Block grant-funded educational programs: An untapped source of employees for the healthcare industry

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) placed a lifetime capitation of five years on welfare benefits. This Bill consolidated welfare and employment programs into the block grant known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The benefit package allows operation of programs in accordance with state and federal mandates to implement the work first philosophy and reduce the dependence on welfare benefits. A purposive sample of 20 women from New York City who trained as home health aides in programs connected to the TANF block grant were interviewed for this study. A qualitative phenomenological approach documented the lived experiences of these home health aides, highlighted the patterns and themes that suggest self-sufficiency, and the skills utilized in their attempts to achieve self-sufficiency. The healthcare industry, the largest employer in New York State, could benefit from long-term investments and more collaborative initiatives with TANF training programs. A more structured path to self-sufficiency would bring this potentially untapped source of employees into the workforce for the healthcare industry of the 21st century.