time, write a resume, look for jobs and set goals. Through Goodwill, Greene also earned her General Equivalency Diploma (GED). She had help finding her first job at the county health department where she learned essential job skills and was able to advance her career. To achieve all this and more Greene needed support services such as childcare so she could focus on getting the skills and experience she needed to be relevant in the workplace.

Not every person who walks through Goodwill's doors achieves the same success that Tracy has. But her experience proves that the right blend of education, support and personal determination is essential to achieving career success. Welfare recipients need an opportunity to learn essential job skills, gain work experience and confidence, and build a resume so they can move into jobs that pay above the poverty level. Equally important is the continued support of career counselors who help them navigate the workplace and identify the additional skills necessary to move up the career ladder.

Family welfare case loads have dropped by 57 percent since the 1996 overhaul of the nation's welfare system. But most of this gain has been through placement in low-paying, unskilled jobs, even as employment trends show a growing demand for skilled workers. Many former welfare recipients are still living in poverty, far from the real goal of financial independence. Welfare recipients need durable and ongoing employment strategies to help them move out of poverty and toward self-sufficiency, not strategies merely designed to reduce the welfare rolls.